Encore: Understanding Professional Grief

Although social service professionals are trained to help their clients cope with the grief that accompanies a loss, there is often little formal training on how these professionals should process their own grief when a client passes away. Social workers, nurses, physicians, clergy members, professional caregivers and others in similar occupations that experience death on a regular and continuous basis can experience “bereavement overload” that can lead to burnout and even post-traumatic stress reactions. On this episode of Frankly Speaking About Cancer, Cancer Support Helpline counselor Justin Short, MPH, MSW, LCSW, explores the topic of professional grief and how professionals in high-loss environments can better understand it and develop skills to manage it.