The Grief Journey: Navigating the Waves of Grief and Loss

With Jenny Salimbene, LCSW TEP and Regina Sewell, PhD, MA TEP

March 21-22, 2026

Saturday 9:30- 5:30
Sunday 9- 4:30

Location: Boughton Place, Highland, NY
Overnight accommodations are available on site and nearby.

Grief is often misunderstood. We live in a society that expects us to quickly get over grief and yet grief has no timeline. Grief cannot be rushed or “fixed” and requires attunement, compassion and patience. Understanding the needs of grieving clients empowers therapists and counselors to help their clients navigate the grieving process. Action methods such as psychodrama, sociodrama and sociometry offer tools that promote self-awareness, foster emotional expression and encourage clients to engage with their loss in individual work or in a supportive group. Psychodramatic methods function as catalysts to access clients’ inner knowing. They enable grieving clients to tune into the remembered and felt sense of their loved one to resolve difficult and/or painful grief issues. When clients show their story rather than telling it, clients gain insight that allows them to shift their narrative and find new ways of coping. For those working with groups, these action methods help build a sense of community and connection, decreasing the sense of isolation that comes with grief. Ultimately, action methods can help individuals process their grief in a holistic way, paving the path toward healing, growth, and the discovery of meaning after loss.

What You Will Learn

During this workshop, participants will learn and practice a variety of action methods designed to address the unique needs of grieving clients. These experiential approaches are intended to foster healing, facilitate emotional expression as well as cultivate safety and connection within a grief group setting.

They include:

1. Specific Sociometric Exercises: Engage in activities aimed at fostering safety and meaningful connections within grief groups.

2. Sociodrama Techniques: Use sociodrama to help clients normalize experiences of loss by connecting with others facing similar challenges, while providing space to express thoughts and emotions that may be unspoken or difficult to articulate.

3. Empty Chair and Role Reversal: Practice using the empty chair and role reversal to help clients communicate with loved ones and process complex emotions.

4. Doubling Skills: Learn effective ways to “double” clients and/or group members, providing support and helping them voice internal, unexpressed experiences.

5. Emotion Floor Checks: Utilize emotion floor checks to assist clients in accessing their feelings, exploring internalized messages, and creating opportunities for emotional expression.

6. Transforming Guilt: Explore techniques for letting go of guilt by reframing “what ifs” into “even ifs,” supporting clients in moving forward compassionately.

7. Additional Structures: Discover other possible frameworks and exercises to further support grieving clients as needed such as:
-Benevolent Witness in action
-Meaningful Moments in Action
-Future Projections

Faculty Bios

Jennifer Salimbene, LCSW-R, CASAC, TEP has over 30 years of experience as a psychotherapist with a focus on grief, relationship issues and substance misuse and general mental health issues such as PTDS, anxiety and depression. Jennifer is a certified grief educator through David Kessler and Grief.com and a Trainer, Educator and Practitioner of Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy by the American Board of Examiners. She is also certified in EMDR. Jenny was the director of several inpatient and and outpatient substance abuse treatment centers and is the head of the Addictions Track at the Hudson Valley Psychodrama Institute. Jennifer has been offering regional, national and international workshops for over 15 years. She is also co-director of the Center for Creative Action Strategies, has a private practice and runs a weekly psychodrama group.

Regina Sewell, PhD, LMHC, PCC, TEP has a PhD in Sociology and an MEd in Community Counseling. Regina is a certified grief educator through David Kessler and Grief.com and as a Trainer, Educator and Practitioner of Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy by the American Board of Examiners. Regina has over 15 years of experience as a psychotherapist in the field of addictions working in inpatient and outpatient settings. She teaches Sociology courses at SUNY New Paltz, Drug and Alcohol Use and Abuse at Dutchess Community College and Theatre Therapy at Russell Sage College. Regina is also co-director of the Center for Creative Action Strategies, has a private practice and runs a weekly psychodrama group.

Registration Information and Payment

Cost: $425.

Secure payment via PayPal

For more information and to register, please contact meghan@hvpi.net

Refund, Cancellation, Financial Aid and Health Policies

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

• Explain the role sociometry plays in developing a cohesive group.

• Demonstrate the psychodramatic technique of doubling clients.

• Describe the psychodramatic technique of role reversal.

• Differentiate between sociodrama and psychodrama.

• Explain the 6 needs of grieving clients.

• Describe how to apply the empty chair with clients.

**Continuing Education Hours

NYS Social Workers: In collaboration with Jacob Gershoni, LCSW, SW, CPE.
NYS LCAT’s: In collaboration with Water & Stone, a Creative Arts Therapy PLLC.
NYS CASACS: HVPI is an approved continuing education provider for OASAS for alcohol and substance abuse counsellors.
NYS CRPA and CARC: In collaboration with Regina Sewell, LHMC, PCC, TEP.

This course provides 12 hours of continuing education. Contact us for more information.

NBCC (National Board of Certified Counselors): Hudson Valley Psychodrama, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP #6789.
Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Hudson Valley Psychodrama, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. This course is approved for 12 CE’s.

**Many states accept NBCC and/or NYS Continuing Education for Mental Health professionals and Substance Abuse counsellors. Check with your state licensing board.

This workshop offers 12 training hours towards certification by the American board of Examiners in Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy.

For more information regarding Continuing Education hours please contact us.