Santa Clara University

Counseling the Family Caregiver on End-of-Life Issues

CPSY x681

Day	Friday, May 18th, 2012
Time	1pm-5pm
Room	Loyola Hall, Room 135
Credit	0.4 CEUs, 4 CE Hours
Cost	$95
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Description

     As the baby boomer generation ages, more and more people are facing the prospect of caring for parents and other loved ones with life-threatening and terminal illnesses. With the stunning capabilities of modern medicine, people may be told that they have a life-threatening illness months or even years in advance of passing away. As a consequence, patient and families potentially have more choice than ever before about how and where the end of life will occur.  Unfortunately, most people are unprepared for the responsibility of making such choices and the intense emotions that can accompany them.

      Although psychotherapists are frequently trained in the care of bereaved individuals, they rarely are trained to work with patients and families before the death has occurred. In this course, you will learn the basics of working with these issues. Although we will focus primarily on working with family members, we will also cover some techniques for working with patients themselves.

      The emphasis will be overtly practical, including techniques for aiding family members to communicate better with physicians, make important care decisions, learn to talk with their dying loved one about emotional topics, as well as search for meaning throughout the care-giving process and cope with their own anticipatory grief. This course is ideal for mental health care professionals or other interested professionals with little training in caring for dying patients and their families, or for those looking to brush up on basic skills.

Instructor