While grief is a common reason clients seek therapy, what happens when the therapist is grieving, too? Grief isn’t a professional risk—it’s a human reality. Therapists grieve, too. And they deserve space to heal.

Whether from the loss of someone they love, a patient, or even cumulative burnout, clinicians can bear silent sorrow that they can bring into the therapy room. Unfortunately, few safe spaces exist for professionals to process this pain.

Therapists are trained to hold others’ emotional weight, but who holds theirs? In response to this vital question, Core Wellness has developed a continuing education course: The Grieving Clinician, aimed at helping clinicians identify grief, develop boundaries, explore self-disclosure, and adopt strategies without compromising their clinical role.

Understanding Clinician Grief: A Silent Struggle

People often see acknowledging our own grief as a sign of weakness, but in reality, it's a step toward authentic and sustainable care. So how do we begin that process?

Mental health professionals are at the forefront of supporting others through loss while suppressing their emotional responses. This unspoken expectation forces them to stay calm and composed at all times, which can lead to emotional detachment, burnout, or even compassion fatigue.

Clinicians are humans first, and therefore, they grieve too. This could be due to the death of loved ones or the suffering of their clients. It may also be due to an ethical dilemma they are undergoing, and even collective losses, such as those experienced during global crises.

Recognizing unprocessed grief is the first step toward fostering emotional resilience. Grief counselling can validate this experience and empower clinicians to acknowledge their pain without shame. If left unaddressed, this silent grief can chip away at our therapeutic presence over time. By expressing our loss in words, we can redeem ourselves not just as practitioners but as human beings.

According to the APA, prioritizing self-care in the wake of grief is essential for clinical effectiveness and emotional resilience. This course echoes that philosophy, equipping clinicians with supportive, restorative strategies.

Why This Course Is So Timely—and So Necessary

This powerful training session will help you experience real-time engagement with peers who truly understand your struggle. The course is offered by Tiffani Dilworth, MA, LCPC, a nationally recognized grief specialist and clinical therapist whose extensive lived experience and clinical insights create a grounded, deeply empathetic learning environment.

With over a decade of experience in bereavement counseling and trauma-sensitive care, Tiffani brings a rare combination of clinical expertise, emotional intelligence, and compassion to her training. She is also the author of several books on grief and healing, making her voice in this course a trusted and wise presence for clinicians navigating personal and professional loss.

If you need the flexibility to process at your own pace, the on-demand Grieving Clinician course allows you to revisit the most challenging concepts whenever it works best for you.

Core Wellness offers both live and on-demand options to support the needs of busy clinicians. In either format, you’ll be guided through essential topics such as:

• Ethical and therapeutic use of self-disclosure

• Identifying personal triggers and applying grounding techniques

• Establishing boundaries during and after periods of grief

• Using Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) to foster inner kindness and psychological flexibility

Self-Disclosure: When and How to Be Open

Self-disclosure is a subtle skill that, if done deliberately, can heighten the therapeutic relationship. However, where grief is involved, it's essential to consider: Who gains from this disclosure—the client or me?

The workshop helps participants explore the when, why, and how of personal sharing, while ensuring that it supports the client's process and is clinically appropriate. Ethical self-disclosure can bring about the human side in a therapist, but it must be grounded in client-centered purpose and thoughtful timing.

Understanding when and how to convey personal grief experiences in session can build trust, but it must be accomplished ethically and with the correct intention. This advice can be a clinician's lifeline, enabling them to walk a tightrope between personal risk and professional obligation.

Tools for Grounding and Coping That Work

Clinicians who are grief-stricken usually feel dysregulated. As a result, they become prone to fatigue, irritable moods, and even disconnection in client sessions. Learning to ground yourself in the moment is not only useful—it's essential for your therapeutic success. 

In the course, Dilworth offers a toolkit of evidence-based practices, like: 

• Body-based grounding, e.g., breathing and body awareness

• Cognitive reframing and thought journaling

• Mindful transitions prior to and after sessions

These techniques enable therapists to remain present, manage their own emotions, and not let grief hamper the therapeutic relationship.  The National Center for PTSD also outlines similar strategies, reinforcing the importance of structured self-care practices for trauma-exposed professionals.

What makes these tools so useful is their easy-to-implement format—clinicians can apply them in practice from the get-go. They are not abstract theories but rather concrete, actionable interventions designed for the therapist's mental well-being.

Don't wait until you're overwhelmed. Access these evidence-based grounding techniques and start using them in your practice tomorrow

Redefining Boundaries in the Wake of Loss

After a significant loss, returning to work can feel overwhelming. Having an idea of how to reorganize your schedule, modify caseloads, and be transparent with clients can ease the process. These boundaries are not meant to isolate but safeguard you and your clients and prevent internalized guilt over self-care.

The course outlines four core work-related boundaries:
 

1. Time boundaries – Dividing sessions into a suitable frequency and duration.

2. Emotional boundaries – Knowing when to pause in emotionally demanding cases.

3. Relational boundaries– Notify clients regarding your availability and capacity to handle sessions. 

4. Recovery boundaries – Setting aside time for your own grief and taking adequate rest and care.

Bringing Self-Compassion into Clinical Practice

Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) practices are particularly helpful for mourning practitioners. CFT focuses on comforting, cherishing, and taking care of yourself as an important aspect of your healing process.

Some of the most important exercises are:

• Writing a letter to yourself from a compassionate place

• Practicing self-guided loving-kindness meditations

• Employing compassionate imagery to tone down self-criticism

These tools don't replace grief, but help you in moving through it more gently and strongly. Integrating CFT strategies enables clinicians to create a sustainable way forward following personal loss.

By adopting these tools, you can remind yourself that self-compassion is not indulgence—it's about maintaining your integrity. The greater priority clinicians give to self-care, the more genuinely they can show up for their clients.

Conclusion: You Deserve to Heal, Too

Being a therapist doesn't mean you're immune to pain. If anything, your grief gets more complicated—and you deserve care as much as others. Grief does not exclude you from being a great clinician—it brings you emotionally closer to your clients. Tiffany Dillworth’s transformative training empowers clinicians with practical tools they need to facilitate healing.

Whether you're currently experiencing a loss or preparing for the inevitable emotional toll of this work, this course can help you process your grief, establish ethical and personal boundaries, and stay clinically effective. 

You’ve helped others carry their grief—now let us help you carry yours. Join the Grieving Clinician course, live or on-demand, and start your healing journey today