Let's Talk Death! ... a HealGrief® program

In this episode Dr. Schurrman discusses how our society can influence how we grieve. Her candid nature helps us feel empowered to take our grief back as our own, and make sure we honor our own journey.

Dr. Donna Schurrman is the Sr. Director of Advocacy & Training at The Dougy Center: The National Center for Grieving Children & Families in Portland, Oregon, where she has served in various roles since 1986, including 25 years as Executive Director. She writes and trains internationally on bereavement issues, and has authored numerous articles, book chapters, and the book, Never the Same: Coming to Terms with the Death of a Parent. Dr. Schuurman served as President of the Board of Directors for the Association for Death Education & Counseling, and received their Annual Service Award in 2003 and their Clinical Practice Award in 2013.

She is a member of the International Work Group on Death, Dying, and Bereavement, and a founding board member of The National Alliance for Grieving Children. She has trained the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and FBI’s Rapid Deployment teams, as well as medical personnel, NGO staff and caregivers following major natural and manmade disasters including the Oklahoma City bombing, 9/11, Japan’s 1995 Kobe earthquake and 3/11 earthquake, and the school shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary and Umpqua Community College. She serves as a national trainer for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), and is a member of the Board of Directors of The Compassionate Friends.

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In this episode Tricia LaVoice shares her personal experience to help us see that even though we may not always talk about our struggles, we are more alike than we are different in the midst of grief. She highlights how finding connections and outlets for our grief can help us see that grief doesn’t always have to be such a lonely journey.

Tricia has earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Applied Psychology from California State University, Long Beach and a Master’s of Science Degree in Educational Psychology from Fordham University.

Tricia is a writer/speaker/blogger for children and adults and the founder of Wishes for the Heart, Inc. She has written a series of Wishes books. The first, Wishes for the Mother’s Heart co-written with writer Barbara Lazaroff, was released by Hay House Publishing in 2011. Wishes for the Grieving and Healing Heart is now available in eBook and in print. Other books by Tricia LaVoice include Helmets and Hoses, Toes and Noses, was released by Windstorm Creative in July of 2008. Several of her “Wishes” have been aired on the nationally syndicated radio program Hollywood Confidential.

Dear Martha, WTF? is a book centered on healing and finding joy again in nature, friendship and with a tree named, Martha.

You can learn more about Tricia and her books by visiting her website.

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In this episode, Scarlett shares how her son’s message inspired her to create the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Foundation. Six year old Jesse Lewis saved lives but lost his own as his friends escaped the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.

Scarlett founded the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement after her son was murdered during the Sandy Hook tragedy in December 2012. Shortly after his death, Scarlett decided to be part of the solution to the issues that we’re seeing in our society—and that also caused the tragedy. She created the Movement and became an advocate for social and emotional learning (SEL) that teaches children how to manage their emotions, feel connected, and have healthy relationships.

Scarlett works to promote the Choose Love Enrichment Program, a no cost, next generation SEL program that empowers educators and their students to choose love for themselves and others. This program teaches children how to handle adversity, have courageous conversations, and to respond with love. The Choose Love Enrichment Program has been downloaded more than 30,000 times in all 50 states and in nearly 80 countries. This program includes the best of what is statistically effective and being taught in classrooms today that can reduce and prevent mental illness, substance abuse, bullying and more.

Since the tragedy, Scarlett has spoken all across the US and internationally to diverse audiences urging everyone to become part of the solution to the issues we’re experiencing today. Scarlett has spoken in national, statewide and community based events including hundreds of talks in schools and to educators and administrators.

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In this episode Susan Mah helps us explore The Loss Project, what it means to her, and how art can be a wonderful outlet for grief and healing.

Susan has a master’s degree in clinical social work and a master’s in fine art photography. In addition to working full-time as a psychotherapist in Northern CA, Susan is the creator of the Loss Project. Started in 2014, the Loss Project is merging of psychology and photography, an artistic exploration of the human condition, presented in a series of environmental portraits with the theme of loss. The imagery may include loss due to breakups; divorce; death; abandonment; neglect; separation from people, places, things, or ideas.

In 2016, the Loss Project found its proper home at HealGrief where Susan’s Loss Project portraits related to death, along with subjects’ stories of their grief, are exhibited in a worldwide online gallery. As an expansion of the project, there is an open invitation to the public to share their own loss imagery by submitting photograph about something or somewhere that is reminiscent of the death. In so doing, the Loss Project becomes a form of art therapy, free of charge, wherein anyone in the world can share their grief experience and let others know they are not alone in their healing.

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In this episode Briana Megid shares her experience and why advocating for suicide awareness is so important in her life.

After the loss of her boyfriend and 3 classmates in high school, Briana began her work with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention at 16 years old. Fast-forward 9 years, and Briana is the youngest member of AFSP’s National Loss & Healing Council. Briana was nominated to the position after starting AFSP chapters in both high school in college.

Students Against Suicide at UC Davis remains the first and only officially chartered collegiate chapter of AFSP in the country, and is officially recognized as a non-profit organization by the state of California.

Through a partnership with Actively Moving Forward® and AFSP, Briana is working to bring International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day to young adults nationwide. She complimented her volunteer work in her career, and interned for former U.S. Senator Harry Reid, who presented and passed International Day for Suicide Survivors in Congress. Currently, Briana is a Senior Account Executive in a public relations firm dedicated to government relations and crisis communications.

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In this episode Ora Nadrich inspires us to think about our innate skill of mindfulness as a superpower in our lives. She helps us look at the benefits of mindfulness and how the courage to be present can help us fully appreciate our grief journey.

Ora is founder and president of the Institute for Transformational Thinking and author of Live True: A Mindfulness Guide to Authenticity. A certified life coach and mindfulness teacher, she specializes in transformational thinking, self-discovery, and mentoring new coaches as they develop their careers. Learn more at theiftt.org and OraNadrich.com.

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In this episode David Forstadt helps us take a deeper look into the intricacies that can be woven between the unique issues individuals can face in coping with difficult life experiences such as grief and addiction.

David is a Doctoral candidate in Clinical Psychology and holds two Masters Degrees in Community Mental Health Counseling and Psychology. He has 15 years experience in the field of Behavioral Health specializing in Addiction, Dual Diagnosis Populations and Mental Health Administration.

As an expert on program development, integrated care, and research-based approaches, Mr. Forstadt has helped provide services to many population segments of the behavioral health field nationwide. He has consulted and restructured dozens of treatment facilities to optimize the clinical and fiscal quality of services rendered. He has authored multiple publications in international journals focused on substance use and mental health disorders and is an advocate for the mental health and LGBTQ community.

David is CEO of Jade Recovery where they provide comprehensive and integrated care to those struggling with addiction and mental health issues.

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In this episode Dr. Servaty-Seib‘s passion for the grieving young adult population shines through as she helps to raise awareness about the unique issues she sees not only on her campus, Purdue University, but also themes that have emerged from her research.

Heather is Professor in the Doctoral Program in Counseling Psychology at Purdue University, Associate Department Head of Educational Studies, and Associate Dean of Student Life in the Honors College. She is well published in the areas of adolescent/young adult bereavement and suicide, social support and grief, and the use of loss as a broad model for conceptualizing significant life events. She and her active and productive grief and loss research team have developed a measure, the Perceived Impact of Life Event Scale (PILES), which uses a gain/loss framework (i.e., all life events involve both gains and losses; Servaty-Seib, 2014) to assess the multidimensional impact of single life events. She was co-principal investigator of ALIVE @ Purdue — a three-year, campus suicide prevention grant received from the Department of Health and Human Services. Much of her recent scholarship has been focused in the area of college student bereavement including a co-edited volume (published by Jossey-Bass) entitled Assisting Bereaved College Students and an edited volume of narratives by grieving college students (published by Jessica Kingsley). Her scholarship has been used to support the development of college student grief absence policies at Purdue and other institutions, as highlighted in Chronicle of Higher Education (Peterkin, 2012). Recognition of her scholarly expertise is reflected at the national (e.g., manuscript of the year award, editorial board of 4 refereed journals, media requests, invitations to write book chapters, sought out as external reviewer for tenure/promotion) and international (e.g., visiting academic at the University of Queensland, two visiting student scholars from Turkey) levels.

She is a past president of the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) and received the ADEC 2013 Death Educator Award.

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In this episode Heidi has an honest and hope-filled conversation about her experience as a grieving young adult. She shares her perspective on how this has helped shaped her life and encourages others to embrace grief in their own way.

Heidi is an Executive Producer for Film and Television. Heidi produces award winning content for integrated, digital and traditional broadcast production in advertising, branded entertainment, television, feature film, and music video programming. She is also a dedicated Grief Advocate for HealGrief and Actively Moving Forward.

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In this episode Paul helps demystify advanced care planning while talking about the numerous benefits it may provide for individuals and families. He also discusses why he connects deeply to the mission of Aging with Dignity.

Paul is the President of Aging with Dignity. My mother often told me that I grew up in nursing homes and hospitals. It’s true. My experience with my grandparents is what initially drew me to the mission of Aging with Dignity more than 17 years ago. I saw both the challenges and the joys – how easy it can be for elders to become lost in the shuffle and how meaningful it is when their dignity is acknowledged by something as simple as holding a hand. I remain committed to the work of Aging with Dignity because it addresses what is likely the biggest challenge of our generation. I believe sincerely that every one of us wants to care well for those we love. That desire may face headwinds in the future. The next few decades will see a rapidly aging population and fewer resources to care for them. Through our work at Aging with Dignity, our team can provide the information, resources, and advocacy to help make dignified care a reality for all.

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