ADEC’s 2026 Annual Conference

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

2026 Specialty Workshop AM (No CEs) 

Suicidology 2.0: Holding Onto Hope

Janet McCord, PhD, FT

Rebecca Morse, PhD

Nancy Moreau Battaglia, MBA, FT

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

9:00am-12:15pm ET/Baltimore Time Zone

IN-PERSON ONLY

With an implicit understanding that “Postvention is Prevention” this workshop will explore suicide intervention, prevention, and postvention. We begin with a review of how suicide has been viewed by professionals and communities, and what current research and best practices identify as important: that suicide is complex and not easily addressed with solution-focused and linear thinking. The bulk of the workshop focuses on postvention, including bio-psycho-social factors that impact individuals/families after a death by suicide. Through lecture, case study, and interactive discussion we will explore how models and interventions might apply to supporting individuals journeying the path of suicide bereavement. Presentation Level: Introductory.

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify and discuss theories of clinical approaches to suicide and the implications for clinical support for at-risk individuals.
2. Discuss the critical role of psycho-ed and ‘normalizing’ the loss survivor experience.
3. Examine the research on grief after suicide among individuals, families, children, and teens.

About the Presenters:

Janet McCord, PhD, FT, has been a graduate level death educator since 2009, educated hundreds of students in 15 countries, and directs the MS in Thanatology program at Edgewood University. She has been a suicidologist for 30 years, and thanatologist for 20. She is past president of ADEC (2017) and served on the ADEC Board from 2011-2018. She received the ADEC 2023 Academic Educator Award. As a member of the International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement, she embraces the IWG’s vision as her own: a world where dying, death, and bereavement are an open part of all cultures.

Rebecca Morse, PhD, is a behavioral and developmental psychologist and thanatologist whose research focuses on individuals with developmental disabilities and severe behavioral disorders. She has taught across multiple universities and colleges in psychology, criminology, traumatology, and thanatology. She is passionate about mentoring students and helping them translate complex concepts into their own early career development. Her excellence in teaching has been recognized with numerous awards, including the ADEC 2024 Academic Educator Award. Her current teaching and research include developmental and behavioral psychology, grief and traumatic loss, and the developmental trajectories of socially-maladaptive behavior.

Nancy Moreau Battaglia, MBA, FT, is a member of the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario and the Ontario Association for Mental Health Professionals. A Professional Art Therapist, she olds the Association for Death Education and Counseling credential of Fellow in Thanatology. She is currently Chair of ADEC’s Credentialing Council and an ex-officio Board member of the Association. She is a past Board Member of the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention and a founding member of its People Impacted by Suicide Working Group. She has been a member of the Conference Planning Committee for the grass-roots Simcoe County Suicide Awareness Conference for 15 years.