Session Topics

Session 1 –8:30 a.m.: To understand grief, understand bonding and attachment

• Differentiating attachment processes from attachment styles
• Neurobiology of attachment in prairie voles
• Neurobiology of attachment in humans, including reward learning
• Developmental aspects of attachment theory

Session 2 –10:30 a.m.:Neurobiology of grief and grieving

• Difference between grief and grieving
• Cognitive neuroscience of grief
• Gone ButAlso Everlasting theory
• Structural brain constraints on learning during grieving
• The utility of basic science as a lens on grief

Session 3 –1:30 p.m.: Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) (Grieving as form of learning)

• Distinguishing grief and trauma
• Debunking the myth of the 5 stages of grief
• Empirical data on the grieving trajectories
• Stigma vs benefit of psychological diagnosis
• Diagnostic criteria and cultural considerations

Session 4 –3:30 p.m.: Toolkit of coping strategies and psychotherapeutic intervention

• Emotion regulation flexibility, the right strategy for the right moment
• Avoidance
• Rumination