The Long Goodbye: Clinical Practice with Dementia, Grief, and Family Systems
Dementia caregiving is one of the most prolonged and emotionally complex experiences a family can navigate — and the clients affected by it appear in every clinical caseload, often without identifying dementia as the presenting concern. This 3-hour continuing education course prepares mental health professionals to provide effective clinical support to older adults with dementia and their family systems: understanding the dementias (Alzheimer's, vascular, Lewy body, frontotemporal) and their clinical presentations, the grief of watching someone disappear incrementally while still present, the family systems disruption that dementia caregiving produces, evidence-based therapeutic approaches for late-stage grief and ambiguous loss, caregiver burden and its clinical assessment, and end-of-life planning conversations in the context of cognitive decline. Clinically rigorous and deeply humane.
3
CE Hours
4
Modules
15
Quiz Questions
1
Est. Minutes
What you'll learn
- Differentiate the major dementia subtypes (Alzheimer's disease, vascular, Lewy body, frontotemporal, and mixed) by clinical presentation, course, and treatment implications
- Apply evidence-based communication approaches with persons living with dementia, including validation, redirection, and management of behavioral and psychological symptoms
- Conduct caregiver burden assessment using validated instruments and identify caregivers at elevated risk for depression, anxiety, and complicated bereavement
- Implement Pauline Boss's ambiguous loss framework in clinical work with dementia caregivers throughout the disease trajectory
- Navigate decision-making capacity, end-of-life care planning, and bereavement support with families affected by dementia using ethical and culturally informed frameworks
Who it's for
Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC/LPCC), Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSW), Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFT), Psychologists, Counselors working in geriatric, hospital, or community mental health settings
Approval & credit
CounselorReady is an NBCC-Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP #7760). This course awards 3 NBCC-approved CE hours; a certificate is issued on completion. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. CounselorReady is solely responsible for all aspects of the program.