Compassion Focused Therapy for Grief and Loss (Pre Conference Workshop)

This is one day HYBRID workshop with Professor Darcy Harris that will be delivered in Birmingham and Online on 12th October 2026
About this Event

This is a one day HYBRID workshop that will take place on 12th October 2026 in Birmingham (with livestream access), and is part of our 15th International Conference.

For more information about our conference program please visit:

https://www.compassionatemind.co.uk/cmf-conference-2026

Timings

All timings are according to UK Time

9.30 to 16.30 BST

Venue

Millenium Point

Curzon St, Birmingham B4 7AP

Pricing Face to Face

Early Bird: £185.00 (ends on the 31st July 2026)

Student Rate: £145.00

Member Rate: £ 175.00

Emerging Country: £105.00

Standard Rate: £205.00

Pricing Online

Early Bird: £125.00 (ends on the 31st July 2026)

Student Rate: £105.00

Member Rate: £ 115.00

Emerging Country: £75.00

Standard Rate: £145.00

For those in difficult financial circumstances, or to pay in instalments or via invoice, please contact [email protected]

About this Workshop

This workshop will weave together current research and practice related to loss and grief with the principles and practice of CFT, including material that will explore personal as well as collective experiences and responses to loss. An emphasis will be on differentiating a model of companioning grief versus an interventionist model of treating pathology, and the role of therapist self-practice as a way to cultivate the compassionate base that forms the heart of grief therapy.

8:30 - 10:00

Introductory Concepts

· Current thinking and research related to grief and loss

· Support versus intervention

· When grief goes awry

10:00 - 10.15: Break

10:15-12:00

The Therapist’s Compassionate Stance in Grief Therapy

· Current challenges in grief therapy

· The Role of compassion training for therapist and clients

· Shame-based self-criticism versus compassion based self-correction

12:00 - 13.00: Lunch

13:00-14:15

Challenges in Grief Therapy Practice

· The social context of compassion and grief

· Approaching unique scenarios of grief

· Compassion and disenfranchised grief

· Prolonged Grief Disorder and its implications

14:15 - 14.30: Break

14:30-16:30

Applying CFT to Grief

· Addressing shame and guilt with compassion

· Applying the flows of compassion to situations of loss and grief

· Compassion-based practices with grieving clients

· Use of energy and imagery

· Summary and discussion

Key references

Harris, D. L. (2023). An exploration of compassion focused therapy for grieving individuals. OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine, 8(4), 1-31.

Harris, D.L., & Ho, A.Y. (2023). Compassion based approaches in loss and grief. Routledge.

Harris, D.L., & Milman, E.V. (2026). Principles and practice of grief counseling (4th Ed). Springer.

Workshop Leader

Darcy L. Harris, R.N., R.S.W., M.Ed. (Couns.), Ph.D., FT, is a Professor Emeritus of Thanatology at King’s University College at Western University in London, Canada, where she has also maintained a private clinical practice for 30 years specializing in issues related to change, loss, and transition. In addition, she is a faculty member of the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition, dedicated to training in grief therapy leading toward Certification in Meaning Reconstruction in Loss.

She has served on the board of directors of the Association for Death Education and Counseling currently serves on the board of directors of the International Work Group on Death, Dying, and Bereavement. She is co-editor for Routledge Publishing Company’s Death, Dying, and Bereavement Series and she is an internationally recognized speaker and author.

In addition to numerous articles, monographs, and book chapters, her publications include Counting our Losses: Reflecting on Change, Loss, and Transition in Everyday Life (Routledge), Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society: Bridging Research and Practice (Routledge), Principles and Practice of Grief Counseling (Springer), The Handbook of Social Justice in Loss and Grief: Exploring Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (Routledge), Non-Death Loss and Grief: Context and Clinical Implications (Routledge), and Compassion-Based Approaches to Loss and Grief (Routledge).