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Webinar

S26-102 Keeping the Spirit Alive: Clinical Approaches to Supporting Children after Parental Loss

Total Credits: 3 Category I CEs

Categories:
100 Children & Adolescents |  200 Adults, Couples & Families |  New
Instructor:
NaShey Ingram, LCSW-C, RPT-S
Course Levels:
Intermediate
Duration:
3 Hours 15 Minutes
Target Audience:
Social Workers, LCPCs, and Psychologists
Dates
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Description

Loss is a universal experience, yet the death of a parent during childhood presents unique developmental and clinical challenges. Grief in childhood is not a singular event but an evolving process that requires culturally responsive and developmentally appropriate interventions. Clinicians must be able to assess both the immediate reactions and the long-term effects of parental loss, while incorporating community, spiritual, and cultural frameworks into treatment planning.  

 

This workshop is in accordance with and compliance with the NASW Standards with a focus on service, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, competence and social workers’ ethical responsibilities to clients, in practice settings, as professionals, to the broader society. 

This workshop is in compliance with the Maryland Board of Social Work Examiners’ COMAR 10.42.03.06.A(5) and with the District of Columbia Board of Social Work 17-70-7008.4.    

Instructor

NaShey Ingram, LCSW-C, RPT-S Related Seminars and Products

NaShey Ingram, LCSW-C, RPT-S, is a registered play therapist supervisor and creator of African-centered play therapy. Aiming to address the unique needs of Black children and their families, NaShey created African-centered play therapy in response to the lack of cultural focus in traditional play therapy. NaShey holds a Master of Social Work degree from Morgan State University and a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Towson University.    

With over fifteen years of child welfare experience, NaShey remains committed to the holistic healing of children and making African-centered play therapy accessible by providing affordable therapeutic products, training, and supervision for mental health professionals, as well as for children and the individuals who support and love them. Her overall goal is to improve the mental well-being of Black children and families.    

Agenda & Learning Objectives

AGENDA:

9:00 – 9:30  

  • Intro to Speaker 

  • Overview of Objectives 

  • Icebreaker 

  • Exploring Grief Across the Lifespan 

  • Intervention Intro and Practice 

  • Death, Grief and African Traditional Religions 

  • Intro Intervention and Practice 

10:45 – 11:00 BREAK 

11:00 – 11:45  

  • Honoring Self While Supporting 

  • Client Grief 

  • Intro Intervention and Practice 

  • Community and Collective Rituals 

  •  Q&A 

12:15 Adjournment 

 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Upon the completion of this workshop, participants will be able to:

  • Define childhood grief and identify how it differs developmentally from adult grief responses.  

  • Explain the grief process in children through the lens of African spiritual traditions in ancestral practices.  

  • Demonstrate clinical strategies that support children’s healthy grieving and meaning-making following parental loss. 

  • Analyze the role of supporting grieving children while considering one’s own grief as a clinician or caregiver.  

  • Evaluate the role of community and collective rituals in sustaining children and families throughout the grieving process.  

Bibliography & References

BIBLIOGRAPHY & REFERENCES

Alvis, L., Zhang, N., Sandler, I. N., & Kaplow, J. B. (2022). Developmental manifestations of grief in children and adolescents: Caregivers as key grief facilitators. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 16(2), 447–457. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-021-00435-0 

Azuike, P., Anjoyeb, M., & King, L. (2022). Bereavement and children’s mental health: Recognising the effects of early parental loss. Nursing Children and Young People, 34(1), 26–32. https://doi.org/10.7748/ncyp.2021.e1387 

Baloyi, L., & Makobe-Rabothata, M. (2014). The African conception of death: A cultural implication. In L. T. B. Jackson, D. Meiring, F. J. R. Van de Vijver, E. S. Idemoudia, & W. K. Gabrenya Jr. (Eds.), Toward sustainable development through nurturing diversity: Proceedings from the 21st International Congress of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology. https://doi.org/10.4087/FRDW2511 

Bergman, A. S., Axberg, U., & Hanson, E. (2017). When a parent dies - a systematic review of the effects of support programs for parentally bereaved children and their caregivers. BMC palliative care, 16(1), 39. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-017-0223-y 

Brent, D. A., Melhem, N. M., Masten, A. S., Porta, G., & Payne, M. W. (2012). Longitudinal effects of parental bereavement on adolescent developmental competence. Journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology : the official journal for the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division 53,41(6), 778–791. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2012.717871 

Cann, C. K. (2020). Black Deaths Matter Earning the Right to Live: Death and the African-American Funeral Home. Religions, 11(8), 390. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11080390 

Chan, W. C. H., Lee, C. W., & Tsing, R. W. M. (2025). Grieving the loss of parents: A qualitative study of bereaved adult children who received professional support. Death Studies. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2025.2513986 

Chandran, S., Raman, V., & Shiva, L. (2025). Understanding grief in children: A narrative review. Journal of Indian Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1177/09731342251328150 

Churn, A. (2003). The end is just the beginning. Harlem Moon/Broadway Books  

Cordeiro-Rodrigues, L., & Agada, A. (2022). African Philosophy of Religion: Concepts of God, Ancestors, and the Problem of Evil. Philosophy Compass, 17(8), e12864. https://doi.org/10.1111/phc3.12864 

De Santis, M., & Finlay, L. (2018). Therapeutic work in the midst of grief: A literature review. European Journal for Qualitative Research in Psychotherapy, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.24377/EJQRP.article2972 openjournals.ljmu.ac.uk+1 

Ekore, R. I., & Lanre-Abass, B. (2016). African Cultural Concept of Death and the Idea of Advance Care Directives. Indian journal of palliative care, 22(4), 369–372. https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-1075.191741 

Ellis, J., Dowrick, C., & Lloyd-Williams, M. (2013). The long-term impact of early parental death: lessons from a narrative study. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 106(2), 57–67. https://doi.org/10.1177/0141076812472623 

Esplen, M. J., Wong, J., & Mary L S, V. (2022). Supporting Resilience and the Management of Grief and Loss among Nurses: Qualitative Themes from a Continuing Education Program. Journal of hospice and palliative care, 25(2), 55–65. https://doi.org/10.14475/jhpc.2022.25.2.55 

Haine, R. A., Ayers, T. S., Sandler, I. N., & Wolchik, S. A. (2008). Evidence-Based Practices for Parentally Bereaved Children and Their Families. Professional psychology, research and practice, 39(2), 113–121. https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7028.39.2.113 

Hooker, J. (2023). Black grief/white grievance: The politics of loss. Princeton University Press  

Karani, S. (2023). Worship or veneration: An analysis of whether the African veneration of ancestors equals the biblical understanding of worship. ShahidiHub International Journal of Theology & Religious Studies, 3(2), 21–36. 

Lee, M. R. (2022). Grief is love: Living with loss. Legacy Lit. 

Liu C, Grotta A, Hiyoshi A, Berg L, Rostila M. School Outcomes Among Children Following Death of a Parent. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(4):e223842. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.3842 

Liu, J., & Liu, F. (2024). Research on the development of the concept of death in children and its influencing factors. Frontiers in Psychology, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1376253 

Menendez, D., Hernandez, I. G., & Rosengren, K. S. (2020). Children’s emerging understanding of death. Child Development Perspectives, 14(1), 55–60. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12357 

McInnerney, K., & Wayland, S. (2022). The wounded social work student: A strength-based enquiry of personal loss experience and its impact on social work students' professional practice. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work, 34(3), 136+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A721449736/EAIM?u=baltctycpl&sid=bookmark-EAIM&xid=ec25e0ab 

Moore, S. E., Jones-Eversley, S. D., Tolliver, W. F., Wilson, B., & Harmon, D. K. (2020). Cultural responses to loss and grief among Black Americans: Theory and practice implications for clinicians. Death Studies. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2020.1725930 

Morgan, S. N., & Okyere-Manu, B. (2020). The belief in and veneration of ancestors in Akan traditional thought: Finding values for human well-being. Alternation, (Special Edition 30), 11–31. https://doi.org/10.29086/2519-5476/2020/sp30a2 

O'Brien, J. (2011). Wounded Healer: Psychotherapist Grief Over a Client's Death. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 42(3), 236–243. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023788 

Phillips, C. S., Trainum, K., & Thomas Hebdon, M. C. (2025). Hidden in Plain Sight: A Scoping Review of Professional Grief in Healthcare and Charting a Path for Change. Health services insights, 18, 11786329251344772. https://doi.org/10.1177/11786329251344772 

Slaughter, Virginia. (2005). Young children's understanding of death. Australian Psychologist. 40.10.1080/00050060500243426  

Speece, M. W. (1995). Children’s concepts of death. Michigan Family Review, 1(1), 57–69. https://doi.org/10.3998/mfr.4919087.0001.107 

Speece, M. W., & Brent, S. B. (1984). Children’s Understanding of Death: A Review of Three Components of a Death Concept. Child Development, 55(5), 1671–1686. https://doi.org/10.2307/1129915 

Swinden, Dr. C. (2022). Working After Loss: How Bereavement Counsellors Experience Returning to Therapeutic Work After the Death of Their Parent. Illness, Crisis & Loss, 31(2), 364-384. https://doi.org/10.1177/10541373211067670(Original work published 2023) 

Talabi, J. M. (2022). The epistemological perception of the living dead and its metaphysical implication in West Africa. LASU Journal of African Studies. https://lasujournalofafricanstudies.org.ng/files/1660439387.pdf 

van Heijningen, C. J. M., van Berkel, S. R., Rosinda, S. J., Penninx, B. W. J. H., Alink, L. R. A., & Elzinga, B. M. (2024). Long-term effects of experiencing childhood parental death on mental and physical health: A NESDA study. Stress and Health, 40(3), e3322. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.3322 

Williams, C. "Paradigm Shift in African American Funeral Customs: Looking through the Lens of Oral History and Consumer Culture" (2008). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 500. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/500 

Yazdan, R., Corey, K., Messer, S. J., Kim, E. H., Roberts, K. E., Selwyn, P. A., & Weinberger, A. H. (2023). Hospital-based interventions to address provider grief: A narrative review. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 66(1), e85–e107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2023.03.001 

Zhang, T., Krysinska, K., Alisic, E., & Andriessen, K. (2023). Grief instruments in children and adolescents: A systematic review. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, 91(4), 2183–2225. https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228231171188 

Course Completion & CE Information

Category I Maryland BSWE Requirement

The Office of Continuing Professional Education at the University of Maryland School of Social Work is authorized by the Board of Social Work Examiners in Maryland to sponsor social work continuing education programs. This workshop qualifies for 3 Category I Continuing Education Units. The Office of Continuing Professional Education is also authorized by the Maryland Board of Psychologists and the Maryland Board of Professional Counselors to sponsor Category A continuing professional education. 

 

ASWB Information 

University of Maryland School of Social Work Office of Continuing Professional Education, #1611, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 2/11/2024-2/11/2027.  

To receive ACE credit, full attendance is required; no partial credits will be given for partial attendance. 

 

Certificate Access

To access the evaluation and certificate, click on the orange certificate button in your CPE account. Once you complete the evaluation, access to the certificate will be available.  

Live Interactive Webinars (Cat I) and Live Webinars (Cat II) - Allow up to 30 minutes post-training for attendance to be verified, then you will be able to access the evaluation and certificate. 

In Person Trainings - Please allow five (5) business days post-training for attendance to be verified, then you will be able to access the evaluation and certificate. 

 

Please refer to the tab "Live Interactive Webinar Policies & FAQs" for UMSSW Office of CPE policies regarding all live interactive webinar related matters. Contact our office at cpe@ssw.umaryland.edu for more information.  

Evaluation

Participants will have access to the evaluation after attendance has been verified. Evaluations will be available for one (1) week after the workshop has ended.  

After one (1) week, participants will no longer have access to the evaluation and will have to contact CPE about reactivation.

Target Audience

Social Workers, LCPCs, and Psychologists

We welcome anyone interested in the topic!

 

Live Interactive Webinar Platforms

LIVE INTERACTIVE WEBINAR PLATFORMS

The Office of Continuing Professional Education hosts Live Interactive Webinars through Zoom. This platform offers a high quality and user-friendly webinar platform for our registrants.

System Requirements:

  • Operating Systems: Windows XP or higher; MacOS 9 or higher; Android 4.0 or higher.
  • Internet Browser: Google Chrome; Firefox 10.0 or higher.

Our system is not compatible with the Safari web browser.

  • Broadband Internet Connection: Cable, High-speed DSL and any other medium that is internet accessible.

**Please have your device charging at all times to ensure that your device does not lose power during the webinar.

Course Interaction Requirements:

To participate in Live Interactive Webinars, you MUST have a device that allows you to view the presentation on screen and hear the instructor at all times. We do not allow participants to call-in from their phones or mobile devices and solely listen to the presentation. Participation in Live Interactive Webinars is mandatory.

Our webinar policies can be found on our website by clicking here.

Webinar Policies & FAQs

Click The Link to View The Webinar Policies & FAQs

https://umbsswcpe.ce21.com/Page/live-interactive-webinar-procedures-policies-4129

 

 

Code of Conduct

The Office of Continuing Professional Education at the University of Maryland School of Social Work adheres to the NASW Code of Ethics. This policy is to ensure that the training environment for social work professionals remains respectful, productive, and conducive to learning. Disruptive behavior that interferes with the learning process, disrupts the training experience for others, or undermines the integrity of the program will not be tolerated.

 

Expectations for Participant Engagement:

In alignment with the NASW Code of Ethics and the University of Maryland Baltimore Code of Conduct, participants are expected to demonstrate professionalism, which includes respecting confidentiality, maintaining a collaborative and respectful tone, and contributing positively to the group dynamic. Disclosures made during the training (e.g., case studies or personal reflections) must be handled with care and in accordance with ethical and legal guidelines.

All participants in the training program are expected to:

  • Engage actively in the learning process and show respect for the opinions and contributions of others.
  • Demonstrate professionalism in both attitude and behavior, maintaining respect for instructors, peers, and the training environment.
  • Maintain open communication by expressing concerns or disagreements constructively and respectfully.
  • Follow the guidelines and expectations provided by instructors and facilitators.
  • Support a collaborative learning environment where all participants feel valued and safe to contribute.

 

Instructors and CPE staff reserve the right to dismiss participants who do not adhere to ethical/professional principles and standards. If removed, CEs will be adjusted to reflect the time attended, unless otherwise specified. 

ADA Accommodations

To request ADA accommodations:

Please email our office at least four (4) weeks before the workshop. Late requests may not be accommodated.

Our email address is cpe@ssw.umaryland.edu.  

Late Fees and Refunds

The base price is $70, which includes CE credit.  

Late Fee: On 04/15/26, a non-refundable late fee of $20 is added to the base price. Late fees cannot be refunded or applied to account credit.  

Cancellations: **ALL cancellations will be subjected to a $35.00 administration fee.**  To be eligible for a refund or CPE account credit, cancellations must be made at least 24 hours before the workshop. 

For more information, please read the general policies on our website.  

 

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