Joanne L Harpel, Mphil, CT, JD
suicide bereavement & Postvention specialist
Facilitating Suicide Bereavement Support Groups For adults:
training workshop series
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Do you facilitate a suicide bereavement support group?
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Would you like to become a facilitator, or start a new group?
Whether you’ve been facilitating a group for years or it’s just an idea in the back of your mind, join us to learn best practices for facilitating warm, welcoming, and effective suicide bereavement support groups.
These interactive, online training workshops are for anyone with a personal or professional interest in facilitating suicide bereavement support groups (these are not meant as healing conferences; if you’ve lost someone to suicide, you need to be at least 2 years from your loss to register). Mental health professionals are warmly welcome; although we don't offer CE credit, we can provide you with proof of attendance.
Joanne L. Harpel, MPhil, CT, JD, President of Coping After Suicide, will lead this unique training series. An international authority on suicide loss with decades of experience as a suicide bereavement support group facilitator and trainer, and the survivor of her brother’s suicide, Joanne is the original co-creator of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention's Support Group Facilitator Training Program, delivered to thousands of individuals nationwide. She has been providing this exceptional training for 20 years, including for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the Mental Health Departments of Georgia and Oklahoma, and the New York State Funeral Directors Association.
Workshop 1: The Nuts & Bolts of Getting Started
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essential elements of successful groups
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what the facilitator's role is (and isn't)
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what to watch out for
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administration, publicity, and attendance
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how do I know I'm ready?
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Workshop 2: Best Practices & How-to’s
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essential facilitation skills and strategies
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open and closed groups
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the “Hierarchy of Options”
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handling silence
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go-to ideas to keep in your back pocket
Workshop 3: Advanced Skills & Tricky Situations
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monopolizers
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conflict between group members
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the shoulds (judging and advice-giving)
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group members who are “stuck”
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handling a group member in crisis
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boundaries, expectations, and compassion fatigue
Workshop 4: Best Practices for Zoom Groups (And Other Creative Ideas To Try)
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special considerations for Zoom groups
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administration, logistics, and guidelines
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using journaling and other exercises to create closeness, connection, and community
The registration fee is $195 and covers one 4-workshop series. Our next workshop series will be offered in 2025. In the interim, you can purchase the program materials and Zoom recordings from the last time we offered the program here.
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Group discounts available. 5 people for the price of 4. Contact us for more information. ​
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"Hands down one of the best programs I've ever been to.
What an honor and an experience."
"Superb"
"The single best virtual workshop I've attended
since the pandemic began"
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"Amazing and informative"
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"I've been facilitating groups for a long time,
and learned so many new things."
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"Invaluable"
​Learn how to facilitate suicide bereavement support groups for children and teens through our online training workshop series.
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These programs are offered in collaboration with Rethink The Conversation's Conversation Masterclass series.