Health & Human Services, Enrichment, and Business and Management Enrichment Health and Human Services Business & Management

The Art of Comforting

Comforting has almost become a lost art in our rushed, driven technical world. Care-givers attempt to comfort people while making split-second decisions and rushing through endless tasks. Is there ever enough time? Designed to inspire caregivers, this course offers brief, effective ways to hearten ourselves and bring forth our natural comforting abilities. Listening, supporting and calming are at the heart of comforting and will be a major focus of the training. In this program, we will:

  • expand our understanding of how to be comforting
  • appreciate the importance of comforting
  • increase awareness of myths and misconceptions (what to say, what not to say)
  • learn effective and practical comforting skills that can be applied in relation to end-of-life issues
  • discuss, problem-solve, and share stories about comforting as a group

Val Walker, M.S., has facilitated bereavement groups and developed outreach and training programs for hospices in Virginia and Maine. For 17 years, Val has directed a consultancy, now called The Art of Comforting, specializing in life transitions and loss. She is now finishing a book called The Language of Comforting: What to Say and Do for People in Distress, to be published by Tarcher/Penguin.


Monday, October 5, 1-4 p.m.

Registration has ended. Please browse courses for future offerings of this course.

$75 (3 contact hours/ 0.3 CEUs)
Abromson Center, 88 Bedford Street, USM Portland campus

 

Register for both Advance Care Planning and The Art of Comforting for a reduced fee of $135. You must call 780-5900 to register with this discount.