ADEC’s 2026 Annual Conference

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

2026 Specialty Workshop Full Day (No CEs) 

Working With Trauma and Loss

David E. Balk PhD 

Janet R. Balk, MS

Debra Oryzysyn, MA

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

9:00-4:45pm ET/Baltimore Time Zone

IN-PERSON ONLY

This pre-conference workshop will present material relevant for working with bereaved clients and for clients who are traumatized. The learning objectives include understanding issues pertaining to trauma and loss, applying such information to cases, and identifying when a referral is necessary. Templates for examining cases in terms of trauma and loss will be developed. Issues central to making referrals when cases exceed counselor skills will be examined. Participants are encouraged to bring information about one or more cases to discuss in both small groups and with all the members of the workshop.Presentation Level: Intermediate.

Learning Objectives:

1. To identify indicators of loss and indicators of trauma in clients.
2. To apply material, including appropriate interventions, and evaluate outcomes.
3. To assess when referring a traumatized client is necessary.

About the Presenters:

David E. Balk, PhD, Professor Emeritus at Brooklyn College, has examined adolescent bereavement over sibling death as well as bereavement and college students. His publications include Helping the Bereaved College Student (Springer Publishing, 2011), Dealing with Dying, Death, and Grief during Adolescence (Routledge, 2014), the first two editions of Handbook of Thanatology (Routledge, 2007 and 2013), Living, Dying, Death, and Bereavement: Conversations with Thanatologists (Cambridge Scholars, 2020), and A Professional’s Guide to Understanding Trauma and Loss (Cambridge Scholars, 2023). ADEC honored him with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025.

Janet R. Balk, MS, is Director of Ft. Riley Military Academic Programs for Barton Community College. She has developed and taught college courses on Death and Dying, and the Psychology of Serial Killers and Violent Crime, as well as American History and Western Civilization. For Brooklyn College, she developed and taught an online version of a general education course titled “Human Encounters with Death and Bereavement.” Her publications include two entries in the 2009 Sage publication Encyclopedia of Death & the Human Experience. She is co-editor of A Professional’s Guide to Understanding Trauma and Loss. Barton Community College recognized her in 2022 with its Distinguished Instructor Award.

Debra Oryzysyn, MA, is a bereavement counselor who works for VNS Health Hospice Care of New York City. She also is an Adjunct Lecturer at Brooklyn College where she teaches such courses as Human Encounters with Death & Bereavement, Trauma and Traumatic Grief, Bereavement, Thanatological Counseling, and Health Counseling. Prior to her work for VNS, she was program manager and sign language interpreter in St. Vincent’s Hospital Program for Services to Deaf Patients. She has contributed several book reviews to Death Studies.