Funeral Professional Psychology – ‘Grief and Your Work’

Grief is undoubtedly the most prevalent emotion that dominates the work of funeral service providers. Grief is typically concentrated on the bereaved- family, friends, neighbours or community of the deceased. They are the ones who had suffered a loss and naturally they would be the ones who are easily identified to be needing the care and attention of the funeral director. But can funeral service practitioners also be grieving over a death or loss encountered at work? How much do we really know about the effects of grief in our work?

This course is designed to help learners have a better understanding of the tasks and process of grieving and to equip them with practical skills necessary to deal with different reactions and behaviours that they may encounter during the course of funeral arrangement, aftercare and counselling. Grieving process is a complex process that involves waves of emotions which complicates the role of the funeral service providers and the funeral directors in particular. In their interaction with the bereaved there is evidence to indicate that funeral directors can become the primary recipients of anger which is a common reaction to the loss of a loved-one. Learners will be taught the best ways on how to deal with such situations. This course also tackles the conflict between commerce and care in the funeral service.

Who Should Study the Course?

The course contents is specifically designed for funeral directors and embalmers and for anybody working in an environment where he/she will be dealing with death and bereaved families.

Course Contents

Module 1      Stages of grief

Module 2      How does grief of others affect you and your work?

Module 3      Mechanisms of coping with grief

Module 4      Helping the bereaved

Module 5      The importance of our Irish traditions and presentation of the deceased

Module 6      Return visits of bereaved families to funeral home