The Association for Death Education and Counseling®, The Thanatology Association®, is one of the first interdisciplinary organizations in the field of dying, death and bereavement. Its 1,500 members include a wide array of psychologists, counselors, social workers, educators, researchers, hospice personnel, clergy, and volunteers.

The primary goal of ADEC is to enhance the ability of professionals to meet the needs of those with whom they work in death education and grief counseling.

Together we:

• Promote excellence and recognize diversity in death education, care of the dying, grief counseling and research in thanatology.
• Provide information, support and resources to our international, multicultural, multidisciplinary membership and, through them, to the public.
• Facilitate the sharing of research, theory and practice in death, dying and bereavement.

Mission Statement

The Association for Death Education and Counseling® is an international, professional organization dedicated to promoting excellence and recognizing diversity in death education, care of the dying, grief counseling and research in thanatology. Based on quality research, theory and practice, the association provides information, support and resources to its international, multicultural, multidisciplinary membership and to the public.

Vision Statement

The Association for Death Education and Counseling® envisions a world in which dying, death, and bereavement are recognized as fundamental and significant aspects of the human experience. Therefore, the Association, ever committed to being on the forefront of thanatology (the study of death and dying), will provide a home for professionals from diverse backgrounds to advance the body of knowledge and to promote practical applications of research and theory.

Understanding the ADEC Logo

The ADEC logo consists of two ancient Chinese symbols, the yin and yang superimposed on the sacred disk. The yin yang depicts the interfacing of universal characteristics.

Yin represents shade, passive, weak, composure, negative, destructive, impressionability, wintriness, moon, earth, night, water, cold, dampness, darkness, motionless (death), low, common and vice.

Yang represents light, positive, active, strong, motive force, constructive, summerlike, sun, heaven, day, fire, heat, dryness, motion (life), high, noble and virtue.

From yin and yang all things come to be.

The sacred disk is an ancient symbol in many cultures for the universe. In Chinese thought it stands for the eight major directions of the compass.

Source: Chinese Folk Designs,  by Hawley and Seyssel

Handbook of Thanatology, Third Edition

The Handbook of Thanatology, Third Edition: The Essential Body of Knowledge for the Study of Death, Dying, and Bereavement is ADEC's foundational book for thanatology. It is available to order  for $89.95 through our distributor, Itasca Books, as well as through Amazon. For USA resident, please order through Itasca, using this link  to support ADEC's profits: https://bit.ly/Thanatology3rd