Grief is an inescapable experience inherent in the human condition
The majority of clients are also carrying some degree of unprocessed loss, whether in the form of specific bereavements or as integral components of other difficult life experiences (eg, childhood trauma). Many times clinicians are faced with dilemmas of clinical priorities and may sway away from grief work, either because of a lack of confidence, or an uncertainty about which interventions might be most effective.
Workshop trainer
Advanced Certified Schema Therapist, Supervisor, and Trainer.
Dr.Gladstone has 24 years of experience in the mental health field, is co-director of The Good Mood Clinic (a schema therapy practice established in 2008) and Director of Sydney Centre for Schema Therapy (a sister training centre to the Good Mood Clinic) based in Sydney, NSW Australia. She worked in academia, holding the position of senior research fellow at the Black Dog Institute (UNSW), and has over 30 peer-reviewed publications in the area of mood disorders.
Dr. Gemma Gladstone
"I don't want to dredge up those old memories"
Unhelpful Behaviours: either distinct ongoing avoidance of reminders or constant over-engagement with reminders
Resistant self-blame and guilt (very complex and has several dimensions/types; negative thoughts about the grief itself (inner critic/no self-compassion)
"I have no memories of my childhood"
Helping our clients integrate and heal from painful losses often includes specific challenges to schema therapists
Emotion dysregulation: Over or under-engagement with emotional material/emotions; not taking respite from painful emotions (not allowing self to experience positive emotions)
Сhildhood memories are very emotionally charged
Secure atmosphere
Skill set in selected schema therapy experiential techniques to help patients who are grieving
Introduction to both chair-work and imagery-based interventions