Aug22136 27. Best Bereavement Trainer 2025 – Netherlands Grief is a complex emotion that presents itself in many forms, at many different points of life. Leoniek van der Maarel is a grief trainer for healthcare professionals, on a mission to create a world where grief is no longer a silent struggle, but a supported path forward. To succeed in this mission, Leoniek has founded Academie voor Verlies, a grief training centre that has been recognised in the Benelux Enterprise Awards 2025. Join us below as we caught up with Leoniek to learn more about her inspirational journey. Many healthcare professionals are passionate about guiding people through difficult times, though often have not been equipped with the skillset and expertise to effectively aid them through their grieving process and dealing with loss. This can lead to insecurities and fear in their roles, with the risk of saying the wrong thing or making the trauma worse. As a result, they increasingly avoid reaching the depth of the pain – or even starting the conversation about the loss at all. Too often, the professional will refer the client or send them away, when all they truly want to do is help. Eventually, they tire of this feeling; they love their profession and strive to guide with confidence in the event of a loss. These professionals long to connect with their client and their uniqueness, while helping them get through the loss and actually add something to their coping processes. Leoniek van der Maarel founded Lutografie, an in-depth online therapy method for loss, in 2018 and the Academie voor Verlies (Grief Training Centre) in 2024 for this very reason. The academy offers hands-on training for healthcare professionals who have not received satisfactory training on how to properly guide individuals through the event of loss and grief. These professionals include coaches, therapists, psychologists, and social workers, all key figures in the healthcare sector needing to understand the impact of loss. Alongside this, Leoniek also provides therapy to bereaved persons, suffering from grief caused by a variety of factors, such as death, divorce, or illness. After working for more than 25 years as a bereavement therapist, Leoniek decided to transfer her expertise bit by bit to help other caregivers. Over the years, she has helped thousands of children, young people and adults – either as individuals or in whole family settings. These 25 years have allowed Leoniek to really learn, experience, and test the methods that work and review studies concerning loss and bereavement, ultimately enhancing her knowledge with every case or project she undertakes. Leoniek draws from her own experience with loss. She grew up in a divorced family, in a time where divorce was shamed. Impacted by the grief and guilt that stemmed from this period, Leoniek fought her way through childhood with great effort. Her second loss came at 34, when her partner passed away and left Leoniek grieving with her fiveyear-old daughter. A very long and difficult period followed, with a diagnosis of breast cancer in 2013 and unfortunately needing to have a breast amputated. A new residu in the amputated breast, was discovered in October 2024. “Meaning making is a very important part of bereavement,” she shared. “My meaning making was to help others who are going through the same situation. Knowing the importance of good counselling, not focusing on solutions but on acknowledgement – on connecting to the heart. Standing next to people instead of leading and becoming a beacon of hope for bereaved persons.” Driven by her past experiences, Leoniek has established herself as a pioneer in Deepfake Therapy. She works with a programme wherein bereaved persons can meet their deceased loved ones through the internet, where a photograph has been manipulated into a moving image. Alongside this, Leoniek works with spiritual mediums who can voice the deceased person to further simulate the interaction. There have been challenges along the way in developing this solution, as the limitation of artificial intelligence in providing human connection has been raised as a concern. This has cemented the importance of training healthcare professionals in loss guidance, and the simultaneous need to advance technology in alignment. This is Leoniek’s mission for the future – seamlessly integrating the two essential pillars so that healthcare professionals can better serve bereaved persons, through Deepfake Therapy and more. “Development will continue,” Leoniek stated. “It is even more evident that we must train professionals in how to recognise whether or not using artificial intelligence is helpful for each client. Many want to stay away from new developments. They ‘decide’ what is best for grieving persons. But I feel we should embrace all the opportunities presented to help grieving persons, whilst figuring out along the way whether or not they actually help or not. But if we do not try, we will certainly not get anywhere.” Contact: Leoniek van der Maarel Company: Academie voor Verlies Web Address: www.academievoorverlies.nl / www.grieftrainingcentre.com AIM-Jun25249
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