Legacy Practical Learning is an educational program designed to broaden participants' (public and healthcare professionals) knowledge of various psychological topics, especially those related to grief and loss. They are developed and facilitated by the director and well-prepared educators from LWCC.
Thank you for your interest in psychoeducation and lectures/training.
Training and Lectures:
Training program on Death, Grief, and Loss (DGL) for the community, schools, or healthcare, includes the following topics:
Grief literacy: Definitions; Grief and Loss Types; DGL-relevant information (fear and avoidance, normalcy vs. pathology); continuing bond vs. recovery; evidence-based grief and loss theory; the impact of DGL at every age.
Health: statistics; somatic and psychosomatic symptoms of death and non-death loss; neurobiology of grief; differentiating grief and depression; grief measures; compassionate loss-related care; what grievers want their medical provider to know to help them with grieving, what to say, and what to avoid when speaking with the grieving person during a medical visit.
Culture and Faith (spirituality): cultural difference, the importance of rituals, the cultural construction of mourning, faith, and spirituality.
Loss Skills: Resources and Coping Skills.
Self-care: Self-compassion (compassion fatigue); skills to improve well-being for all touched by loss professionally or personally.
The programs are altered as needed to 1 hour, 1.5 hours, 4 hours, and 8 hours.
Dr. Krzykala provides lectures to medical providers (Physicians, Residents, Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine, Medical Students, PAs, APRNs, Physical Therapists, Chiropractors, Dentists, and others) on the effects of death loss and non-death loss. Dr. Krzykala’s clinical and research interests focus on somatic and psychosomatic manifestations of loss across the lifespan and among diverse populations. Her grief research examines patients’ experiences and promotes culturally responsive, grief-informed medical care following loss. Her evidence-based lectures and trainings emphasize integrating mental health into healthcare settings.
The recently developed and presented programs to medical providers:
Missing Conversation – Addressing Grief and Loss in Healthcare
Learning Objectives:
At the end of the presentation, participants will:
1. Recognize the importance of death, grief, and loss education in the medical field.
2. Demonstrate the grieving community’s comprehension of incorporating compassion, comfort, and grief-informed behavior and practice in treating grief and loss symptoms.
3. Summarize what patients want their PCP/medical providers to know about them to help them with grieving.
Compassion in the Moment: What Grieving Patients Want Immediate-Care Providers to Know
Learning Objectives:
At the end of the presentation, participants will:
1. Recognize the importance of Death, Grief, and Loss education in the medical field.
2. Identify the physical, emotional, psychological, behavioral, and spiritual symptomatology of grief and loss
3. Demonstrate the grieving community’s comprehension of incorporating compassion, comfort, and grief-informed behavior and practice in treating grief and loss symptoms
4. Summarize what patients want their medical providers to know about them to help them with grieving.
5. Develop an understanding of self-care practices designed to cultivate self-compassion and alleviate compassion fatigue when treating grieving patients
Applying grief-informed, evidence-based knowledge, along with comfort and compassion, in the care of the grieving population is both fundamental and compelling. Medical providers serve a pivotal role in grief-informed clinical practice. Research and educational resources underscore the need for structured, evidence-based interventions, compassionate patient engagement, and ongoing support for clinicians themselves. By adopting multidimensional coping strategies and standardized bereavement frameworks, medical providers/PCPs can effectively support bereaved patients while safeguarding their own professional and personal wellbeing.
Presentations for the community and professional settings:
Beyond the Loss – Understanding How Grief Affects the Heart, Mind, and Body (Emotional, Psychological, and Physical Impact of Grief)
Grief Across the Lifespan - Understanding the Emotional, Psychological and Physical Impact of Loss at Every Age (Children grieve too)
Saying “I Am Feeling Fine” is Often a Lie - How to Provide Comfort and Compassion when Speaking with Someone Who is Grieving (What to Say and What to Avoid)
Publications
Dr. Kathryn Krzykala
National Louis University - Doctoral Dissertation: Exploring Primary Care Providers’ Compassionate Care and Their Evidence-Based Practice with Death, Grief, and Loss: Patient Experience and Perspective - PhD Diss. Mixed Methods Research Study.
Loyola University - Master of Social Work (Praxis, pg.39) The Importance of Utilizing a Supervisee’s Learning Style and Preferences Questionnaire (SLSPQ) during the First Supervision Session, as the Foundation of the Supervision Alliance
Wiadomości z Chicago - Monitor Chicago - Polish Newspaper
- Articles in Monitor: Krzykala - Co Cie Dreczy?
Clare Krzykala
Krzykala, C. (2025). Neurodivergent-Affirming Therapy. In Bill Owenby & Katherine Campbell (Eds), The Encyclopedia of Mental Health Trainings, Certifications, and Credentials. Arizona: ONBLLC Publishing.
The University of Toledo - Honors Thesis: Personality, Comparison, and Judgment.
Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it - Marian Wright Edelman