Supporting Clients Experiencing Grief: A Solution-Focused Approach

There is an accentuated need for relatively brief, practical counseling techniques that clinicians, counselors, clergy, medical professionals, and humanitarian aid workers can utilize to support clients who are currently grieving the death of one or more loved ones, the ending of a relationship, or the passing of a beloved pet. This course provides a practical framework for utilizing the evidence-based Solution-Focused Brief Therapy Approach (SFBT) to support people in the aftermath of loss by providing a safe, reassuring therapeutic context for respectfully addressing and counterbalancing intense emotions, collaboratively developing healthy, meaningful coping strategies, and practical, gradual steps to navigate the immediate future. This course provides a series of practical solution-focused techniques designed to help mental health and healthcare professionals support clients experiencing grief.

Last Updated: February 2025

Target Audience: Social workers, psychologists, mental health counselors, educators, and medical professionals;  appropriate for all levels of knowledge.

Highlights of this course include:

• An extensive written section describing SFBT interventions to support clients experiencing grief
• Extensive written verbatim transcripts exemplifying
• Online video lecture
• A full-length case demonstration offered by master SFBT therapist Dr. Anne Lutz
• Extra course resources

1. Identify key tenets of the Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) approach and determine their application in grief-related case scenarios.
2. Recognize and define a Solution-Focused Scaling Question and determine how it applies to grief-related conversations in structured multiple-choice assessments.
3. Identify and define a Solution-Focused Exception and evaluate its role in grief-related therapy using structured case applications.
4. Differentiate between Direct and Indirect Solution-Focused Compliments, identifying their appropriate use in grief support through multiple-choice and case-based exercises.
5. Define the Solution-Focused “Best Hope” question and recognize its function in grief therapy, using structured case applications to determine appropriate application.
6. Define the Solution-Focused Safety Net Question and describe its role in grief support by selecting correct applications in case-based assessments.
7. Recognize solution-focused skills that enhance engagement and strengthen the therapeutic alliance with clients experiencing grief, based on video observations and case-based assessments.
8. Identify how resource activation can be facilitated for clients experiencing grief, selecting appropriate strategies in structured multiple-choice exercises.
9. Differentiate between solution development and problem-solving in grief therapy, recognizing key distinctions through structured reading assessments and case-based multiple-choice exercises.
10. Identify how to discover and amplify positive differences/exceptions in clients experiencing grief using solution-focused questions, assessed through structured video and case-based multiple-choice assessments.

Course Outline

1. Welcome and course resources
   1. Complete written materials
   2. Full-length grief demonstration video
   3. Solution-focused framework
   4. Research updates 2025
2. Read course materials
3. Watch the video lecture and demonstration

There will be a 30-item multiple-choice test which is designed to assess your understanding and ability to apply the course material. You may take the exam multiple times until you pass the exam.

After you have completed all of the sections, passed each of the section exams, and completed the course evaluation, you will receive your certificate of completion. You will be able to save and print the certificate.

5 CE Credit/Clock Hours are available for this course.

Please see our Continuing Education Information page for information about CE credits and clock hours, and our accreditations and approvals for psychologists, social workers, counselors, and marriage & family therapists.

Students should check with their professional licensing boards to make sure that a specific course will be accepted toward their continuing education requirements.

To receive continuing education hours, the student must:

• Enroll in the course
• Read the learning content
• Watch the entire online lecture
• Complete the course exam, and receive a passing grade of 80%
• Complete the course evaluation

Upon successful completion of the course, the student may download and print his or her Certificate of Completion.

Once enrolled, you may begin your course at any time.

Our complete list of policies can be viewed here.