On-Demand CE Training
ODL 435: When Celebrities Die: The Grieving Experience and Parasocial Relationships
Please make sure to check with your own state board to ensure the transferability of CE credit for an asynchronous course. Some state boards may place restrictions regarding the modality of training required for ethics credits to be awarded. If this training indicates ethics credits are available, please verify that your state allows them to be earned through an on-demand course format.
Please note: This on-demand webinar is a replay of a live CE event. The format reflects the original presentation and may include live Q&A, transitions, and intermittent audio/visual fluctuations typical of a live recording.
1 CREDIT HOUR APPROVED FOR:
Social Workers
ASWB ACE – 1 Clinical Continuing Education credit
New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work – 1 Contact hour
Psychologists
APA – 1 CE credit
Counselors 1 Contact hour
NBCC ACEP – 1 Contact hour
New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners – 1 Contact hour
Addiction Professionals
NAADAC – This course is not approved for NAADAC contact hours
Nurses
California Board of Registered Nursing – This course is not approved for nursing contact hours
Case Managers
CCMC – This course is not approved for CCMC contact hours
Created On: 8/11/2026
Target Audience:
This course is targeted for social workers, psychologists, and counselors.
Instructional Level:
Beginner
Overview:
Individuals form significant relationships with celebrities they admire, known as parasocial relationships, which they may hesitate to share about in session. When celebrities pass away, it leaves a lasting impact on individuals, family and society similar to social relationships such as family members and friends. Participants will learn about similarities and differences between parasocial relationships and social relationships, the impact of celebrity death on individuals, families, and society, and will apply Worden’s Four Tasks of Mourning to provide an understanding about how individuals are impacted by and navigate celebrity death. Participants will also be provided with a brief overview on the field of Geek Therapy and learn Geek Therapy-Informed interventions to utilize with clients when working through celebrity grief.
Course Objectives:
By the end of the session, the participant will be able to:
- Compare and contrast parasocial relationships vs. social relationships.
- Describe the impact of celebrity death on individuals, families, and society.
- Explain the impact of grief policing and stigma on an individual’s disclosure of grief over celebrities.
- Apply Worden’s Four Tasks of Mourning and Geek Therapy-Informed interventions to clinical work with celebrity grief.
Presenter:
Dawn Davis, LMFT, AAMFT-Approved Supervisor and Owner of Therapy That Gets Me, LLC
Dawn is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and AAMFT Approved Supervisor in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, and Texas. She has worked in community mental health since 2017 and has been in a supervisory position since 2020. Her supervisory experience includes supervising several clinicians at student-intern and master’s level and non-clinical providers, including certified peer specialists, nurse navigators, and behavioral health nurses. In 2020, Dawn opened her private practice, Therapy That Gets Me, LLC, where she currently serves as a full-time clinician and clinical supervisor. In addition, she is a Certified Geek Therapist with special training in applying geek concepts to the therapeutic process. She has also provided continuing education presentations for a variety of entities and organizations.