ADEC Connections:
Building Bridges through Loss

Workshop Recordings Now Available!

ADEC hosted its annual half-day virtual workshop on November 13, 2022.

Purchase access to the session recordings and gain knowledge & insights from a phenomenal line-up of international panelists covering critical areas of thanatological research and clinical work!  

Recording Rates

• ADEC Member: $49
• Non-Member: $99

Session Recordings

International Panel 1 - Global Perspectives on Political Grief

• Moderator: Dr. Darcy Harris (Canada)
• Presenters: Dr. Tashel Bordere (United States) and Dr. Neil Thompson (United Kingdom)
• We will explore the concept of political grief, examine the socio-political issues that create division, and describe ways to constructively and culturally conscientiously approach loss and grief that originate at the political level.

International Panel 2 – Collective Mourning and Healing

• Moderator: Dr. Jennifer Matthews (United States)
  
• Panelists: Dr. Rita Milburn-Dobson (United States) and Mr. Christopher Hall (Australia)
• We will explore the issues of social justice, death and loss that evoke collective grief, examine collective mourning experiences from the lens of professional dialogue and discuss collective healing practices in diverse communities. 

International Panel 3 – Empathy Distress Fatigue and Resilience

• Moderator: Dr. Andy Hau Yan Ho, PhD, EdD, MFT (Singapore)
  
• Presenters: Dr. Mary Vachon (Canada) and Dr. Chong Poh Heng (Singapore) 
• We will examine the nature of empathy fatigue, discuss the sources and impact of related distress, and explore the various practices of compassion for building resilience in coping with work-related traumas in end of life and bereavement contexts.

About Your Moderators

Dr. Darcy Harris, PhD, RSW, RN, FT is a Professor of Thanatology at King’s University College in London, Canada, where she also maintains a private clinical practice specializing in issues related to change, loss, and transition. Dr. Harris developed the undergraduate degree program in Thanatology at King’s University College in London, Canada. In addition, she is a faculty member of the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition, dedicated to training in grief therapy leading toward Certification in Meaning Reconstruction in Loss. She is the co-editor of Routledge’s Dying, Death, and Bereavement series, and she is the author of numerous books, chapters, and articles in addition to being an internationally recognized speaker on topics related to loss and grief.

Dr. Jennifer J. Matthews, PhD, LPC, NCC, ACS is an Associate Professor at Oakland University. She has a Ph.D. in Counsellor Education and M.A. in Counseling. She is a Licensed Professional Counsellor, a National Certified Counsellor, and Approved Clinical Supervisor. Dr. Matthews works with the bereaved in her private practice and provides clinical supervision to counselling graduates. Dr. Matthews' research focuses on grief & loss and multicultural counselling. Dr. Matthews is an active presenter and has published peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. Dr. Matthews is a current board member for the Association for Death Education and Counseling.

Dr. Andy Hau Yan Ho, PhD, EdD, MFT is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Medicine at Nanyang Technological University, and the Deputy Director of Research of the Palliative Care Centre for Excellence in Research and Education, Singapore. He specializes in public health palliative care, life and death education, psychosocial gerontology and community empowerment. Andy has founded a number of acclaimed psycho-socio-spiritual interventions to augment dignified and compassionate end of life care including Mindful-Compassion Art-based Therapy (MCAT), Family Dignity Intervention (FDI), and Narrative e-Writing Intervention (NeW-I). He has authored over 120 publications as well as presented in more than 180 keynotes, plenary and invited lectures. He is the first Asian Recipient of the ADEC Academic Educator Award in 2018. 

About Your Panelists

Dr. Tashel C. Bordere, PhD, CT is an assistant professor of Human Development and Family Science and State Specialist (Youth Development) at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She serves on the Board of the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC), Board of the National Alliance for Grieving Children (NAGC), and Advisory Council of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). Dr. Bordere is a former Forward Promise Fellow (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation) and received the Ronald K. Barrett National Award (ADEC) for her research on bereaved Black youth. Her research, publications, and trainings focus on cultural trauma, Black youth and family bereavement, suffocated grief (a term she coined), and coping. She has a co-edited/co-written book - Handbook of Social Justice in Loss and Grief (Routledge). 

Dr. Neil Thompson, PhD, DLitt is an independent writer, educator and adviser and a visiting professor at the Open University in the UK. His recent books include Anti-racism for Beginners and, with Bernard Moss, The Spirituality and Religion Practice Manual. He is a long-standing member of the International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement and the holder of the Dr. Robert Fulton Award for excellence in the field of death, grief and bereavement from the Center for Death Education and Bioethics at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He is also the Vice President of Vigoroom UK, a sophisticated employee wellness platform geared towards developing healthier, happier and more productive workplaces. His website is at www.NeilThompson.info. 

Dr. Rita Milburn-Dobson, DMin, MDiv, BSN, RN, FT is the Director of Precious Gems Supportive Services (PGSS) in Glenside, PA as well as a Part-Time lecturer for Drexel University Department of Medicine.  She has specialized training as a Fellow in Thanatology (Dying, Death and Bereavement). She has been practicing nursing, chaplaincy and grief counseling for over 30 years.  Her expertise includes issues regarding hospice, grief, loss and end of life issues, especially within the African American and faith communities. Her clinical practice has included care of grieving ethnic minority children and teens, adults with multiple chronic health concerns, end-of life care counseling and bereavement care.  She is a former Board Member of the Association for Death Education and Counseling and chaired the Multicultural Committee.  Dr. Milburn-Dobson’s research dissertation focused on the role of spirituality/religion on African Americans making end of life care decisions.

Mr. Christopher Hall, MA, GradDipAdol&ChPsych is the Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement. He is a psychologist specialising in grief and bereavement. Christopher was elected President of the Association for Death Education and Counseling in 2015. In 2007, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Work Group on Dying, Death and Bereavement and served as chair from 2010-2013. He currently serves as the Secretary/Treasurer of the work group. The Association for Death Education and Counseling in 2018 awarded him the ADEC Service Award for his commitment to the field and advancing the study of dying, death and bereavement.

Dr. Mary L.S. Vachon, PhD, RN is a nurse, Registered Psychotherapist, sociologist, author and cancer survivor who has given over 1,600 lectures around the world on issues related to occupational stress, cancer, bereavement, survivorship, spirituality and compassion. She has authored over 200 publications including the chapter on "The Emotional Care of the Dying Person" for the Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine (editions 1-4) and has written the chapters on occupational stress in oncology, supportive and palliative care specialists in several leading international textbooks for physicians, nurses and other health professionals  She is currently a Registered Psychotherapist in private practice;  an Adjunct  Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto and Clinical Consultant at Wellspring, of which she is a co-founder.

Dr. Chong Poh Heng, PhD, MBBS, MMED is the Medical Director of HCA Hospice Care. He is also the Vice Chairman of Singapore Hospice Council. While his focus has been in raising awareness of hospice and palliative care locally, including ensuring that people are able to access quality end-of-life care particularly in their own homes, his deepest passion ultimately lies in supporting children with life-shortening conditions. Advocacy work in this area involves chairing the Asia Pacific Hospice and Palliative Care Network (APHN) Paediatric Palliative Care Special Interest Group, and promoting training, education and research in the care of vulnerable children and their families.