Creating the Container for Us: How to Hold Space for Ourselves & Each Other After Student Death

Creating the Container for Us: How to Hold Space for Ourselves & Each Other After Student Death

How might we build our skills and visions for how we will come together as staff after student loss? How might we make sense of school-based loss, and how that informs who we are as administrators, educators, clinicians, and youth advocates?

When students die, we understandably and necessarily mobilize to support our surviving students, their peers, and the connected community. We tend to assume, however, that the staff doing that mobilization are ok, and/or we forget to create space to make sense of what just happened  (let alone for what happened months ago, or even years ago).

The task of creating and holding space for the adult staff in a school, system, division, or organization after a student death is one that we, as administrators, staff, and school leadership, rarely get support with. Join SCRR for a dynamic session on how to facilitate space-holding for educators after a student dies, & the role of collective rituals in processing.

Participants will learn how to organize a gathering and the ins and outs of holding space: from how to structure a gathering to how to care for yourself and others to what to do when things go awry. You’ll also have a chance to experience a space for educator communal care firsthand and to share and reflect on your own experiences of loss and life after.

Download the Slides →

Download the Handout →

 

Become a NACG member today! Your membership will provide access to free monthly webinars with CEs on current topics to support you in your work, discounts on educational events, access to all webinar playbacks, and more. To learn more and become a member to access this webinar for no additional cost, visit HERE →

 

Continuing Education (CE) credits are not available for webinar playbacks.
Target Audience: Counselors, Social workers, Bereavement support professionals
Instructional Level: Basic – This best describes a topic or issue that the prospective audience is encountering for the first time in a meaningful way.
Format: Live Interactive Webinar

 

Objectives:

After attending this webinar, participants will be able to:

  • Hold space for educators to connect and share about what it means to teach, lead school sites or systems, and provide school services after the death of a student or alum.
  • Identify approaches that create intentional, peer-led spaces for educators to engage in conversation around their experience with death-related, school-based losses as a means towards healing.
  • Explore evidence-based research on the specific impact of engaging in rituals collectively as opposed to individually.
  • Engage in reflective practice that in itself allows you to better lead your community and team.

 

Speaker Bios:

Leora Wolf-Prusan, EdD, serves as the Project Director for the School Crisis Recovery & Renewal project and as the School Mental Health field director for the Pacific Southwest Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC), in addition to many other facilitation projects. Previous roles include a national field director of a SAMHSA initiative (ReCAST) and technical assistance for the Student Mental Health Program for California’s Community Colleges, CalWORKs, and more.  With years of training and facilitating learning and community building in schools p-16, Wolf-Prusan is skilled in facilitation, human learning design, training, and coaching. Wolf-Prusan is dedicated to work focused on educator mental health, wellness, and trauma-informed approaches to education and operates through a framework in which public health, social work, and education intersect. Her research examined the impact of student death on teachers, what factors contribute to teachers building resiliency, and what supports teachers need from the school system in the event of a student homicide or other traumas. She received a BA in international relations and a BA in Spanish with a minor in Social & Ethnic Relations from the University of California, Davis; a teaching credential from Mills College; and an EdD in educational leadership from UCLA.

Oriana Idea, MA, LPCCI, PPS, is the School Mental Health Training Specialist at CARS, who approaches healing the wounds of trauma and oppression as core elements of social justice.  She has worked with young people across life course from elementary school to college, and has served as teacher-leader, school counselor, classroom educator and program director.  She is committed to generating equity within school structures and policies by focusing on evidence-based mental health techniques and institutional design.

 

New York Life Foundation logo

Supported by the philanthropic investment
of the New York Life Foundation.

In Today’s World: Cultivating Collective Intercultural Wellbeing and a Sense of Belonging in the Community

In today’s multiple pandemics of oppression, mass trauma, forced migration, COVID-19, and climate change, there is sustained traumatic stress with corresponding opportunities to heal. Historic, collective, and intergenerational trauma have spread dis-ease throughout human nature. Humanity has experienced more and more fragmentation, collective violence, and isolation.

In this workshop attendees will begin to understand the effects of collective loss due to war, persecution, and terrorism, its impact on children and families, as well as healing through the re-establishment of belonging. “Humans sitting within trauma from war, persecution, and terrorism tell us over and over again how much the systems of oppression need to change for healing to occur. In fact, they state that the first step in healing is not so much about revealing the darkest traumatic memories. The greatest healing, they report, is having a sense of belonging in the community.” (St. Thomas, Sheffield and Johnson. (2024) Collective Trauma and Human Suffering.)

Participants will learn the growing pains and evolution of a 25 year old bereavement and intercultural program. We will share a documentary film on collective loss produced by the Intercultural Advisory Council at the Center for Grieving Children in Maine. This documentary shares the added complexities of cross cultural definitions of collective loss, grief, as well as acculturative stress. We will explore inhibitors of cross-cultural communication and the five essentials of collective healing towards belonging.

members only iconThis playback is available to active NACG members only.

Members must be logged into the member portal to access the playback. Not currently a member? Become a NACG member today! Your membership will provide access to free monthly webinars with CEs on current topics to support you in your work, discounts on educational events, access to all webinar playbacks, and more. To learn more and become a member to access this webinar for no additional cost, visit HERE →

 

Continuing Education (CE) credits are not available for webinar playbacks.
Target Audience: Counselors, Social workers, Bereavement support professionals
Instructional Level: Basic – This best describes a topic or issue that the prospective audience is encountering for the first time in a meaningful way.
Format: Live Interactive Webinar

 

Objectives:

After attending this webinar, participants will be able to:

  • Identify at least three strategies in bringing belonging to intercultural settings.
  • Identify the top three inhibitors to cross-cultural communication.
  • Learn the five essentials to collective healing.
  • Explore and identify at least one initiative in implementing collective healing into their organization.
  • Identify at least two added barriers to healing when resettling from war and persecution.

 

Speaker Bios:

Marie Sheffield, MA, LCPC, is a clinical counselor, art therapist, co-author and interculturalist, working in the field of mass trauma, intercultural communication and collective healing. In addition to being an adjunct professor at University of Southern Maine, she has spent two decades enhancing and implementing a collective healing and intercultural model with those resettling from war and persecution. Additionally, over the course of ten years, Marie was one of two mental health consultants for America’s Camp, a six day overnight camp supporting children who lost a parent(s) on 9.11, or in the course of duty. At the Center for Grieving Children, while developing intercultural and diversity training curriculum, she established an Intercultural Advisory Council producing documentary films and community conversations across differences. Marie also completed a fellowship with the Intercultural Communication Institute. Since then, Marie has become a senior facilitator of Personal Leadership (plseminars.com) and incorporates this model in all of her work. As co-founder of Bridge to Belong Consulting (bridge2belong.com), her training and consultations are focused on bringing skills of collective healing support into the healthcare, education and community systems.

 

Justine Mugabo, BS, is the Intercultural Program Coordinator at the Center for Grieving Children. She works with facilitators in social and educational institutions to provide collective healing support and growth for children resettling from war and persecution. She states that her passion is to “help people in achieving their dreams and goals.” According to Justine, “Our goal at the Center is to help children and families to find hope and love and increase belonging in order to express feelings safely relative to the grief and loss. Such building of community resilience is a resource to persevere in the World.”

Justine is a Board Member for In Her Presence, an immigrant owned non-profit supporting asylum seeking women in navigating pathways forward. She collaborates in developing policy, programming, and resources and provides direct support. She also spends her time on the board of Double Hope Children, an immigrant owned non-profit working to support the needs of children resettling from war and persecution.

Before resettling into the United States herself, Justine worked in customer service management with the Mobile Telephone Network of Rwanda. With her lived experience, training and leadership position Justine has developed effective skills in intercultural communication, collective healing support and knowledge.

 

New York Life Foundation logo

Supported by the philanthropic investment
of the New York Life Foundation.

The Intersection of Domestic Violence and the Grieving Process of Children

Children who experience domestic violence are impacted at every level of their wellness. They can lose a caregiver or sibling(s) through separation, housing stability, and even the feeling of safety, security, and belonging, all contributing to a child’s grief. This grief may be initially overlooked or dismissed as adults focus on establishing safety and meeting the basic needs of all involved. This webinar will teach professionals how domestic violence and grief are intertwined. The webinar will highlight how domestic violence impacts the grieving process, particularly through secondary trauma and disenfranchised grief.

members only iconThis playback is available to active NACG members only.

Members must be logged into the member portal to access the playback. Not currently a member? Become a NACG member today! Your membership will provide access to free monthly webinars with CEs on current topics to support you in your work, discounts on educational events, access to all webinar playbacks, and more. To learn more and become a member to access this webinar for no additional cost, visit HERE →

 

Continuing Education (CE) credits are not available for webinar playbacks.
Target Audience: Counselors, Social workers, Bereavement support professionals
Instructional Level: Basic – This best describes a topic or issue that the prospective audience is encountering for the first time in a meaningful way.
Format: Live Interactive Webinar

 

Objectives:

After attending this webinar, participants will be able to:

  • Describe how secondary trauma from domestic violence impacts a child’s grieving process.
  • Discuss the intersection of disenfranchised grief with children who have experienced domestic violence.
  • Implement 2-3 therapeutic interventions to assist children who have lost a parent/caregiver to domestic violence.

 

Speaker Bios:

Sheree Burnett, MA, LPC-S is a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor. She has over 10 years of experience working with various populations in community mental health, private practice, hospital, and university settings. She has particular training in working with trauma individuals and families who have experienced domestic violence. She has conducted didactic training, participated in panel conferences, assisted with developing a curriculum about domestic violence for the educational system, and co-developed department initiatives to bring awareness about domestic violence and ways to celebrate survivors of domestic abuse. In addition, Sheree has worked with and participated in training to assist children and their families about grief. She also obtained certification in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy which further allows her to assist survivors and grieving individuals with their healing journey in therapy.

 

New York Life Foundation logo

Supported by the philanthropic investment
of the New York Life Foundation.

Occupational Therapy’s Role in Supporting Children’s Grief: Tools, Sensory Strategies, and When to Refer

When children experience a stressful life event, their nervous systems can have difficulty regulating. Children exhibit grief reactions in various ways that may present similarly to sensory and emotional dysregulation. Occupational therapists can partner with families to provide a holistic mental health approach. This presentation will address the role and benefit of occupational therapy, mental health strategies that may help, and when to seek out occupational therapy services.

 

Handouts:

 

Become a NACG member today! Your membership will provide access to free monthly webinars with CEs on current topics to support you in your work, discounts on educational events, access to all webinar playbacks, and more. To learn more and become a member to access this webinar for no additional cost, visit HERE →

 

Continuing Education (CE) credits are not available for webinar playbacks.
Target Audience: Counselors, Social workers, Bereavement support professionals
Instructional Level: Basic – This best describes a topic or issue that the prospective audience is encountering for the first time in a meaningful way.
Format: Live Interactive Webinar

 

Objectives:

After attending this webinar, participants will be able to:

  • Participants will be able to describe occupational therapy and how it can benefit children experiencing grief
  • Participants will be able to identify two occupational therapy mental health strategies/tools that can be utilized in a clinic or at home.
  • Participants will be able to recognize when to refer a child experiencing grief to occupational therapy services.

 

Speaker Bios:

Michelle Michaels is an occupational therapy doctoral student at Huntington University, who is completing her capstone experience project while collaborating with the National Alliance of Children’s Grief (NACG). She is extremely passionate about her project working with the NACG due to her personal experiences with childhood grief following the death of her mother. She also has ten years of experience working with children with and without disabilities as a care provider, direct support professional, and a personal paraprofessional aid. She gained occupational therapy clinical experience through her Level II Fieldwork placement at an outpatient pediatric clinic that utilized a sensory-based approach. Once she has passed the NBCOT exam following graduation in April, she plans to go into travel occupational therapy.

Centering Intersectionality Within the Field of Childhood Bereavement

It is commonly believed that grief is different for everyone and that we should not compare one child’s grief to another’s. Why can grief differ so much from one child to another, even within the same family system? When a child experiences a death loss, adults in their system may attribute a child’s thoughts and behaviors to being a “grief response” and center the child’s grief as their primary motivating factor. This unintentional oversimplification of what the child may be experiencing can make grief the only lens by which adults see children who are grieving. It can potentially harm a child’s health and well-being if supportive adults only see a child as a “single story.” This presentation will use the concept of intersectionality introduced by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw to help adults who support children see them as the complex, socially constructed people they are.

members only iconThis playback is available to active NACG members only.

Members must be logged into the member portal to access the playback. Not currently a member? Become a NACG member today! Your membership will provide access to free monthly webinars with CEs on current topics to support you in your work, discounts on educational events, access to all webinar playbacks, and more. To learn more and become a member to access this webinar for no additional cost, visit HERE →

 

Continuing Education (CE) credits are not available for webinar playbacks.
Target Audience: Counselors, Social workers, Bereavement support professionals
Instructional Level: Basic – This best describes a topic or issue that the prospective audience is encountering for the first time in a meaningful way.
Format: Live Interactive Webinar

 

Objectives:

After attending this webinar, participants will be able to:

  • Explain Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw’s concept of intersectionality.
  • Identify areas of their practice where intersectionality can be incorporated into their work with children who are grieving.
  • Create an intake process that uses principles of intersectionality to help portray a more complete picture of a grieving child.

 

Speaker Bios:

Adam W. Carter, Ph.D., is a professional counselor and counselor educator who received his doctoral degree in Counselor Education and Supervision, with an emphasis in multicultural counseling, from The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Adam has taught courses in CACREP-accredited master’s level clinical mental health programs and doctoral-level courses in counselor education and supervision and served as the Trauma-Informed Counseling Graduate Certificate coordinator at Northern Illinois University. During his time at Northern Illinois University, he founded the Center for Grief and Loss at the University’s Community Counseling and Training Center, where he provided clinical supervision and education to counselors in training. Adam’s ongoing research and scholarship program focuses on early childhood grief responses and preparing counselors-in-training to work with grieving children. Adam’s scholarly work also includes numerous peer-reviewed presentations focusing on topics such as trauma-informed counseling, play therapy, and developing research skills in counseling practitioners. His clinical experience is broad, having worked as a counselor and supervisor in community mental health clinics, in-home intensive settings, community advocacy agencies, and private practice.

 

New York Life Foundation logo

Supported by the philanthropic investment
of the New York Life Foundation.

The Rhythm of Emotion: The Use of Music Therapy to Give Voice to Grieving Children & Adolescents

This presentation will explore the use of music therapy as a powerful tool for grieving children and adolescents. Participants will have the opportunity to gain information and knowledge about the interconnection between child and adolescent grief and music therapy, discover ways of incorporating music therapy techniques with this population through clinical examples and guided practice, and engage in music therapy experiences that may be used in self-exploration of their own grief journey.

members only iconThis playback is available to active NACG members only.

Members must be logged into the member portal to access the playback. Not currently a member? Become a NACG member today! Your membership will provide access to free monthly webinars with CEs on current topics to support you in your work, discounts on educational events, access to all webinar playbacks, and more. To learn more and become a member to access this webinar for no additional cost, visit HERE →

 

Continuing Education (CE) credits are not available for webinar playbacks.
Target Audience: Counselors, Social workers, Bereavement support professionals
Instructional Level: Intermediate – This best describes a topic or issue that the audience likely has a theoretical foundation for understanding and/or a working knowledge.
Format: Live Interactive Webinar

 

Objectives:

After attending this webinar, participants will be able to:

  • Define music therapy.
  • Discuss the role of music therapy in grief and bereavement.
  • Describe 3 music therapy experiences that can be used in child and adolescent grief.

 

Speaker Bios:

Amy Entwistle, MMT, MT-BC, a board-certified music therapist, is a Child and Adolescent Grief Coordinator at Four Seasons. Amy graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music performance with a minor in psychology from High Point University. She earned her Master of Music Therapy degree from Appalachian State University. She has worked as a hospice music therapist and bereavement counselor. Amy uses a body-mind-centered approach and various creative art modalities to meet the needs of grieving children, adolescents, and their families.

 

New York Life Foundation logo

Supported by the philanthropic investment
of the New York Life Foundation.

Write Your Heart Out: Self Expression to cope with grief, loss, trauma, & stress

The W.H.O. recently reported COVID-19 pandemic has caused a 25% increase in the prevalence of anxiety and depression worldwide and called for all countries to step up mental health services and support. Additionally, the coronavirus and the public health measures designed to prevent its spread have been shown to have had a profound negative effect on many young people. Writing and poetry are powerful tools to help process and cope not only with COVID-19 effects, but also for helping those dealing with grief, loss, trauma, and stress management in general. Yet, children, teens, and the adults in their lives often avoid writing because they think they aren’t a “good writer”. Attend this workshop to help them learn tools to overcome that negative self-talk barrier. Apply the research about free-form writing to help children and teens have a positive impact on healing and the immune system. In this interactive lecture/discussion, experiential, and personal reflection workshop, we will explore and experience poetry and written activities. Caring professionals can use the activities to help families process their grief and trauma, improve coping, and prevent stress & burnout.

members only iconThis playback is available to active NACG members only.

Members must be logged into the member portal to access the playback. Not currently a member? Become a NACG member today! Your membership will provide access to free monthly webinars with CEs on current topics to support you in your work, discounts on educational events, access to all webinar playbacks, and more. To learn more and become a member to access this webinar for no additional cost, visit HERE →

 

Continuing Education (CE) credits are not available for webinar playbacks.
Target Audience: Counselors, Social workers, Bereavement support professionals
Instructional Level: Intermediate – This best describes a topic or issue that the audience likely has a theoretical foundation for understanding and/or a working knowledge.
Format: Live Interactive Webinar

 

Objectives:

After attending this webinar, participants will be able to:

  • Implement tools to identify and heal negative self-talk that interferes with writing and poetic expression
  • Utilize journaling/writing techniques to help with grief, loss, trauma, and stress.
  • Utilize poetry techniques to help with grief, loss, trauma, and stress.

 

Speaker Bios:

Michelle Post is a psychotherapist (LMFT) and coach in Los Angeles. She has specialized in grief since 2003. Her grief work has paralleled stress management teaching since 2000. Since 2007, she deepened focus on burnout prevention for professionals. In 2019, Michelle launched her own international business to coach others via live & online training, self-care retreats, and she travels to teach and consult. You can read more about her story and professional credentials at: www.PostInternationalInc.com and www.PostFamilyCounseling.com. Michelle uses transparency, vulnerability, and personal experience in her teaching like the fact that her friends have nicknamed her home, ‘The Magical Fun Palace.’

 

New York Life Foundation logo

Supported by the philanthropic investment
of the New York Life Foundation.

When Hearts are Stretched: Fostering Compassion Resilience Amidst a Pandemic

For many care providers, filling your own metaphorical cup is easier said than done. The spark that draws us to our work can begin to dim when faced with daily pressures and the mounting stress among our teams. Workplace dynamics, time pressures, personal stressors, and repeated immersion in tough stories can take a toll. Then – we find ourselves a second year into a global pandemic. What anchors us during these times? What tools keep difficult conversations constructive and help us to productively manage the expressed anger and stress of others? How can we continually regenerate ourselves, interact in ever-more effective ways, and set up systems for healthy workplaces? Too often, workplace wellness oversimplifies the complexity of systems. Together we’ll explore practical strategies related to individual employees, collegial dynamics, and larger work structures – with the goal of enhancing well-being and tools to address trauma and chronic stress. May you leave feeling inspired and empowered with tools to help you, your colleagues, and your employees keep on keeping on.

members only iconThis playback is available to active NACG members only.

Members must be logged into the member portal to access the playback. Not currently a member? Become a NACG member today! Your membership will provide access to free monthly webinars with CEs on current topics to support you in your work, discounts on educational events, access to all webinar playbacks, and more. To learn more and become a member to access this webinar for no additional cost, visit HERE →

 

Continuing Education (CE) credits are not available for webinar playbacks.
Target Audience: Counselors, Social workers, Bereavement support professionals
Instructional Level: Intermediate – This best describes a topic or issue that the audience likely has a theoretical foundation for understanding and/or a working knowledge.
Format: Live Interactive Webinar

 

Objectives:

After attending this webinar, participants will be able to:

  • Identify impacts of pervasive exposure to stress and trauma.
  • Differentiate between individual, interpersonal, and organizational wellness strategies
  • Identify two tools to address chronic stress and grief amidst COVID.

 

Speaker Bios:

Tina Barrett, EdD, LCPC is the Co-founder and Executive Director of Tamarack Grief Resource Center in Montana. Strengthening and stabilizing individuals and families following profound loss through groups, camps, counseling, and workshops, Tina has spent the past 20 years specializing in outdoor-based grief support. She has trained and supervised grief group facilitators since 1997 with special attention to strengthening family-systems and trauma recovery. Dr. Tina Barrett leads workshops for grief professionals at national conferences including ADEC and NBCC, and serves on the Board of Advisors and as a Senior Consultant for TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors).

 

New York Life Foundation logo

Supported by the philanthropic investment
of the New York Life Foundation.

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Webinar

We know that grandparents enter situations of raising grandchildren for many different reasons including but not limited to drug use, overdose, and death of one or both parents. Please join us to hear from a panel of grandparents who are currently raising grandchildren. Hear from them about their success, their challenges, and advice that they have learned along the way.

Panel Facilitators:

Adam W. Carter, Ph.D. is the National Clinical Director for the NACG. He is a professional counselor and counselor educator who received his doctoral degree in Counselor Education and Supervision, with an emphasis in multicultural counseling, from The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Adam has taught courses in CACREP accredited master’s level clinical mental health programs and doctoral level courses in counselor education and supervision and served as the Trauma-Informed Counseling Graduate Certificate coordinator at Northern Illinois University. During his time at Northern Illinois University, he founded the Center for Grief and Loss at the University’s Community Counseling and Training Center, where he provided clinical supervision and education to counselors in training. Adam has an ongoing program of research and scholarship that focuses on early childhood grief responses and preparing counselors-in-training to work with grieving children. Adam’s scholarly work also includes numerous peer-reviewed presentations focusing on topics such as trauma-informed counseling, play therapy, and developing research skills in counseling practitioners. His clinical experience is broad, having worked as a counselor and supervisor in community mental health clinics, in-home intensive settings, community advocacy agencies, and private practice. In 2014, Adam was one of two inaugural Scholars-in-Residence with the American Counseling Association and helped developed strategies for empowering clinicians to conduct single-subject design research in community settings. In the fall of 2020, Adam was acknowledged for his work in the field of grief counseling and death education by earning the designation of Fellow in Thanatology: Death, Dying, and Bereavement.

Kerry Bickford of Support After a Death by Overdose (SADOD) is a Grandparent Peer Grief Specialist with the Peer Support Community Partners. Kerry co-facilitates two groups (Nathan’s Circle and Consoling Partners) on Cape Cod. Her son, Nathan, died in August of 2018 and her work is dedicated to his memory and the memory of all others lost to substance use disorder.

Exploring the Role of Social Media in Child and Adolescent Grief

Social media is an integral part of almost everyone’s life today, especially children and adolescents. This form of connection can digitally put them in contact with others who may share their thoughts and feelings when physical contact is not wanted or available. These connections can provide much-needed support for a child or adolescent who is grieving while allowing them the opportunity to maintain their privacy and anonymity if so desired. While the opportunity for connection can be helpful, social media can also present challenges to children and adolescents who are grieving. The same anonymity that may allow for freer expression of thoughts and feelings may be used by others to manipulate, bully, or even extort children and adolescents. This webinar will share ways that social media can be used to support children and adolescents who are grieving, some potential challenges in its use, and ways social media can be used in the memorialization process.

Download the slides here →

Become a NACG member today! Your membership will provide access to free monthly webinars with CEs on current topics to support you in your work, discounts on educational events, access to all webinar playbacks, and more. To learn more and become a member to access this webinar for no additional cost, visit HERE →

 

Continuing Education (CE) credits are not available for webinar playbacks.
Target Audience: Counselors, Social workers, Bereavement support professionals
Instructional Level: Basic – This best describes a topic or issue that the prospective audience is encountering for the first time in a meaningful way.
Format: Live Interactive Webinar

 

Objectives:

After attending this webinar, participants will be able to:

  • Identify two benefits of the use of social media by children and adolescents who are grieving.
  • Identify two potential challenges of the use of social media by children and adolescents who are grieving.
  • Identify two ways children and adolescents can use social media in the memorialization process.

 

Speaker Bios:

Adam W. Carter, Ph.D., joined the NACG in 2021 as National Clinical Director. He is a professional counselor and counselor educator who received his doctoral degree in Counselor Education and Supervision, with an emphasis in multicultural counseling, from The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Adam has taught courses in CACREP-accredited master’s level clinical mental health programs and doctoral level courses in counselor education and supervision and served as the Trauma-Informed Counseling Graduate Certificate coordinator at Northern Illinois University. During his time at Northern Illinois University, he founded the Center for Grief and Loss at the University’s Community Counseling and Training Center, where he provided clinical supervision and education to counselors in training. Adam has an ongoing program of research and scholarship that focuses on early childhood grief responses and preparing counselors in-training to work with grieving children. Adam’s scholarly work also includes numerous peer-reviewed presentations focusing on topics such as trauma-informed counseling, play therapy, and developing research skills in counseling practitioners. His clinical experience is broad, having worked as a counselor and supervisor in community mental health clinics, in-home intensive settings, community advocacy agencies, and private practice. In 2014, Adam was one of two inaugural Scholars-in-Residence with the American Counseling Association and helped develop strategies for empowering clinicians to conduct single-subject design research in community settings. In the fall of 2020, Adam was acknowledged for his work in the field of grief counseling and death education by earning the designation of Fellow in Thanatology: Death, Dying, and Bereavement.

 

New York Life Foundation logo

Supported by the philanthropic investment
of the New York Life Foundation.