What year did you graduate from Pitt Social Work?
I graduated from Pitt in 1995 with my bachelor’s degree in Child Development and Child Care. I then went to NYU for graduate school for my MSW.
What is your area of expertise?
I got into the field of bereavement accidentally. I always wanted to work with children so I didn’t even take a class on death and dying until after graduate school! It just didn’t cross my mind that young children could be affected by death, or that they could actually die! My first job was in a hospital setting, working with stroke patients. After a year, I got what I thought was my dream job, working in a school. Someone asked me if I’d like to remain a per diem employee at the hospital facilitating support groups for children who had experienced a death. So I though, “why not?” It was a little extra money, and it was with children so I thought it was a good learning experience. But that changed my life and my career. I really felt like I was making a difference in the lives of children at such critical points in their development. I ended up working in the hospice and eventually became the Children’s Bereavement Coordinator. Since then, I have earned certificates in Grief Recovery and Thanatology, the study of death and dying. I have also been certified in Psychological First Aid and am a Lead Responder for the Traumatic Loss Coalition of NJ, responding to school after a student or staff death and providing immediate support in the aftermath of that loss. I have presented workshop on suicide loss, supporting grieving peers, students and teammates. I present on the grief that comes with life changes like going off to college, health crises like brain injury, mental illness, and caregiving. I have provided support to other social workers who support grievers and don’t often get to process the trauma that they absorb from their clients. I also work with parents who need support to inform children of an impending death or sudden death in their lives. I also go to college classrooms and guest lecture in classrooms to budding professionals. This has been the honor of my life and I am so grateful for the opportunity I have been afforded to do this work.
What is your current position?
Currently, I am in private practice and recently founded Inner Harbor, an organization dedicated to supporting grieving college students. After over 20 years in the field of grief and bereavement, I saw a gap in support for college students after they experience a loss. My son’s friend, a grieving person himself, took his own life just days after beginning his college career. I can only imagine how things could have been different if he had been hooked up with support, knew about resources and had learned about healthy coping tools. This is the mission of Inner Harbor, in honor of this young man.
Presently, I am working on a webinar for professionals to understand the developmental responses to grief. I am also working with several colleges and universities to provide consultation about bereavement policies, ongoing support for staff and students, as well as resource guides that are relevant to their local community.
How did your Pitt Social Work education prepare you for this position?
My Pitt education gave me so much! First of all, it inspired my passion to support young people. Also, it gave me confidence knowing that I have a foundation of understanding about children, teens and young adults.
What projects do you have coming up in the next year?
Currently, I am partnering with colleges across the country to provide education about how to support grieving classmates, students, residents, teammates, brothers and sisters. I am also working on putting together a grief retreat, where college students can get together in a supportive, safe space to learn about others who have also experienced a death. We will also go over resources on and off campus and identify healthy coping skills.
How do you stay connected to Pitt School of Social Work?
I love reading Bridges magazine! I follow the Pitt School of Social Work on Facebook as well.