3 CEUs
Friday, December 11th, 2026
9:00am-12:30pm Pacific Daylight Time

This workshop provides social workers and other helping professionals with practical skills for supporting individuals and families who are facing serious illness, declining health, or the end of life. Although end-of-life care is often associated with cancer, people approach dying through many different pathways, including advanced cardiac, pulmonary, neurological, renal, and liver disease; dementia; frailty; multiple chronic conditions; sudden illness; and unexpected or traumatic circumstances.
Participants will explore the emotional, psychosocial, relational, cultural, spiritual, and practical dimensions of end-of-life care. Emphasis will be placed on communicating about difficult topics, supporting autonomy and hope, facilitating family conversations, recognizing anticipatory grief, navigating differences in values and beliefs, preparing families for the dying process, and connecting clients with appropriate interdisciplinary and community resources.
In this workshop you will learn to:
- Identify common psychosocial, emotional, spiritual, relational, and practical concerns experienced by individuals and families facing the end of life.
- Recognize different illness trajectories and indicators that a person may be entering a period of declining health or approaching the end of life.
- Describe anticipatory grief, uncertainty, loss, conflict, and changing roles and ways to support individuals and families.
- Describe the roles of palliative care, hospice, advance care planning, and interdisciplinary support.
- Develop practical strategies for supporting clients and families before, during, and immediately following death while maintaining professional boundaries and personal resilience.
About the Instructor
Karuna Duval is Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Advance Practice Board Certified Chaplain, ordained Interfaith minister and Certified End of Life Doula. She has worked in the field of social services for elders and adults since 1995 in various roles – case manager, director of senior services, executive director, chaplain, discharge planner, community mental health provider, oncology social worker, and in private practice. She has worked in and with agencies who support people who are marginalized and most vulnerable in our communities. Karuna currently has a private practice in Port Hadlock, Washington serving elders; and works for Jefferson Health Care (JHC) in Port Townsend, Washington as an Oncology Medical Social Worker. At JHC she provides direct clinical services to oncology patients, their circles of support and staff. Karuna also provides support and education around difficult conversations about end-of-life. She is offering education/workshops on moral distress/moral Injury, secondary traumatic stress, compassion fatigue, burnout, trauma-informed care, and person-centered care. She also facilitates a women’s cancer support group as well as a care givers support group at JHC. Karuna has offered bereavement and grief groups for many organizations and in the community. Karuna is the author of Spirituality of Aging: Stirring the Spirit, a chapter in the nationally recognized book, Awakening to Aging: Glimpsing the Gifts of Aging; 2020, Grief and Holidays in the Time of COVID, Elephant Journal; 2021, Struggling with Holiday Grief-11 ways to cope, Elephant Journal; 2026, How I Walk for Peace, Elephant Journal
All case managers and other service providers from all industries are also welcome to attend.
Friday, December 11th, 2026, 9:00am-12:30pm PDT. The session begins promptly at 9:00am and includes short breaks and a lunch break. This program will be taught over Zoom. Information and Zoom link will be sent out 1 week beforehand. Please make sure to save the link.
COST – $95
Please Note: For those of you with special payment arrangements or organizational group discounts, please contact Alison at alisonc@soundgenerations.org to register.

