Grief Across the Life Span
May 7 - June 14, 2012
Grief Across the Life Span
Instructor: Kirsti Dyer, MD, MS, FT
Loss can be defined as the deprivation or disappearance of something cherished by a person; it is a common experience experienced throughout one’s lifetime. Grief is the sorrow, distress and change experienced following a loss; it is the normal response to loss or life-changing event. As part of the “Grief Across the Life Span” course, participants will explore how loss and grief are experienced throughout life from perinatal losses to end of life. The course will begin with a brief introduction and review of basic background information on grief and loss. Over the course of four weeks, grief and loss will be explored in different stages of the life cycle. Techniques, ideas and activities that can be utilized to assist the grieving will be presented for each of the different stages of the life span covered along with more resources for further exploration. To earn continuing education credits, course participants are expected to complete course readings, case studies, join in weekly discussions and contribute to a collaborative course resource list by sharing favorite online, print and video resources with course colleagues.
Dr. Kirsti A. Dyer MD, MS, FT, is a physician, professor, health educator, online instructor and author. She received her Medical and Master’s Degrees from the University of California, Davis. She was the first physician to receive Fellow in Thanatology (Death, Dying and Bereavement) standing with the Association of Death Education and Counseling following additional post-doctoral training in life challenges, loss, grief, bereavement and trauma, along with her personal experiences with NICU losses. Dr. Dyer has an extensive list of professional, journal and online publications. She has developed and taught professional and graduate courses to physicians, nurses, psychologists, social workers, other health care providers, members of the clergy and spiritual advisors in the areas of grief, loss, bereavement , traumatic and NICU losses. She has presented at medical conferences and online teaching conferences within the United States as well as in London, Heidelberg and Victoria.
Dr. Dyer also has expertise in wellness education and health promotion. An avid writer, Dr. Dyer has had articles published in a variety of medical journals, conference proceedings as well as on many online sites. Her interests in life challenges, web-education, self-help and encouraging the healing process following a loss resulted in creating Journey of Hearts, a website to educate people about the normal grief response. Journey of Hearts has been online since 1997 helping thousands of people worldwide through the resources available as an online healing place. Dr. Dyer has been providing health education over the Internet for more than a decade. She teaches an online nutrition and wellness course and the online graduate course she developed in grief, loss and bereavement. A life-long student, she is currently a Fellow studying with the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine online program.
Tuition: $250.00
10 Continuing Education Credits
For more information contact NCDE, ncde@mountida.edu or 617-928-4649