Creating Space For Grief And Holding It

You've heard the phrase "hold space" — but what does it actually mean to do that well?

Grief work is some of the most profound and demanding work a therapist can do. When a client is drowning in loss, doubting whether they'll ever feel okay again, your ability to create a steady, contained, and safe environment can make all the difference.

But that takes more than compassion. It takes a framework.

What You'll Learn

This training unpacks the concept of "holding space" in grief therapy — giving you a clear, organized way to understand and navigate the many layers of this work.

You'll explore how grief therapy operates simultaneously as a supportive and educational process, and how containment, boundaries, and safety — concepts that can feel like they're in tension — actually work together in the room.

We'll examine grief through multiple dimensions:

• Session structure — how to shape the therapeutic container from start to finish

• Physical and emotional space — meeting clients where grief lives in the body and the heart

• Spiritual and existential space — holding the bigger questions without losing your footing

 You Matter in This Work, Too

Death, dying, and deep loss don't just affect your clients — they touch you. Managing grief's weight session after session, navigating existential territory, and sitting with profound sadness can take a real toll.

That's why this training also focuses on you as the therapist — exploring the concept of the therapist as vessel and how to build the capacity to do this difficult work sustainably. You'll leave with a deeper sense of meaning and purpose in your role, and practical grounding for the moments when the work gets heavy.

Participants will gain and understanding of:

1. This course will increase your knowledge of how the grief process can be understood through various types of "space" being held by the therapist. Grief work is a well studied process - this course will offer a way to organize the various areas of focus for the client- creating a guide for the therapist to understand how to navigate this work. 

2. Grief work can challenge the capacity of a therapist- this course will aim to help the therapist understand how to better handle the feelings that arise when doing the work with a client. Acknowledging the difficulty of working with grief, this course will focus on the meaning and purpose that a therapist can experience with self care and boundaries. 

3. This course will give you an overview of the key components of moving through grief- guiding a client through verbal processing, holding hope, exploring the existential and understanding the physical aspects of grief.