Understanding Grief and Loss:

Parenting Children with Special Needs

Whether an individual becomes a parent through birthing, fostering, or adopting, that much hoped for child becomes the center of the universe for the parent.  Parents develop expectations, hopes, and dreams for their children before they come into their lives. When a child is diagnosed with a disability, parents feel a sense of loss and grieve for those dreams that must be modified.  This presentation will focus on the nonfinite or ongoing losses experienced by parents of children with special needs. We will discuss ways the grief experienced in response to these losses is often disenfranchised or not acknowledged by others. Participants will learn techniques to cope with grief and to support others who are grieving nonfinite losses.

TAKEAWAYS:

• To identify normal grief reactions resulting from nonfinite losses.
• To explain how grief experienced by parents of children with special needs is disenfranchised.
• To differentiate chronic sorrow from clinical depression.
• To list techniques to cope with nonfinite losses. 

2 Continuing Education hours available through Florida CEBrokers for Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Master Social Worker.  

Denise Montford, MSW, LCSW, CCTP, CGP

Denise Montford is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 30 years of experience in the field of social work. She is licensed as a social worker in both Florida and Alabama.  She graduated from Auburn University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and the University of South Carolina with a master’s degree in social work. 
Denise is a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP) through the International Association of Trauma Professionals (IATP). She is also a Certified Grief Informed Professional (CGP). She completed the Thanatology Certificate Program at the University of Alabama. She is a member of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and also holds the Academy of Certified Social Workers (ACSW) credential through NASW.