Course | Grief-Informed Care: Navigating Trauma, Loss, and Suicide in Schools

Course Instructor(s)

Kelly Daugherty, LCSW-R, FT, GC-C, BC-TMH
Grief Specialist and Educator
Kelly Daugherty is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Fellow in Thanatology, and grief specialist with over 25 years of experience supporting individuals, families, and professionals through some of life's most profound losses. Based in Malta, New York, Kelly is the founder of Kelly Daugherty, LCSW, PLLC, a private clinical practice specializing in acute and traumatic grief, and the Center for Informed Grief, LLC, an education and training organization dedicated to advancing grief-informed practice across school, clinical, and community settings. She is also the creator of Healing Strides, a trademarked, research-based program that combines grief group support with 5K race training for grieving women.

Kelly's clinical expertise spans traumatic grief, suicide loss, parent loss, and grief in children and adolescents. She is a sought-after trainer and educator whose work reaches mental health professionals, school counselors, and helping professionals across the country. As a Senior Faculty Member for EngagedMinds Continuing Education, she brings both clinical rigor and personal understanding to every training she delivers — drawing on her experience as a motherless daughter and bereaved child to deepen her work with others.

A prolific author and contributor to the grief field, Kelly is the lead author of The Grief Experience: Tools for Acceptance, Resilience and Connection, a collaborative work featuring 25 authors, and has contributed chapters to Holistic Mental Health, Brave Kids (Volumes 1–3), and Ultimate Guide to Self Healing, Vol. 6. She also recently published The First Year After Loss: The GRIEF Ladies Guide to Everything You Need to Know and is currently completing The GRIEF Ladies: A Guide to What Comes Next. Kelly is the co-host of the GRIEF Ladies Podcast and co-creator of the GRIEF Ladies framework, a practical, evidence-informed approach to navigating life after loss.

Details

CE Hours: 6
Type: Self-Paced
Publication Date: Feb 12th, 2026

About This Course

In this training, you will dive deeper into the complex, often overlooked challenges that schools face when supporting grieving students. You will foIn this self-In this self-study training, you take a deeper look at the complex and often overlooked challenges schools face when supporting grieving students. The course explores traumatic grief, the unique considerations when a student dies, suicide within school communities, and the emotional and academic impact of a terminal illness diagnosis.

Designed for educators, school counselors, social workers, and school psychologists, this training supports professionals who are ready to address heightened emotional needs while fostering a compassionate, inclusive school environment.

Participants will learn how to respond effectively to grief-related crises, support families navigating loss, and implement developmentally appropriate, school-wide responses to trauma, death, and serious illness. Through case examples and practical, evidence-informed strategies, this course equips school professionals with the knowledge and tools needed to respond with confidence, clarity, and compassion — helping grieving students feel supported, understood, and able to continue learning.

Included in this self-study are the complete slide deck and a collection of bonus handouts and practical tools designed to support immediate use in school settings.

Please note: participants will be watching a recorded video.

Learning Objectives

Recognize the impact of traumatic grief on students and the school environment
Distinguish between grief reactions and trauma responses in students, and apply appropriate interventions for each
Analyze how the death of a student, suicide, and terminal illness among peers affect students emotionally, academically, and socially
Develop protocols for school-wide communication following a student's death or a suicide, ensuring clarity and sensitivity
Apply grief-informed strategies for handling sensitive topics, such as death, suicide, and illness in a school setting

Learning Levels

Beginner and Intermediate, all levels welcome

Target Audience

All mental health professionals welcome.

Disclosure

EngagedMinds Continuing Education, Erena DiGonis, and planners have no financial disclosures or commercial bias or promote commercial interests during CE activities.

Content

Recordings
2 parts
Training Video
Final Thoughts and Resources Video

Materials
11 parts
Slide Deck
Training Handout
School Suicide Response Checklist
Individual Bereavement Plan
Individual Bereavement Plan Resource from NACG
Sample Letters and Scripts
Grief Resources
School Grief Group
TF-CBT Grief Workbook
Grief Camp Websites
Evergreen Certification

Credit

Credit may be available for this course and may vary by country or institution. Please verify eligibility with EngagedMinds.