The Four Tasks of Mourning
4-weeks (last 4) | Registration opens 2/14/2026 9:00 AM EST
This class is about understanding and learning the different tasks of grieving. Many people are familiar with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s “five stages” of grief; William Worden's paradigm offers a more recent development of her theories. Instead of using the term “stages,” we will understand that grieving is more of an ongoing task, and this class will help participants understand more deeply why that is so. We will explore William Worden’s four tasks of mourning and consider how they can guide us through loss. The class will include both lecture and participant discussion.
- Suggested reading: How To Go On Living When Someone You Love Dies by Therese A. Rando, Ph.D.
Shelley Tatelbaum
Shelley Tatelbaum is the Founder and Director of the Center for Grief, Loss and Life Transition. She has been a Certified Grief Therapist for 35 years and remains in practice. She helped charter the first hospice in Dutchess County in the 1980s and was its first Director of Bereavement Services. She has been a member of the Association of Death Educators and Counselors for 35 years, where she has presented on the challenges of grief therapy with alcoholics. Shelley also provides in-service training for schools, hospitals and corporations.