LIVE WEBINAR | Understanding grieving styles: Moving beyond gender assumptions

Understanding grieving styles: Moving beyond gender assumptions

Live webinar: Tuesday 28 July 2026, 11am- 1pm

with Dr Kenneth Doka

Who should attend this webinar?

Anyone who works in a professional care role or supports people experiencing loss and grief. This webinar is relevant to counsellors, social workers, psychologists, health and mental health professionals, educators, chaplains, hospice and palliative care providers, volunteers, and others working with individuals, families, and communities affected by loss.

Overview

Grief is often misunderstood and frequently shaped by assumptions about gender and emotional expression. Many people believe that those who do not outwardly express sadness or emotion are suppressing their grief or not coping well. In reality, grief responses are highly individual and may be expressed in emotional, cognitive, or action‑focused ways.

This webinar explores different styles and patterns of grieving, moving beyond traditional gender‑based expectations. Participants will learn about intuitive, instrumental, blended, and dissonant grieving styles, and how each can both support and complicate the grieving process. The session also examines the influence of factors such as gender, culture, temperament, and development, and offers practical, evidence‑informed intervention strategies tailored to each grieving style.

Key learning points

• Common myths about grief and gender

• Understanding intuitive, instrumental, blended, and dissonant grieving styles

• The theoretical and research basis for a continuum of grieving styles

• How different grieving styles can facilitate or complicate adjustment to loss

• Pathways that shape grieving patterns, including gender, culture, temperament, cohort, and development

• Practical interventive techniques for working with different grieving styles

• Counselling considerations when working with men, groups, and ritual‑based support

About the presenter

Dr Kenneth J. Doka is Professor Emeritus of Counseling at The College of New Rochelle and Senior Vice President for Grief Programs at The Hospice Foundation of America. He is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and a Certified Grief Counselor (ADEC), and has been actively engaged in the fields of death studies, grief, and bereavement since 1972.

A prolific author and internationally recognised educator, Dr Doka has published over 50 books and more than 100 scholarly articles. A major focus of his work has been on understanding diverse grieving styles and challenging gender-based assumptions about how people mourn. Together with his late colleague Dr Terry Martin, Dr Doka co‑authored three influential books on grieving styles and published numerous peer‑reviewed journal articles on the subject.

Dr Doka’s work has had a profound impact on how professionals understand and respond to grief, particularly in recognising that there is no single “right” way to grieve. His contributions continue to shape contemporary grief theory, counselling practice, and professional education worldwide.

FIND OUT MORE AND BOOK:

https://education.griefcentre.org.nz/course/grievingstyles_0726