Welcome
to the Bachelor's degree program in Grief Counseling &
Bereavement Education offered by Breyer State University.
You have made a wise decision to pursue study and acquire
the knowledge and skills needed to practice in this growing
health care and behavioral health specialty. This area of
specialty practice is growing all the time and many health
care professionals and behavioral health practitioners and
professionals are using their skills to practice full or part
time in this area. This practice specialty grows more important
each day and many graduates of our program will have opportunities
to practice in grief counseling roles. Obtaining the credential
from a quality program is essential to capitalize on this
career opportunity. You have made an excellent choice for
your continuing education and skill attainment. I am sure
you will be pleased with our degree program's course of study.
This comprehensive college-based course is developed to provide
learners with an understanding of the major psychosocial issues
related to death and dying, and skills in grief counseling.
This course is a foundational course in the degree curriculum.
This is a 4-semester
hour course. This course is allotted 15 weeks of time. You
must complete all of the requirements for the course successfully
by the end of the 15-week period. The first day of week one
will begin the day that you register for the course, or the
day which you notify me that your text book(s) have arrived
and you are ready to begin your studies. Please be cognizant
of the time frame. It is rare that extensions of time are
permitted, unless you have good justification. Upon successful
completion of this course, you will be awarded 4-semester
hours of credit.
There is one
(1) required textbook for this course.
Book 1: The Psychosocial Aspects of Death and Dying. By John
D. Canine. Appleton & Lange; Stamford: 1996. ISBN # 0-8385-9098-X.
Order your book as soon as possible so that you can begin
your course of study.
Examinations
are taken online via the Breyer State University website.
Once you have registered for this program, you will receive
instructions on accessing and taking the examinations. There
is one comprehensive final examination for this course.
The final examination must be taken by the last day in this
course. There is also one written project assignment for
this course.
Writting Assignment: there is one written project assignment
for this course. It is due by the last day of the course.
Full information is avaiable under "assignments" in the classroom.
Examinations
are objective type or short answer. The number of questions
per examination varies. The grading scale is:
90-100% = A
80-89% = B
70-79% = C
Below 70% = Fail
The final course project is graded on a "pass-fail"
basis. You must receive a "pass" score on the project
in order to graduate from the certificate program.
You are
encouraged to communicate with me. I am available as a teacher,
coach, and mentor to assist you in meeting your goals for
this course. Primarily, communication is through email. However,
I am also available for conversation by telephone. Our classroom
for this course has a "chat" room. I am also very
willing to meet with you one-on-one in the chat room at your
request. From time to time, depending on how many students
are enrolled in this course at a particular time, we will
have some scheduled group chats. You will receive more detailed
information at the time such chat sessions are scheduled.
Dominick
L. Flarey, Ph.D., MBA, RN,CS, CNAA, FACHE, is President of
Dominick L. Flarey and Associates, a health care consulting
and education firm, located in northeast Ohio. He has held
positions as a certified nurse practitioner, associate administrator
of patient care, chief operating office and administrator
in acute care hospitals. He is Dean of Nursing and Alternative
Health Care Programs at Canyon College, and lectures for Cross
Country Seminars national seminar company based in Nashville.
He was an executive consultant to a national "big 6"
accounting firm's health care practice and was a service line
administrator and consultant for case management for another
national consulting firm. He holds a BSN, an MBA, and Doctorates
in nursing administration and management. He is a certified
adult nurse practitioner and certified clinical hypnotherapist.
He is also certified as a Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse
by the American Nurses Credentialing Center in Washington,
DC. He lectures extensively across the country on Management,
including models, systems, outcomes and legal/ethical issues.
He also lectures nationally on the topic of Biopsychiatry.
His clinical practice includes hypnotherapy's for Grief and
Bereavement, care of adults with depression, anxiety disorders
and panic disorder. He uses hypnotherapy's, guided meditation
and visualization in his work with those grieving. He is the
President of Breyer State University.
He is co-author/editor of two textbooks on Case Management
(see below) and is a member of the Editorial Board of the
journal, "Nursing Case Management: Managing the Process
of Patient Care."
Dr. Flarey is also certified in nursing administration advanced.
He is a board certified health care executive by the American
College of Healthcare Executives, and is a Fellow in the college.
He also holds national certification in managed care from
the Professional Education Institute. He is a Certified Medical-Legal
Consultant.
He is editor-in-chief of JONA's (Journal of Nursing Administration)
Healthcare Law, Ethics, and Regulation. He is a member of
the editorial boards of the Journal of Nursing Administration,
Seminars for Nurse Managers, Case Management: Managing the
Process of Patient Care, and Nursing Outcomes. He has authored
over 50 published articles in peer-reviewed journals.
Dr. Flarey is editor/author of the book, "Redesigning
Nursing Care Delivery: Transforming Our Future," published
by Lippincott/Raven publishers. He is also co-editor/author
of the following books by Aspen Publishers: "Reengineering
Nursing and Health Care: The Handbook for Organizational Transformation,"
winner of a 1995 AJN book of the year award, "The Handbook
of Nursing Case Management: Health Care Delivery in a World
of Managed Care," "Case Studies in Case Management,"
"Health Care Outcomes: Collaborative, Path-Based Approaches,"
and "Cardiovascular Outcomes: Collaborative, Path-Based
Approaches," and "Process-Centered Healthcare Organizations."
Upon registration, you will be given my e-mail address. I
am available periodically through e-mail, so please e-mail
me any questions that may occur. That is why I am here. I
will do everything to help you as much as possible. Please
do not wait until the end of the class to try to get help.
It will be too late. Anytime your grade falls below C, I will
try to contact you about it. If I do not, please do not hesitate
to contact me through e-mail.
As soon
as you receive your textbooks for the course, you may begin
your course of study. Below is the program course outline.
Be sure to review it as you progress through the course. Once
you have registered for the course, I will send to you a letter
of introduction with more explanations and the course assignments.
Upon
completion of this course, you will be able to:
1). Prepare health care professionals, behavioral health
specialists and lay persons to practice professionally in
the area of Thanantology and Grief Counseling and Bereavement
Education, with sufficient knowledge for practice at a standard
required by the current job and consumer market.
2). Prepare graduates to practice in a variety of practice
settings such as clinics, delivery systems, organizations,
funeral homes, hospices, religious organizations, outpatient
counseling centers, etc.
3). Gain the knowledge and skills required to seek new opportunities
related to Thanantology and Grief Counseling practice.
4). Understand and practice professionally with regards to
high ethics and adherence to established standards of practice.
5). Assist in the review process for taking related certification
and other credentialing examinations.
6). Prepare for practice various types of alternative health
care settings.
7). Prepare graduates to practice at an intermediate to advanced
level of practice.
8). Assist graduates in developing their own marketing plans
for career and business growth, related to these practice
specialties.
9). Provide graduates with a college level credential for
this practice specialty.
10). Provide a means for health care and behavioral health
practitioners to compliment their current practices by the
added knowledge and skill of thanantology and grief counseling,
and bereavement education.
1). Death: Awareness and Anxiety.
2). Cultural Attitudes toward Death.
3). Processing the Death of a Loved One.
4). The Psychology of Dying.
5). Social Responses to Various Types of Death.
6). System Coordination Approach for the Dying Patient.
7). Legal Implications for the Dying Patient and the Family.
8). Understanding the Basic Tasks of Grief.
9). Circumstantial Factors Influencing Grief.
10). Comparing and Contrasting Reactions to Loss.
11). Manifestations of Grief.
12). Why Some People do not Grieve.
13). Therapeutic Strategies for the Bereaved.
14). Psychosocial Functions of Funerals.
15). The Family: Grief Characteristics & Conflicts.
16). Children: Making Sense of Separation and Loss.
17). A Response to Contemporary Funeral Practices.
18). Rationale for a Multidisciplinary Support System.
19). Counseling Techniques for Helping the Bereaved.
20). Models of Bereavement Aftercare.
21). Contemporary Issues Influencing Bereavement Aftercare.
22). Issues for the Death Care Professional.
If you have any questions regarding this program, you may address
them to
admassistant@breyerstate.com.
An administrative faculty member will respond to all questions.