Nationally-Renowned Speaker on Grief Visits Topeka

Author, psychologist and grief counselor Dr. Alan Wolfelt is offering two free workshops on April 16-17, thanks to a sponsorship by Penwell-Gabel.

Wolfelt is the founder and director of the Center for Loss and Life Transition in Fort Collins, Colorado and faculty member of the University of Colorado Medical School’s Department of Family Medicine. He has also been a guest on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “The Larry King Live Show” and the “NBC Today Show.”

This year, Dr. Wolfelt will share tips to help people understand the process of grief, mourning and healing. The first workshop, entitled “Loving From the Outside In, Mourning From the Inside Out,” is held on April 16 from 7-9 p.m. at the Capitol Plaza Hotel on 1717 SW Topeka Blvd. This community workshop will focus on and teach participants how to:

• Explore the “Ripple Effect” of Grief: Loss of Self, Security, Meaning

• Describe the Potential Dimensions of Response

• Identify Six Central Needs of Mourning

• Befriend Hope and Transformation: Love Goes On in the Face of Grief

• Relect on Your “Bill of Rights” as a Mourner

Wolfelt’s second workshop, entitled “When Grief is ‘Complicated,’” is on April 17 from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. at the same location. The second session is especially geared toward professionals such as therapists, nurses, clergy and social workers. Both seminars are pre-approved for continuing education credit by the Kansas State Board of Mortuary Arts, Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board and Kansas State Board of Nursing.

The workshops are sponsored by Penwell-Gabel, a family-owned company with funeral homes, crematories and cemeteries throughout Kansas. The owners Ren and Theresa Newcomer continue a four-generation Tradition of Caring that began in 1893. For more information, visit PenwellGabel.com, or call 785-354-8558.