GRIEF & LOSS: A COMPREHENSIVE TRAINING PROGRAM
with author & therapist Claire Bidwell Smith
A 6-Week Online Program | October 6 – November 13, 2025
Claire Bidwell Smith, Author & Renowned Grief Therapist
Alica Forneret, Educator & Founder of PAUSE
Alua Arthur, Death Doula & NYT Bestselling Author
Colin Campbell, Author, Writer & Director
Join grief expert Claire Bidwell Smith and Special Guests for an interactive 6-week live, online training program!
- Over 15 hours of live, online sessions with Claire (12 CEs included*)
- Explore the complexities of grief in a supportive setting
- Develop a deeper understanding of the grief process
- Gain practical strategies for working with grieving clients
- Engage grief through the lens of race, culture, and identity with Alica Forneret of PAUSE
- Demystify death and end-of-life with Death Doula Alua Arthur
- Discuss profound loss and male grief with author Colin Campbell
- Expand your scope of practice to include grief as a potential area of expertise
- Become a certified provider in Claire’s online directory of professionals
- Gain access to the Conscious Grieving Network– an exclusive online community for professionals
“As a clinician specializing in trauma, grief, and loss I found this training to be transformational. Claire Bidwell Smith is a bright light in this field. She has a keen ability to get to the heart of what’s important when clients are dealing with grief. Claire’s clinical training and her experience as a successful writer and teacher are instrumental in this class.” —Angela Schellenberg, LMHCA
Hi Friends,
Do you find yourself feeling called to work in the field of grief and loss? Step into the world of grief with me and let me show you how meaningful this work can be.
In recent years our world has experienced unprecedented loss and the demand for grief support is higher than ever. Professionals everywhere are being called on to help people process grief and loss, but because education in this field is lacking, people are continuing to struggle. From the length of time we grieve, the emotions we experience, and the far-reaching ramifications of loss, this work is often misunderstood and overlooked. Help broaden the scope of available grief support by joining me for my upcoming comprehensive grief training program.
Grief and loss are always with us, but how we choose to engage with this inevitable part of life is up to us. This program is designed to create a space for participants to consciously explore their own grief along with the grief of those they choose to serve. Educating yourself in the realm of death, dying, and grief is more meaningful and transformative than you can imagine and this experience will serve you both personally and professionally. Allow yourself to explore conscious grieving as a means for conscious living. I hope you will join me!
With Love,
The Grief & Loss Program Includes:
6 weeks of live online instruction with Claire Bidwell Smith, LCPC
Guest conversations with authors Colin Campbell and Alua Arthur
Grief Through the Lens of Race, Culture, and Identity Workshop with Alica Forneret
Access to recordings of all sessions
Self-guided exercises for reflection and mastery
12 CE hours (see FAQs)
Certificates of Completion (pdf)
Digital Badge for use on your website or social media (jpg)
Ongoing access to an interactive online community
Listing as a Certified Provider in Claire’s Professional Directory
6 free months of membership in Claire’s Conscious Grieving Professional Network
WHO SHOULD JOIN THIS PROGRAM?
This intimate training program is designed for those who want to deepen their understanding of grief and learn how to support others through it. While it’s especially valuable for mental health professionals, it’s also open to coaches, educators, healthcare providers, somatic practitioners, spiritual counselors, and anyone working in the field of grief and loss.
During the six week course, you’ll learn directly from Claire in a small, supportive group, meeting twice a week to explore the emotional, psychological, and relational complexities of grief. You’ll be mentored in Claire’s compassionate, personal approach—gaining both practical tools and the confidence to hold space for others navigating loss.
DETAILS
Program Dates: Mondays and Thursdays, October 6 – November 13, 2025
Online Meeting Times: Mondays at 4:00 – 5:00 pm PT / 7:00 – 8:00 pm ET and Thursdays at 4:00 – 5:30 pm PT / 7:00 – 8:30 pm ET
Early Bird Pricing (ends September 14): $2000
Regular Pricing: $2400
Payment plans available
$200 non-refundable deposit applied to program fee
Death and grief affect everyone, and Claire is committed to providing the tools and training to help you support others through the journey of loss. And professional support continues well beyond the six-week training! Upon completing the Grief & Loss Training Program, you’ll be part of the Conscious Grieving Professional Network—a community of like-minded professionals dedicated to sharing knowledge and supporting each other’s growth with live monthly meetings and an active online community.
ABOUT CLAIRE
Recognized as one of today’s foremost experts on grief, Claire Bidwell Smith is a licensed therapist, international speaker, and the author of five books published in 22 countries. Led by her own experience in grief and fueled by her work in hospice and private practice, Claire strives to provide support for all kinds of people experiencing all kinds of loss. Claire has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, MSNBC, CNN, Scientific American, Goop, Oprah and many more outlets. Her most recent books Anxiety: The Missing Stage of Grief and Conscious Grieving have provided groundbreaking and transformative approaches to the process of grief. Learn more at clairebidwellsmith.com or by following @clairebidwellsmith on social media.
Alica Forneret (she/her) is an educator, speaker, and consultant dedicated to creating new spaces for people to explore grief and grieving. She is the Founder and Executive Director of PAUSE, an organization focused on supporting Communities of Color through grief and end of life.
Alica consults on product development and systems change to help companies create resources and tools for grieving communities. She facilitates sessions focused on inclusive bereavement responses and how to address grief at work for companies including Google, Culture Amp, Nielsen, and The California Department of Education. And she has partnered on international events and projects with the likes of The Elisabeth Kubler-Ross Foundation, Columbia University, and Lululemon.
Alica’s writing and work about grief, work, and race have been featured in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Psychology Today, Huffington Post, GQ, and more. Learn more about her at www.alicaforneret.co.
As the most visible death doula working in America today, Alua Arthur is a New York Times Bestselling author, a seeker, a “recovering” attorney, and the founder of Going with Grace, a death doula training and end-of-life planning organization. She has spent thousands of hours with folks as they contemplate their mortality when regrets, secret joys, hidden affairs, and dim realities are finally revealed aloud.
Her TED Talk titled, “Why thinking about death helps you live a better life” went online in July 2023, and has already received 1.5 million views. Alua has been featured on CBS’s The Doctors and in Disney’s “Limitless” docu-series with Chris Hemsworth, as well as in national print media outlets, such as Vogue, InStyle, the Los Angeles Times, The Cut, The New Yorker, and the New York Times.
Alua’s journey to death work started when her family fled a murderous coup d’etat in Ghana in the ‘80s – a time of chaos and fear that dramatically impacted her life and influenced her restless, peripatetic spirit. Every aspect of Alua’s fascinating life comes together in Briefly Perfectly Human: Making an Authentic Life By Getting Real About The End, her raw, no holds barred, honest, and frequently hilarious New York Times Bestselling Memoir poetically crafted to share her powerful message with people all around the world. Learn more about her work at www.aluaarthur.com.
Colin Campbell is a writer and director for theater and film. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Seraglio, a short film he wrote and directed with his lovely and talented wife, Gail Lerner. He has taught Theater and/or Filmmaking at Chapman University, Loyola Marymount University, Cal Poly Pomona University, and to incarcerated youth through The Unusual Suspects. His book, Finding the Words: Working Through Profound Loss with Hope and Purpose was published by Penguin Random House in March of 2023. He wrote and is currently touring a one person show titled, Grief: A One Man ShitShow which premiered at the Hollywood Fringe Festival and then ran for a month in New York City at Theatre Row. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Times, and ModernLoss.com and he has been interviewed on dozens of podcasts.
Colin lives in Los Angeles and sometimes Joshua Tree with his wife Gail and the two teenagers they are in the process of adopting. Gail and Colin have created The Ruby and Hart Foundation, which raises money to send authors and books to underserved schools. Learn more about Colin’s work at www.colincampbellauthor.com.
Grief & Loss Training with Claire Bidwell Smith, LCPC
- Analyze the clinical implications of bereavement symptoms contributing to the development of complicated grief.
- Establish how clinicians can better recognize grieving clients who mask symptoms of anxiety and depression.
- Explore the connection between grief and anxiety and the implications for grief treatment.
- Assess the clinical importance of targeting anxiety to improve treatment outcomes.
- Evaluate how the reduction of guilt related to the death is an important aspect of treating grief.
- Characterize how techniques that help clients make amends with lost loved ones can help them overcome guilt-driven anxiety.
- Apply mindfulness as an effective strategy to help client manage their symptoms.
- Investigate how narrative approaches can be used with clients to help them cope with loss.
- Specify how personal narratives and grief recovery letters can be utilized in the treatment of grief and anxiety.
- Communicate how clinicians can prepare themselves to work with anxiety in a variety of grieving client populations.
- Identify grief causes, symptoms, reactions
- Understand various timelines for grief
- Explore where the traditional 5-stage model fails
- Evaluate how the reduction of guilt related to the death is an important aspect of treating grief
- Make amends to overcome guilt-driven anxiety
- How narrative therapy can help clients to overcome guilt post-loss
- How to measure intensity and duration & identify symptoms
- Strategies to normalize and explore anger
- Recognize clients who use anger to mask other symptoms
- The link between grief and anxiety
- Anxiety, loss, and life’s unpredictability
- Awareness techniques – identify where fear starts in the body
- Continuing bonds model as a way to alleviate grief symptoms
- Ways to honor and maintain connection to loved ones
- How grief extends through a lifetime and how to carry the loss and loved one with you
- Identify and evaluate issues that arise for clients who are facing end of life either for themselves or family members
- Identify and understand treatment for anticipatory grief
- Personal narratives to overcome anxiety and death
- Sudden deaths, violent deaths, and chronic illnesses
- Loss of partner/spouse
- Loss of a child
- Children’s grief strategies
- Research limitations and treatment risks
Conscious Grieving Framework:
- Entering
- Engaging
- Surrendering
- Transforming
Workshop: Grief Through the Lens of Race, Culture, and Identity
In this 2-hour workshop, Alica Forneret of PAUSE will cover how identity impacts the death, dying, and grief experience of People of Color. Together, we will explore how race and culture can influence the type of support providers can offer to their clients. Attendees should be prepared to engage in individual exercises to examine their own identity and how it’s impacted their personal grief experience, as well as group discussions to center storytelling and resourcing from community. Participants will walk away with practical ideas for expanding their approach to making culturally relevant referrals, as well as a customized list of grief resources by and for People of Color. This workshop will take place on Monday, November 10th.
Topics covered:
- Cultural and systemic blockages between POC clients and mental health support and the mental health system
- “Whole person care” and the constellation of grief and end-of-life support within POC communities
- Grief and other lived experiences tied to identity/race (cultural bereavement, collective grief, etc.)
- Seeking out and making culturally-relevant referrals to honor your personal limits
- Storytelling about first-hand experiences of POC seeking and receiving therapy and grief counseling
FAQ's
All sessions will be recorded and posted to the online learning community within 48 hours after the live session. However, we require all participants who wish to earn Continuing Education (CE) hours to take part in the live Zoom sessions. Please notify the program manager at kelsey@clairebidwellsmith.com if you are unable to attend a live session.
- Up to September 28, 2025: 100% refund less $200 admin fee
- September 29 through Week 1 of program start: 50% refund
- Past Week 1 of program start: no refund
This program is for those seeking deep knowledge and a framework for working with people who are experiencing grief. While the program is designed for mental health counselors and other mental health professionals, we welcome participants at varying levels of training and profession. Coaches, teachers, spiritual leaders, medical professionals, massage therapists, yoga instructors, and those interested in working in the field of grief and loss are encouraged to join. Death and grief affect everyone and Claire is committed to providing the tools and training to help you support others through the journey of loss.
We encourage you to read the website thoroughly before registering and reach out to support@clairesbiwellsmith.com with additional questions!
The live training sessions (total of 12 hours) with Claire Bidwell Smith are the only component of this program that qualifies for CE hours. All guest conversations, workshops, homework exercises, and interactions outside of the 12 hours of training with Claire are for supplemental enrichment and do not qualify for CE hours.
In order to qualify to be a Certified Provider in Claire’s online professional directory, participants must complete the full training with Claire and guest speakers (total of 15 hours).
Grief & Loss: A Comprehensive Training Program has been approved by NBCC for NBCC credit. Claire
Bidwell Smith, LCPC is solely responsible for all aspects of the program. NBCC Approval No. SP-5055.
As a graduate of the Grief & Loss Training Program, you will be a certified grief-informed provider and have the option to be listed in the Professional Directory on clairebidwellsmith.com. This directory provides potential clients with a list of professionals with grief-related specialties and allows you to promote yourself as a graduate of the program. We can’t wait to add your name to this important resource!
There is no deadline to join the directory, so you are welcome to complete the training and take time exploring your next steps before submitting a directory listing.
Additionally, all program graduates have access to Claire’s Conscious Grieving Professional Network for ongoing monthly group mentorship, connection, and continued learning with like-minded peers.
We do not have an in-person training scheduled at this time, but we love to gather with training graduates when possible! Find us in person at annual events like End Well.
We hope to offer more 6-week trainings in Spring and Fall 2026. Please join the mailing list to be the first to know when the next training is scheduled.
Become a Certified Provider in Claire’s Professional Directory:
We are excited to offer an online directory to anyone seeking support for grief. All participants who successfully complete the Grief & Loss Training Program have the option to be listed in the Professional Directory on clairebidwellsmith.com. This directory provides potential clients a list of professionals with grief-related specialties and allows you to promote yourself as a graduate of the program. We can’t wait to add your name to this important resource!
Upon completing the Grief & Loss Training Program, you’ll be part of the Conscious Grieving Professional Network—a community of like-minded professionals dedicated to sharing knowledge and supporting each other’s growth.
What You’ll Get:
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Monthly Gatherings: Live meetings hosted by Claire, diving deep into essential topics and featuring special guest interviews.
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Networking Opportunities: Connect with fellow professionals, expand your network, and collaborate with others in the field of grief and loss.
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Guidance: Access a platform designed to elevate your practice through shared expertise and peer support.
This exclusive community is only available to graduates of the Grief & Loss Training Program, providing a valuable space for ongoing professional development and connection. Join today to continue your journey of growth alongside a supportive community of experts!
“The grief certification program with Claire was the perfect complement for me to add more clinical skills around grief to my lived experience. The training was a beautiful combination of teaching theory, actual interventions you can use immediately with clients, and consultation with Claire and others in the group.” — Theodora Blanchfield, AMFT, Grief & Loss Program Graduate
“I cannot imagine a better grief therapist than Claire Bidwell Smith. She has the ability to wrap her deep psychology background and understanding of frameworks for dealing with grief in an intimate and soft discussion that makes the client feel incredibly well supported. Perhaps as a result of her own losses, she becomes a partner in going through the process of grief with the person experiencing deep loss, and not just a medical professional. As a result, she has significantly advanced my ability to brave the storms of grief and even to see some of the beauty that it yields as well. I am forever indebted.” — Jaime, Los Angeles
“Claire was really the only person that truly understood how deeply my parents’ deaths affected me. She helped me through my Dad’s sudden death this past year. And also guided me on how to grieve my Mom’s death from cancer many years ago….when I was just a little girl, only 7 years old. Claire has been a Godsend and I truly feel that she is a huge part of why I have made it through this difficult year. I have learned so much about myself through my sessions with her and she helped me feel like I wasn’t alone.” — Krystal, Alberta, Canada
Claire Bidwell Smith, LCPC
Grief & Loss: A Comprehensive Training Program has been approved by NBCC for NBCC credit. Claire
Bidwell Smith, LCPC is solely responsible for all aspects of the program. NBCC Approval No. SP-5055.