Meaning-Centered Grief Therapy: Finding Meaning After Loss

An 8-Week Grief Support Group for Those Who Have Lost a Significant Other or Parent

Dates & Time:

This group meets on Thursdays from 6:00- 7:30 PM ET.

Meeting dates are October 17, October 24, November 7, November 14, November 21, December 5, December 12, and December 19. There will be no sessions on Halloween (October 31) or Thanksgiving (November 28).

Location:

This is an online group. Members will received an encrypted Zoom link to access group meetings.

Group Description:

It is most times difficult to begin a conversation around the loss of our loved ones but creating a space for yourself to understand how a loss has affected your life and reconnecting with ways that your life has meaning can be healing. In a time of distressing thoughts and hard realities, it can be difficult to find meaning in the loss and in your life. Meaning-Centered Grief Therapy (MCGT) can provide an opportunity for the bereaved to make meaning after loss. MCGT has the potential to address meaning-related challenges for those grieving and may help with management of prolonged grief symptoms. The use of MCGT is designed to support those who are grieving find 1) sense-making; 2) benefit-finding and posttraumatic growth; 3) identity and sense of purpose in the face of the loss; 4) reconnection to meaning through exploration of 4 sources of meaning (historical, attitude, experiential, and creative); 5) legacy and meaning in the deceased’s life.

Finding a group or opportunity to openly discuss these experiences can be an important part of moving through the many layers of grief. This group will offer a healing space for members to be seen, heard, and understood and designed to create a non-judgmental, safe and nurturing environment for those who have experienced loss of another person. To enrich this experience, movement-based explorations will be used to support, explore, and connect the MCGT ideas. Additionally, we will use creative means, such as poetry and art, to explore these themes further. By drawing on the resources of the body, we will foster resilience as each participant gains a deeper understanding and awareness of their own personal sense of meaning.

Each member will have an individual call with the group leader, Jenn Whitley, before starting the group to learn about the process and get any questions that have answered and assess goodness of fit for the group.

Cost:

The group costs $480 for 8- 90-minute group meetings by check, cash, credit card, or Zelle.

I Want to Learn More About This Group:

About the Group Leader:

Jenn Whitley, MS BC-DMT LCAT CMA provides dance/movement therapy for children, parents, and adults at Dancing Dialogue.  She specializes in providing DMT for individuals who have ADHD, anxiety, experienced family separation, eating disorders, learning differences, autism spectrum disorder, medical illness, issues with disruptive behavior, Bipolar Disorder, Parkinson's Disease, trauma, and provides parenting support and grief counseling. She provides Authentic Movement and Reiki sessions, as well, sometimes including both as a part of the therapeutic process.

Jenn is a board-certified Dance/Movement Therapist (DMT) and Licensed Creative Arts Therapist who received her master’s degree, with honors, in Dance Therapy at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.  She is trained through the Ways of Seeing program at Dancing Dialogue, Certified as a Laban Movement Analyst from the Laban Institute of Movement Studies and completed training in the discipline of Authentic Movement at The New York Center for the Study of Authentic Movement with Joan Wittig. Jenn is also a Reiki Practitioner (Level II) and trained in Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy (MCP) through MSKCC. She has been a DMT at Dancing Dialogue since 2014 working with children, families, and adults incorporating all aspects her training into the Ways of Seeing psychotherapeutic multi-arts approach. She is certified provider of TeleMental Healthcare from the Telehealth Certification Institute.

Jenn’s experience also includes medical DMT at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, joining the Integrative Medicine Services (IMS) team in 2012, with a focus in pediatric oncology alongside Dr. Tortora. Her work at MSKCC also expands beyond pediatrics into staff wellness and providing virtual classes and workshops for adult patients through IMS. Additionally, she provides dance/movement therapy for children with neurodiverse conditions facilitating group DMT sessions in the public school setting since 2013.  She taught as interim instructor in The New School’s Creative Arts Therapy Certification Program, worked as DMT/Choreographer for Angelight Films, and presents workshops locally, nationally, and internationally. 

Jenn is a member of the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO), the American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA) where she is currently serving on the Standards & Ethics Committee and serves on the board for the Andréa Rizzo Foundation.