Chronic Illness and Bereavement presented by Dr. Gerald P. Koocher at The Brattleboro Retreat

The Brattleboro Retreat’s Office of Continuing Education will offer a full-day seminar called “Chronic Illness and Bereavement: Helping Families Cope” on Friday, October 1st. The presenter, Dr. Gerald P. Koocher, has devoted his career to working with families confronted by chronic illness and loss at Children’s Hospital Boston. He is currently a professor of psychology at Simmons College and Lecturer at Harvard Medical School’s Department of Psychiatry.

Dr. Koocher’s presentation will identify the principles of medical crisis counseling and offer psychotherapeutic strategies and interventions that will assist medically ill patients. He will cover how to assess and intervene in cases of medical non-adherence. Mental health professionals who attend this conference will be able to apply an evidence-based prevention model for families that have experienced the death of a child and generalize this model to other family losses.

The conference will be held on the Brattleboro Retreat’s campus in the Education Conference Center. It will begin promptly at 8:30 AM and end at 4:00 PM. The day includes continental breakfast and lunch. The full price is $140, but an on-line registration discount still applies at www.brattlebororetreat.org/conferences. Registration is required, and continuing education credits are available for most professions. Call Gay Maxwell at 802-258-4359 with any questions.

The Brattleboro Retreat, founded in 1834, is a not-for-profit, regional specialty psychiatric hospital and addictions treatment center, providing a full range of diagnostic, therapeutic and rehabilitation services for individuals of all ages and their families. Nationally recognized for its premier treatment in behavioral healthcare, the Brattleboro Retreat offers a high quality, individualized, comprehensive continuum of care including inpatient, partial hospitalization, residential and outpatient treatment.