Denial: Misdiagnosed & Misunderstood

Posted on June 5, 2025

Date/Time: 06/05/2025, 3:00 pm

Provider: FHPCA

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Do you understand denial? Can you recognize it?

Are you able to distinguish it from other difficult coping strategies? Do you know how to effectively intervene or redirect it? This session will explain the positives and negatives of denial as a coping mechanism and teach you how to deal with common issues.

AFTER THIS WEBINAR YOU’LL BE ABLE TO:

List three common coping strategies that may be perceived as “difficult behaviors”
Define denial in terms of psychological/emotional well-being
Differentiate denial as a coping strategy from cultural forms of protection or respect
Enumerate four degrees of denial
Explain how to gently assist a person in actual denial to address and meet key admission criteria
Identify two approaches/interventions to help teams work cooperatively around various aspects of denial and other challenging coping mechanisms

WEBINAR DETAILS

For a concept so often discussed, most people actually know very little about it. Denial is likely misdiagnosed much of the time, or at least, it’s only partially correct. In addition, many are unaware of how best to respond when actual denial is present. Quick hint: a person’s coping method should never be taken away without skillfully working with them to adopt an alternative strategy. This webinar will explore several “stage or level” models for denial and present and address common behaviors that actually aren’t denial at all. The bulk of the webinar will be spent on discussing skillful ways to intervene.

THIS WEBINAR WILL BENEFIT THE FOLLOWING AGENCIES:

Hospice
Palliative Care

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

All team members, admissions staff, and volunteers will benefit from attending. The management and leadership team will also benefit in order to ensure practice consistency organization wide.

TAKE-AWAY TOOLKIT

Discussion guide to use with staff and volunteers regarding denial and other coping strategies
Exercise with sample scenarios, including methods/techniques and interventions to use in staff and volunteer training
Online resources for additional learning and discussion
Handout with additional lecture notes
Training log
PDF of slides and speaker’s contact info for follow-up questions
Attendance certificate provided, however there are no pre-approved CEs associated with this webinar

NOTE: All materials are subject to copyright. Transmission, retransmission, or republishing of any webinar to other agencies or those not employed by your agency is prohibited. Print materials may be copied for eligible participants only.