Sixth annual Grief Seminar to provide 'tools to cope' with loss, Oct. 17

Event: Sixth annual Grief Seminar: "Between Loss and Hope: Tools to Cope"
Date and time: Friday, Oct. 17 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Location: Goshen College Church-Chapel Fellowship Rooms
Cost: $60 public, $20 students and seniors
For more information or to register: call (574) 535-7400 or e-mail margemb@goshen.edu.
Web site: www.goshen.edu/sowk/seminars

GOSHEN, Ind. – The sixth annual Goshen College and Ryan's Place Grief Seminar, titled "Between Loss and Hope: Tools to Cope," will be held Friday, Oct. 17 in the Goshen College Church-Chapel Fellowship Rooms.

This year's keynote speakers will be Rex and Nancy Gleim. The Gleims are both retired local educators who taught for a combined 60 years. Several years after the death of their son Ryan, they co-founded Ryan's Place, a center in Goshen for grieving children and teens.

The idea from the center came when a friend of theirs commented after Ryan's death that she knew exactly how they felt since her 92-year-old mother had died three weeks earlier. They knew that people around them had no clue what they were going through, so the Gleims decided it was important to educate people on how to better understand grief issues. The focus of their presentation will be on the well-meaning, but completely obtuse statement, "I Know Exactly How You Feel."

The Gleims are also co-founders of the Goshen Area Chapter of The Compassionate Friends, an international support group for parents who have had a child die. They are active members of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Middlebury, Ind.

The seminar, especially recommended for social workers, educators, counselors, therapists, nurses, clergy and other human service professionals, is co-sponsored by Goshen College and Ryan's Place, and will offer several workshops in the morning and afternoon featuring qualified local therapists and practitioners. The seminar schedule includes: "Grief: First Things First" by Agnes Griffey; "Grief in the Workplace" by Laura Happ; "Cultural Variations in Mourning" by Carol Jarvis; "Art Therapy" by David Labrum; "Play Therapy Techniques for Grief, Loss and Trauma" by Jennifer Miller; "Complicated Grief" by Rick Ritter; and "Healing Together – How to Start a Support Group" by Katharine E. Schrock.

The cost of the seminar is $60 for the general public and $20 for students and seniors. For further seminar information, or to register, contact the Goshen College Social Work Department at (574) 535-7400 or e-mail margemb@goshen.edu.

–By Tyler Falk

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college's Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron's Best Buys in Education, "Colleges of Distinction," "Making a Difference College Guide" and U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges" edition, which named Goshen a "least debt college." Visit www.goshen.edu.