Estrangement Grief: Tools for Processing Unfinished Conversations & Finding Inner Stability
Role: Sole Learning Experience Designer, end to end
CE-Approved Course | Calabasas Counseling & Grief Center
February 2025 → Revised April 2026
Overview
I worked directly with a subject matter expert, the project stakeholder, to design a CE-approved course for mental health professionals on estrangement grief. I owned the project from content intake through final build in Articulate, and I later led a full revision based on real learner feedback.
Skills: Instructional Design · Articulate · Stakeholder & SME Collaboration · Interactive Learning Design · Iterative Design · E-Learning Development · Accessibility & Compliance · LMS Administration · CE Accreditation · Hybrid Learning
Challenge
The content had no existing instructional structure to work from, so I had to build the learning framework from scratch alongside the SME.
Clinicians needed tools they could apply directly in session, which meant every concept had to translate into something actionable, not just theory.
The subject matter required careful pacing and framing decisions to stay clinically appropriate without oversimplifying it.
Design Process
Structured the stakeholder's raw clinical content into sequenced learning objectives and built each training around them.
Placed knowledge checks throughout the course and aligned assessments to the objectives and CE accreditation standards, using generative AI to draft final quiz items and reviewing each for accuracy.
Built and tested an automated certification pathway that issues CE credit once a learner scores 70% or higher and completes the course evaluation.
Added alt text and checked color contrast against WCAG standards.
Interactive Elements
Timeline
Participants can interact with an example of a client’s timeline to learn how to incorporate this resource into their sessions. This concrete example illustrates what might come up in a client while discussing their timeline, equipping them with practice before implementation.
Resources
This training included 3 additional resource documents I designed that can be used in session with clients.
Expansive Elements
To break up chunks of text, I utilize interactive blocks with images to make the course feel less wordy and shorter.
The Feedback Loop
After the course had been live for a year, course-assessment feedback showed a gap in my original design: I had structured the course around the perspective of the person grieving the estrangement, but not the estranged person's own experience. However, besides this note the course was highly praised.
Evaluation responses to “What else would you have liked to seen covered?”:
“Coping with uncertainty around why a family member chose estrangement”
“More guidance on how to counsel folks on the other side of the estrangement.”
How I responded:
Collaborated with SME to add additional knowledge focusing on the other side of estrangement based on participant feedback
Implemented AI review of trainings to ensure no future knowledge gaps
Learner Feedback Highlights
Course organization and administration: 100% of learners rated this 10/10, reflecting smooth LMS setup and delivery.
Effectiveness of course technology: 90% rated 10/10 and the remaining 10% rated 9/10, a strong signal that the interactive elements genuinely supported learning.
LMS Management
Built and tested the quiz logic, then set up an automated certification pathway that issues CE credit once a learner scores 70% or higher and completes the course evaluation.
Managed course deployment and configuration in Reach 360, including learner enrollment and completion tracking.
Before/After
The class was first hybrid via Zoom, then redesigned to be fully self-paced.
Converting the course to self-paced format meant rethinking how the content was organized. I divided it into modules so learners could navigate to what they needed and move through dense material in smaller, more digestible sections.
Outcome
60+ learners completed the course across both the hybrid and self-paced versions.
120+ CE hours awarded to mental health professionals.