Rita A. Schulte – Post-Traumatic Growth for Loss, Grief and Related Trauma

Description of Post-Traumatic Growth for Loss, Grief and Related Trauma

• Calm the traumatized brain and ground clients with mindfulness and body work
• Help release clients from the burdens of anger, shame and guilt
• Coping skills for traumatic memories – successfully teach distraction techniques and positive self-talk
• Foster post-traumatic growth with creative interventions informed by CBT, Expressive therapies, and Somatic Psychotherapy

Your clients are suffering, victims of the life-shattering effects of loss and trauma. Many have lost loved ones to disease while others lives’ have been devastated by the trauma of abuse and suicide. Still more face the agony of abstract losses like shattered dreams, unmet expectations, and the losses of love, trust, faith, and hope.

Stories of grief and loss aren’t happy ones. They are not easy to tell – so your clients don’t. They bottle them up, push them down, and close-up shop. And their pain sits. Sometimes for decades. But you know how your clients respond to traumatic events determines what happens to their hearts — that part of the journey of recovering from loss is finding meaning and purpose. As clinicians, we long to connect our clients with the greater appreciation for life, improved relationships, and personal development that post-traumatic growth provides for those who find it.

But we can’t help those suffering from loss, grief and trauma move their story forward unless we challenge them to step out and take risks. It’s critical to tap into the client’s potential for resiliency, open them to new possibilities, and compassionately walk with them along the path to post-traumatic growth.

Rita Schulte is a licensed professional counselor, radio host, author, and suicide loss survivor. Rita Schulte lost her beloved husband to suicide in 2013 and approaches post-traumatic growth from the unique position of a counselor with lived experience. Through her own journey of loss and grief she has come to understand the targeted treatments and specific supportive measures needed to cope and transition to a life after loss as only someone who’s travelled the road to post-traumatic growth can.

Transform the lives of your clients with:

• Effective methods to calm the overactive brain and improve affect regulation.
• The “Shattered Vase” and other imaginative exercises that open clients to new possibilities.
• Practical tools to manage traumatic memories and address the toxic emotions of anger, guilt and shame.
• Creative expressive and somatic interventions using art, writing, and remembered resources to facilitate post-traumatic growth.

Watch Rita Schulte for this candid recording. She’ll show you how to honor your clients pain while gently planting the seeds of post-traumatic growth.

Help your clients reclaim their hearts after loss and reinvest themselves in a life worth living!

What you’ll learn in Post-Traumatic Growth for Loss, Grief and Related Trauma

Objectives

1. Specify how a case conceptualization based on the strengths of the client can tap into their potential for resiliency and improve clinical outcomes.
2. Analyze the neurobiology of the traumatized brain and effectively utilize clinical tools based in mindfulness and grounding to calm the biological stress response.
3. Articulate the relationship of shame to trauma and loss and communicate how cognitive restructuring can be used in-session to manage the emotions of clients and open them to new possibilities.
4. Employ powerful interventions informed by CBT, expressive therapies, and somatic psychotherapy to treat the devastating effects of loss and grief by reframing its associated meaning.
5. Characterize the impact on clients, as well as the relevance to clinical practice, of connecting individuals and families affected by loss with social support and grief groups.
6. Incorporate and individualize therapeutic interventions based in art and writing into treatment plans for loss, grief, and related trauma.

Outline

• Face Loss, Grief and Trauma with a Strengths-Based Approach
  • Crisis of belief and existential shattering
  • Meaning making and the importance of “why”
  • Grief vs. complicated grief
  • Abstract losses and the Ball of Grief
  • Tapping into resiliency
    • Core competencies and key principles
    • Identify your clients’ strengths
  • Current evidence on strengths-based approaches
• Calm the Overactive Brain of Your Client
  • The neurobiology of the traumatized brain
  • Mindfulness and the art of noticing
  • Containment skills
  • Grounding exercises
  • Affect regulation
  • Breathing and soothing techniques
• Tools for Managing Anger, Guilt, Shame and Traumatic Memories
  • Dealing with anger
    • The REACH model of forgiveness
    • Certificates of debt
    • The power of surrender
  • Address guilt and shame
    • How shame relates to trauma and loss
    • Faulty beliefs and getting stuck
    • Cognitive restructuring
  • Manage traumatic memories with CBT coping skills
    • Distraction techniques
    • Positive self-talk
• Move Clients Toward Post-Traumatic Growth With Interventions Informed by Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
  • Shattered Vase Exercise – plant the seeds of possibility
  • Creating narratives
  • Letter writing
  • Positive remembering and repositioning
  • Reframe the meaning
• Expressive and Somatic Therapeutic Interventions To Cultivate Post-Traumatic Growth
  • Integrate left and right hemispheres
    • Art therapy
    • Writing to heal
  • Access and reclaim compassion
    • Somatic resourcing
    • Remembered resources
    • Assess clients self-talk
• Reinvest in a Life Worth Living: Rekindle the Desires of the Heart
  • The PIE of life – brainstorm possibilities of growth
  • Cultivate social connection and re-engagement
    • Support and grief groups
    • Toxic people
    • Working with families impacted by loss
  • Choice and perspective
  • Foster gratitude and a spirit of contentment after loss
  • Measurements of Post-Traumatic Growth

About Rita Schulte

Rita Schulteulte is a licensed professional board-certified counselor. She received her B.S. in psychology and a master’s degree in counseling from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Rita Schulte has a private practice in Fairfax where she specializes in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety/depressive disorders, as well as grief, loss, and trauma.

In April 2011, she launched Heartline Podcast where she talks with top leaders in the Christian counseling and literary world about cutting edge issues affecting the hearts and lives of people today. She also airs a 1-minute devotional spot Consider This coming to KLZ radio this fall. She is the author of several books: Shattered: Finding Hope and Healing through the losses of Life, Imposter, Think This not That and forthcoming in 2021, Surviving Suicide Loss: Making Your Way Beyond the Ruins (Moody Publishers). Rita Schulte is a speaker for PESI, ACA, AACC, and many other organizations.

Speaker Disclosures:

Financial: Rita Schulte receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Rita Schulte is a member of the American Association of Christian Counselor’s and the American Counseling Association.

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