The Meaningful Grief Model: Treating Grief with Meaning-Making & IFS
An Integrated Approach to Help Clients Find Their Way Forward After Loss
A 6.5-hour course for therapists taught by grief expert Lara Krawchuk.
Grief Therapy Can Be More Complicated Than It Looks
Every therapist works with grief.
It follows a death, and it follows losses that are harder to name: a chronic illness, a family member’s addiction, a divorce, a job, the loss of a relationship, or the loss of something one hoped would occur but never came to be.
You might have learned about grief through stage models that describe a predictable path toward acceptance.
Clients rarely follow that path.
One client seems steady for months, then is flattened by an anniversary.
Another is still carrying a loss years later and wonders, or has been told, that something is wrong with them.
As a therapist, you may be unsure how to help:
- A client who keeps themselves very busy, or goes numb, and the grief never quite comes into therapy
- A client who can’t stop asking questions that have no answers: Why did this happen? Could I have stopped it? Who am I now?
- When grief lingers or intensifies, and you’re trying to sort out whether you’re seeing depression, trauma, or grief that needs more time and care.
- When a current loss stirs up older ones, and it’s hard to tell which pain you’re working with.
- When the people around your client don’t acknowledge the loss, and you may be the only one making room for it.
Grief work affects you as a therapist too. Sitting with this much pain can activate your own losses and urge you to want to make things better.
When this happens outside of your awareness, it’s easy to move too fast, or to pull back without meaning to.
How You CAN Benefit From This Course
- Discover the power of integrating meaning-making with IFS when working with grieving clients. You’ll learn how to help clients welcome all their parts affected by loss, honor what they’ve lost, and begin rebuilding a meaningful life.
Offer clients a way to understand grief that doesn’t make them feel broken. Whether their loss is a death or a loss others don’t acknowledge, clients can see their grief as a natural response to what they’ve lost.
Have a clear path through grief work, from the first session onward. You’ll know what to focus on at each point, including how to reach clients who avoid their grief or feel overwhelmed by it.
Work safely with traumatic and complex loss. Support clients whose loss is sudden, violent, or layered on earlier hurts, without overwhelming them.
Know how to help when grief doesn’t ease. When a client’s grief lingers for months or years, you’ll understand what may be keeping it stuck and how to respond.
See hope and growth emerge over time. As clients heal, many begin to notice their resilience, deeper connections, and a renewed sense of what matters to them.
Stay grounded when your clients’ grief stirs up your own. You’ll leave with ways to care for yourself that help you sustain this work over time.
This course had a profound impact on me personally and professionally.
The course opened my eyes to the different layers of grief and how personal its meaning can be for each client. Sometimes the most important thing is to sit with someone in their pain, listen to their story, and understand what their loss means to them.
I loved how practical and down-to-earth Lara was. She made the concepts simple and easy to understand, and her engaging examples brought the material to life.
When I took the course, I experienced a huge somatic release myself. I’ve never experienced anything like that, and it showed me how powerful this work can be.
The course was so insightful that I want to go through it again and get even more out of it.
I usually have suggestions for improvement, so it’s rare for me to say this, but I honestly wouldn’t change anything about it. I Everything was great!
Erica Clark
Counselling Student
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Meet Lara Krawchuk, MSW, LCSW, MPH
Grief Expert and Certified IFS Therapist
Lara has been practicing as a clinical social worker for over 30 years. She brings deep compassion and expertise to her clients and her 2 decades of
Experience teaching MSW social work students at the University of Pennsylvania.
Lara adores the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model. She is a certified IFS therapist and Level 1 Consultant. She has done countless hours of training with many highly respected lead trainers and loves helping clients and helping professionals find their way to this magnificent model of care.
As a specialist in grief, living losses, and trauma in her therapy practice, Lara has had an intimate connection to the losses people suffer. She has a tremendous capacity for helping clients maintain hope and move toward healing.
She is passionate about teaching clinicians how to exquisitely listen, help heal burdens, and make our broken-hearted world a better place.
This course gave me a new perspective on grief and greater confidence in my work.
I really liked Lara’s Meaningful Grief Model and how she incorporates IFS into grief work. It gave me a helpful framework for understanding grief and working with clients experiencing different kinds of loss, including divorce, job loss, and major life transitions.
I have a client who has been struggling with grief for decades and has felt that things will never get better. I drew on Lara’s meaning-making questions and her approach to‘sticky’ grief, and the client is beginning to talk more openly about their loss.
I appreciated how Lara turned the focus to us as clinicians and how our own experiences of grief can show up in the therapy room. That’s a perspective I haven’t often encountered in other trainings.
I was also pleasantly surprised that Lara acknowledged historical and systemic oppression, including generational grief and intergenerational trauma. These are important aspects of my own clinical work, and I was glad to see them included.
It’s well organized and easy to follow, with each module covering something distinct. Lara is an engaging presenter whose personal stories and clinical examples kept me engaged.
Liz Deibel, Psy.D. Resident in Clinical Psychology
Richmond, Virgina, USA
The course details are below, but if you're ready to sign-up, here you Go...
What you'll learn in 11 Pre-recorded Modules
Module 1: Who Am I Now? Shattered Meaning and Identity in Early Grief
Module 1: Who Am I Now? Shattered Meaning and Identity in Early Grief
- Distinguish loss, grief, and bereavement, including living and identity losses
- Understand loss as a crisis of meaning shaped by each client’s unique story
- Learn the principles of meaning-oriented grief work
Module 2: Healing Never Happens in the Darkness of Exile - IFS for Grief
Learn the core IFS concepts of protector parts and exiles
Understand why grief can’t heal in exile
Explore Self as the inner healer in grief work
Module 2: Healing Never Happens in the Darkness of Exile - IFS for Grief
Module 3: Lighting the Path - The Meaningful Grief Model
Module 3: Lighting the Path - The Meaningful Grief Model
- Learn the 6 chapters of the Meaningful Grief Model
- Understand the model’s goals and how activated parts guide the work
- Apply the model in any practice setting
Module 4: Where the Work Begins: Assessing the Loss Story
- Assess the loss story and the influences that shape it
- Assess safety and suicide risk with Self-led curiosity
- Balance attention to challenges and strengths
Module 4: Where the Work Begins: Assessing the Loss Story
Module 5: Go Slow to Go Deep - Pacing Trauma-Informed Grief Work
Module 5: Go Slow to Go Deep - Pacing Trauma-Informed Grief Work
Assess a client’s capacity for grief work
Pace the work so protector parts feel respected
Build capacity with nervous system resourcing tools
Module 6: When Loss Ruptures Attachment - Untangling Past and Present, Sustaining the Bond
Understand significant losses as attachment ruptures
Untangle present loss from past hurts
Support continuing bonds with the what or who is lost
Module 6: When Loss Ruptures Attachment - Untangling Past and Present, Sustaining the Bond
Module 7: Honoring the Protectors - Mapping Parts After Loss
Module 7: Honoring the Protectors - Mapping Parts After Loss
- Understand why grief parts can feel frightening to clients and helpers
- Map protector parts, including through arts-based mapping
- Earn protectors’ trust before approaching grief parts
Module 8: Radical Welcoming - Witnessing Every Shard of Pain
- Move toward grief parts with Self-energy and no agenda
- Witness every part of the pain, with no topic off limits
- Make space for big and existential questions
Module 8: Radical Welcoming - Witnessing Every Shard of Pain
Module 9: Learning to Live with Loss - Supporting Grief Over Time
Module 9: Learning to Live with Loss - Supporting Grief Over Time
Support long-term healing and meaning-making
Nurture the both/and of grief with the 3 Baskets exercise
Recognize setbacks, growth, and hope over time
Module 10: When Grief Lingers - Tending to Exiled Grief
Recognize sticky grief and how it differs from depression
Understand the origins of sticky grief, including disenfranchised grief
Discern when to tend to past or present pain
Module 10: When Grief Lingers - Tending to Exiled Grief
Module 11: You Matter Too - Becoming a Self-Led Healer
Module 11: You Matter Too - Becoming a Self-Led Healer
- Understand why reflective practice matters in grief work
- Recognize your own helper parts and common mistakes
- Tend to your own grief without burdening clients
GET YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED IN A LIVE WEBINAR WITH LARABesides
In this 1-hour webinar, Lara will expand on the course concepts by answering questions.
**You’ll get the most value out of the course by attending this live session.
However, if you can’t attend the live session, you can submit questions beforehand, as it will be recorded.
The video and audio recordings of the webinar will be available within 48 hours after the live session is over.
GET YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED IN A LIVE WEBINAR WITH LARA
Live WEBINAR DATE AND TIME
USA
December 3, 2026
1-2 pm PST
2-3pm MST
3-4 pm CST
4-5 pm EST
CANADA
December 3, 2026
2-3 pm PCT (BC/ Yukon)
3-4 pm ABT (Alberta)
4-5 pm (Manitoba)
4-5 pm EST (Ontario/ Quebec)
UNIted Kingdom
December 3, 2026
9-10 pm
AUSTRALIA
December 4, 2026
8-9 am (Sydney)
NEW ZEALAND
December 4, 2026
10-11 am (Auckland)
You Also Get SEVERAL EXTRA MATERIALS With The Course
Meaning-Making and IFS For Grief: ReSource LisT
Meaning-Making and IFS For Grief: ReSource LisT
A collection of readings to supplement the course content. If you’d like to explore the topics presented in the course in greater depth, this resource list offers evidence-based resources to expand your understanding and strengthen your clinical confidence.
Refection and Grief Worksheets
Refection and Grief Worksheets
These reflection worksheets help you deepen your understanding of the course material and connect what you’ve learned to your own clinical work. Each module includes guided questions to encourage reflection, build self-awareness, and explore how to apply the concepts when working with grieving clients.
Summaries and Key Take Aways
Summaries and Key Take Aways
These documents distill the essential points from each course module. They’re designed to help you review key concepts, reinforce your learning, and apply the strategies from the course to your clinical work without rewatching hours of content.
Even though I work with bereaved clients, I got a lot out of this course.
The course gave me greater confidence in my work with grief and reassured me that much of what I’ve been doing is on the right track. It gave my work a clear structure and helped me understand how to connect grief with parts work.
Lara’s personal experiences and practical examples were especially helpful. Another important takeaway was the reminder to pay attention to our own parts as therapists.
I appreciated the creative approaches she mentioned. It was also valuable to see how to apply trauma-informed principles to grief work.
I’m already thinking about how to use Lara’s model with a new client, starting with mapping protector parts.
Lara speaks clearly, has good pacing, and is very engaging. The course was well-structured and had a good balance of theory and how to apply it.
What I particularly appreciated was how comprehensive the course was without being too long.
Petra Smith Counsellor
Taunton, UK
SIGN UP
Summary of What You Get in ThiS CoursE
- 11 pre-recorded modules
- Attend a live, 1-hour “Chat with Lara” webinar
- Downloadable videos, audios, and transcripts of the materials
- Worksheets for each module to help integrate your learning
- 5 useful handouts to use with clients
- A Resource List on meaning-making and IFS for grief
- Summaries and Key Takeaways of each module
- The ability to download all materials and keep them forever (Yay!)
- Certificate of completion for 6.5 hours of instruction
- USA: NBCC CE credit available for 6.5 Clock Hours
AUSTRALIA: PD points available for PACFA and ACA
CANADA: Submit the certificate to CCPA for CECs and CRPO for PD credits
- 7-Day Money-Back Guarantee – if you decide the course isn’t for you, you can request a refund within 7 days of purchase
Ready to ENROLL?
Frequently Asked Questions
The course is geared toward psychotherapists, counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, and other helping professionals who want to feel confident working with clients who experience any type of grief, whether it’s
No. Lara teaches the core IFS concepts her model draws on, including protector parts, exiles, and Self. You’ll have enough information to use IFS along with meaning-making with your grieving clients.
The course shows how to integrate IFS with evidence-based, meaning-oriented approaches to grief. You’ll also learn how the Meaningful Grief protocol differs from the traditional IFS protocol.
Grief comes into therapy whether or not you specialize in it. For example, clients experience it after a death and after living losses such as illness, addiction, divorce, or lost hopes. The course gives you a way to recognize and work with grief in any caseload.
The model draws on meaning-oriented grief research and integrates it with IFS and clinical experience.
Yes. You’ll learn the Meaningful Grief Model including practical approaches such as nervous system resourcing tools, arts-based parts mapping, and the 3 Baskets exercise for helping clients hold both pain and everyday life. Lara also shares many examples.
The Meaningful Grief Model is integrative by design. It brings together meaning-oriented grief work and IFS, and draws on somatic, trauma-informed, and art-inspired practices. Its 6 chapters can easily be integrated with most other approaches you’re trained in.
It’s both. The course has XXXXX hours of content. There are 11 pre-recorded core modules, 1 live webinar, and extra materials to support you in your work.
Dates and Times of the Live Session
USA – December 3, 2026
1-2 pm PST
2-3pm MST
3-4 pm CST
4-5 pm EST
CANADA – December 3, 2026
2-3 pm PCT (BC/ Yukon)
3-4 pm ABT (Alberta)
4-5 pm (Manitoba)
4-5 pm EST (Ontario/ Quebec)
UNITED KINGDOM – December 3, 2026
9-10 pm
AUSTRALIA- December 4, 2026
8-9 am (Sydney)
NEW ZEALAND – December 4, 2026
10-11 am (Auckland)
LIVE WEBINAR WITH LARA
Dates and Times of the Live Session
USA – December 3, 2026
1-2 pm PST
2-3pm MST
3-4 pm CST
4-5 pm EST
CANADA – December 3, 2026
2-3 pm PCT (BC/ Yukon)
3-4 pm ABT (Alberta)
4-5 pm (Manitoba)
4-5 pm EST (Ontario/ Quebec)
UNITED KINGDOM – December 3, 2026
9-10 pm
AUSTRALIA- December 4, 2026
8-9 am (Sydney)
NEW ZEALAND – December 4, 2026
10-11 am (Auckland)
All participants will receive a certificate for 6.5 hours of course content which can be downloaded once you pass the short course quiz.
USA
NBCC – The Mind Body Training Institute has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 8016. This program is approved for 6.5 clock hours.
Canada
CECs – CCPA (Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association). CCPA will give CECs when you submit your certificate to them.
PD points – CRPO (College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario). CRPO will award PD points when you submit your certificate.
Australia
ACA (Australian Counselling Association):
10 OPD (Ongoing Professional Development) points
PACFA (Psychotherapists and Counsellors Federation of Australia):
6.5 hours of category A CPD
You will have access to the materials in the learning center for 180 days (6 months) from the date you signed up for the course.
However, you can download all materials and save them forever.
If you don’t receive value from the course after 7 days of registering, you can ask for your money back.
Enrol Now
Take the course for a
test drive for 7 days.
If you don’t find value after 7 days, we’ll refund 100% of your fee.
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