EP non-profit to host Minnesota’s first major grief conference Aug. 15

An Eden Prairie-based nonprofit will host the state’s first major professional development grief conference next week, which will feature grief-specific education and dialogue with over 30 experts in caregiving, death, and dying.

Carolyn Kinzel, Brighter Days Family Grief Center’s executive director, described the event as “an interdisciplinary conference dedicated to educating and supporting individuals who guide and care for grievers.”

The one-day event, called All Things Grief!, will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 15, at the St. Paul RiverCentre. Registration closes Sunday, Aug. 11, at midnight. Anyone who would like to exhibit or sponsor can contact Brighter Days, also by Sunday.

Kinzel said the event is designed for anyone who works with or cares for grievers in a professional setting. The conference offers CEUs (continuing education units). So far, the majority of registrants are licensed funeral home directors, mental health professionals, end-of-life specialists, and clergy.

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Professionals from various fields will learn from each other in a setting that also promotes well-being. “Working with people experiencing grief can bring up personal grief and trauma, so we feel it is especially important to provide some tangible ways that professionals can practice self-care,” Kinzel said.

Kinzel is expecting about 250 to 300 attendees, and so far, 25 supporters are either sponsoring or exhibiting at the event. 

Megan Devine, a best-selling author, psychotherapist, grief advocate, and podcast host, will be the keynote speaker. The conference will also include interactive workshops, engaging guest panels, and other meaningful activities. More than 30 presenters and panelists are currently scheduled to participate.

A social hour will follow the day’s activities, and Devine will sign copies of her resource book, “It’s OK That You’re Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture that Doesn’t Understand.”

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Conference will address widespread need for grief-specific training

The conference was born out of a perceived need for grief-specific education in the state, Kinzel said.

Founded in 2017, Brighter Days Family Grief Center focuses on bringing families back together after the death or terminal diagnosis of a loved one by addressing the many psychosocial and logistical needs of each family member.

Brighter Days provides short-term grief counseling at no cost, but for long-term care, it often refers out to other professionals who are located near the person who needs support, Kinzel said.

However, there’s one problem: across the state, there is a shortage of professionals who have comprehensive training in grief counseling, Kinzel said. “There are not enough mental health professionals who feel confident in the education they received in college to specialize in grief, although many have shared with us that they wish they could,” she said.

She said she hopes this conference will begin to change that. “Our hope through this conference is to provide continual grief-specific education so more people specialize in grief,” she said. “Most college students going into the mental health field only get two to three classes on death and dying at most.”

About Brighter Days Family Grief Center

As the only non-profit family grief center in the state, Brighter Days provides no-cost and compassionate grief support services to Minnesota children, adults, and families. It often works with or has referrals through hospices, schools, community foundations, and other non-profits.

Although it is based in Eden Prairie, Brighter Days recently opened a location in St. Paul and is currently seeking to add another location in the Twin Cities. Its reach is much farther than the Twin Cities, however – Brighter Days serves the entire state of Minnesota, receiving up to 400 calls per month.

Learn more about Brighter Days’ support services through its website.