Evaluation & Dissemination of a Bereavement Support Intervention for LGBTQIA+ Youth

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and gender non-conforming youth, are impacted by high rates of traumatic loss, as well as by the experience of suffocated and disenfranchised grief, much of it caused by the stigma, shaming and violence directed at LGBT people. These youth can also have unique bereavement concerns, distinct from their heterosexual and cisgender peers, given the ways that the developmental trajectory of LGBT adolescents can intersect with the processes of mourning and grief.

The Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI) is one of the nation’s oldest and largest LGBT youth-serving organizations, providing primarily Black and Latino youth with mental health services and an array of youth development programs. In response to the numbers of bereaved youth seeking counseling services at HMI, and the regularity with which our community mourns the loss of young people, many of whom die by violence and suicide, the Institute has developed a curriculum-driven group intervention to support bereaved youth, focused on resilience, coping with loss, and finding connections with LGBT ancestors. The curriculum teaches youth about LGBT history and collective responses to loss and trauma, so that youth can learn how to transform pain through creative expression, social action, and community celebrations. The intervention, titled “Survivance and Queer Youth,” is grounded in Shawn Ginwright’s concept of “Healing-Centered Engagement” which is a strength-based approach, and views those exposed to trauma as active agents in the creation of their own healing. Healing-Centered Engagement advances a collective view of healing, and re-centers culture, healthy identity, and a sense of belonging as central features in well-being.

Staff from HMI will present on the implementation and dissemination of this community-based bereavement support program, and will share results from our program evaluation which includes quantitative data from seven (7) youth centers located across the country, and qualitative data about the Facilitator Training.

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Continuing Education (CE) credits are not available for webinar playbacks.
Target Audience: Counselors, Social workers, Bereavement support professionals, school 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:

• Recognize and articulate the types of non-death losses experienced by LGBT youth, and the reasons for higher rates of bereavement and early death among this population.
• Identify and understand the psychosocial phenomenon of disenfranchised grief and suffocated grief among LGBTQ youth communities.
• Articulate best practices for counseling and supporting bereaved LGBTQ youth and adolescents using approaches drawn from Healing-Centered Engagement

 

Speaker Bio:

Zola Bruce is a dynamic social worker, educator, writer, and interdisciplinary artist whose work centers on experiential learning, leadership development, creative program design, healing, and community-based education. Originally from Dallas, Texas, Zola relocated to New York to attend Sarah Lawrence College, where they studied psychology and sculpture. Their global perspective was further shaped by a semester abroad in Kingston, Jamaica, with The School for International Training, focusing on Gender and Development.

Zola earned their Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University in 2001 and spent over a decade advancing youth development initiatives across New York City. Their work with organizations such as the Center for Family Life, McBurney YMCA, the LGBTQ Center, and The Center for Anti-Violence Education emphasized therapeutic programming for youth and families, with a strong commitment to social justice and healing.

Internationally, Zola founded Unified for Global Healing, a nonprofit dedicated to grassroots community health initiatives in Haiti, Ghana, and India. Through the use of art as a universal language, they fostered cross-cultural dialogue and connection beyond barriers of language, class, and culture. They also led youth programming in Kyoto, Japan, as part of World Learning’s Arts & Culture initiative.

Blending their passions for art, activism, and social work, Zola served as Associate Director of Communications & Impact at The Center for Anti-Violence Education and continues to consult and speak at activist events. Currently, they serve as Manager of Bereavement and Mental Health Services at the Hetrick-Martin Institute and teach as an Adjunct Professor at Hunter College.

Zola resides in Brooklyn, where they remain deeply engaged in creative and community-centered work.