What the Living Owe the Dead: Remoralizing Bereavement
$180* | 6 CEUs | In-Person
$180* | 6 CEUs | In-Person
This workshop explores how bereavement is deeply intertwined with ethical dilemmas and competing moral frameworks. Ultimately, clinicians will learn to look beyond traditional coping strategies and stages of grief to understand how navigating loss is not only a mental health challenge, but also a deeply moral and philosophical one.
Date: Friday, November 6, 2026
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. ET
Program Cost: $180* (see below for discount rate)
Delivery: In-Person (Lunch Provided)
Traditional bereavement models focus primarily on emotional regulation and adjustment to loss. However, an additional and important consideration is that both intrapersonal and interpersonal conflicts after a death frequently involve unvoiced ethical dilemmas. This workshop invites clinicians to look beyond standard coping strategies and explore how bereavement is deeply embedded in competing moral frameworks, centering on the fundamental question: What do the living owe the dead?
Problems with grief and loss are among the most common issues addressed in mental health care. Clinical models and bereavement often are associated with concepts such as emotional regulation, stages of grief, and adjustment to change.
However, when a family fractures because a surviving parent begins dating again, or when an individual feels immense guilt for experiencing joy, the common clinical intervention is often a postmodern response: "Everyone grieves in their own way, and we just need to respect that.” While this reminder can be helpful, it is important to note that for families and individuals navigating profound issues of loyalty and betrayal, this default response can often miss the mark.
How one grieves the dead is not just a mental health question—it is also an ethical question. This workshop pulls back the curtain on these critical, often neglected dilemmas, exploring how clinical practice intersects with moral philosophy and the social structures in which we live.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of the program, participants will be able to:
- Identify three common ethical conflicts mourners face
- Identify three ethical frameworks pertaining to grief and mourning
- Explain the ethical choices bereavement care professionals face.
Instructor
Jeffery Barg, MSS, LCSW is a 2010 graduate of the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, and a bereavement counselor in private practice. Prior to opening his private practice, Jeffery served as an administrator of Penn Medicine Hospice’s Bereavement Support Program, where he also served as a bereavement counselor for nine years. His specialties include hospice and grief counseling, bibliotherapy, ecotherapy, mindfulness-based interventions, support groups, and group therapy.
Cost | CEUs
Program Cost: $180
Discount Rate: $150 for BMC alumnae/i, faculty, staff, field instructors of current GSSWSR MSS students, current MSS students, and agency-funded groups of 3 or more*
CEUs: 6 CEUs (Includes 6 Ethics credits)