ISSUP UK Relaunch: Recognising the Overlooked Impact of Substance Use Bereavement

ISSUP UK presents its relaunch webinar, “Recognising the Overlooked Impact of Substance Use Bereavement.” The webinar will explore the experiences of those affected by substance use bereavement, including the impact of stigma, culture and complex grief, and consider compassionate approaches to support bereaved individuals and families.

Date: Tuesday, 13th October, 2026

Time: 2:00 PM London | 9:00 AM ET

ISSUP presents the re-launch of its UK National Chapter, now a consortium of three partners: Addiction Professionals (Lead Organisation), Adfam and the University of East London. Together, they bring complementary expertise in workforce development, support for families affected by substance use, and education and research.

Following an introduction to the consortium, the webinar will bring together three perspectives on substance use-related bereavement. The first will introduce a research-informed model exploring five interconnected characteristics that can shape grief following a substance-related death. These will be considered as potential support needs, helping participants identify how bereavement support can facilitate grieving.

The second will examine stigma, self-stigma, disenfranchised grief and cultural differences, considering their influence on bereaved people’s experiences and professional responses. The third will explore complexity and ‘stuckness’ in grief through the Power Threat Meaning Framework, offering compassionate, non-pathologising therapeutic perspectives. A case study will illustrate how these ideas can inform practice.

Throughout, the webinar will consider both bereaved people who use substances and bereaved family members of people who use substances. The presentations will build on one another, connecting understanding with practical approaches to support. Literature resources will be provided, and the session will conclude with a short question-and-answer discussion.

Intended audience:

Health and social care professionals
Bereavement and family support practitioners
Emergency services, law enforcement and community/faith-based professionals
Service managers and commissioners
Students and researchers in health and social sciences
Peer and community networks supporting people affected by substance use-related deaths

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the webinar, participants will be able to:

Raise awareness and understanding of the links between stigma, shame, and disenfranchised grief following drug-related deaths. The ultimate goal is to improve the help and support available to those bereaved by such deaths.
Outline five potential substance use related characteristics of these bereavements.
Recognise how those characteristics can be reframed as needs, that support can help a bereaved person to meet and thereby facilitate grieving.
To offer novel insights into the significance and consequences of living with unresolved dilemmas of grieving.
To understand the importance of taking a non-pathologising and compassionate approach to ‘stuckness’ in grief following substance use-related bereavement.

Presenters:

Peter Cartwright

Peter Cartwright, Counsellor, Author, Trainer and Researcher with a specialism in substance use bereavement

Kari Dyregrov

Kari Dyregrov, Professor Emerita, FHS / Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, has researched trauma and bereavement, social and peer support, and follow-up after unnatural deaths for 30 years. She has published numerous articles and books, co-edited two books on drug-related death bereavement, and helped establish a Norwegian peer-support organisation for bereaved families. She was awarded the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav for her work.

Dr Lucy Poxon

Dr Lucy Poxon is a Chartered Counselling Psychologist working as a Senior Lecturer and Research Director on the Professional Doctorate in Counselling Psychology at University of East London. Alongside her academic work, she also has a private therapy practice specialising in working with grief and loss.

Moderator:

Vivienne Evans OBE

Vivienne Evans OBE is the Chief Executive of Adfam, the national umbrella organisation for children and families affected by someone else’s substance misuse. She has a background in drug and alcohol education, prevention and young people.

She is a former member of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) and chaired its working group on the implementation of Hidden Harm. She also chaired the Drug Sector Skills Consortium, funded by the Department of Health, from 2012 until its conclusion in 2015.

References:

Poxon L. (2023). Doing the same puzzle over and over again’: A qualitative analysis of feeling stuck in grief. Bereavement, 2, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.54210/bj.2023.1095
Poxon, L. (2024). An antidote to the pathologizing of grief: Applying the power–threat–meaning framework. Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 26(1), 74–81.
Johnstone, L., & Boyle, M. (2020). A Straight Talking Introduction to the Power Threat Meaning Framework: An Alternative to Psychiatric Diagnosis. PCCS Books.
Stroebe, M., & Schut, H. (1999). The dual process model of coping with bereavement: Rationale and description. Death Studies, 23(3), 197–224.
Stroebe, M., Dyregrov, K., & Titlestad, K. B. (Eds.). (2024). The Routledge international handbook of drug-related death bereavement. Taylor & Francis.
Cartwright, P. (2019). ‘How helpful is counselling for people bereaved through a substance-related death?’ Bereavement Care 38, 1, 23–32.
Cartwright, P. (2020). Supporting People Bereaved through a Drug- or Alcohol-Related Death. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishing.

Webinars and online events delivered and hosted by the International Society of Substance Use Professionals (ISSUP) are provided for informational purposes only. They are educational in nature and do not constitute medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.