Announcing our Chapter Kick-Off Conference!
Grief and the Community
Presenting:
Lynne Ann DeSpelder, M.A., FT
Cultural Sensitivity: Working Effectively within a Multicultural Community by Lynne Ann DeSpelder, M.A., FT, author, counselor, and a professor of psychology at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California. Along with Albert Lee Strickland, she was a co-recipient of ADEC’s Death Education Award. Lynne conducts trainings and speaks about death, dying, and bereavement both nationally and internationally.
Albert Lee Strickland, CT
Coping with Loss: The Healing Power of Music, by Al Strickland, CT, writer and musician. He is a past editor of ADEC’s Forum Newsletter, received ADEC’s Service Award in 1989, and was elected to two terms on ADEC’s Leadership Recruitment and Development Committee. His musical presentations centering on themes of loss and death in American blues and gospel music include performances in the United States and internationally.
Ronald Keith Barrett, Ph.D, FT
Lessons from My Kodak Kids: Reflections on Kids and Chronic Community Violence, by Ronald K. Barrett, Ph.D., FT, professor of psychology and acting chair of the African American Studies Department at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He is an internationally recognized specialist on the study of cross-cultural differences in death, dying and funeral rites and has published widely on African American funeral practices and multicultural perspectives.
Donna Schuurman, Ed.D., FT
After a Suicide Death: What’s a School and Community to Do?, by Donna Schuurman, Ed.D., FT, is the Executive Director of The Dougy Center For Grieving Children & Families, where she has served in various roles since 1986. She has written and trained internationally on children’s bereavement issues, and is the author of Never the Same: Coming to Terms with the Death of a Parent.
Jamie Yetter, B.A., CFSC
A Family Service Coordinator’s perspective on the comprehensive care of Donor Families, by Jamie Yetter, B.A., CFSC Chaplain, currently a Family Service Coordinator with the Arkansas Regional Organ Recovery Agency (ARORA). Jamie has received training in Advanced Bereavement Facilitation and Spirituality Counseling Facilitation from the American Academy of Bereavement and Medical Ethics training from the College of Medical Humanities at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
September 15, 2007 Registration 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Conference 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Evening Reception 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Loyola Marymount University $150.00 (including lunch) $125.00 Chapter members (including lunch) $75.00 Student Rate CEUs Available
1 LMU Drive, Los Angeles, CA
Register Now!
Please click on any of the following links for more information about the conference:
List of Presenters Conference Agenda
Directions to Loyola Marymount University
Speaker Biographies:
Lynne Ann DeSpelder, M.A., FT, an author, counselor, and a professor of psychology at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California, holds a Fellow in Thanatology (FT) from ADEC. She conducts trainings and speaks about death, dying, and bereavement both nationally and internationally, recently in Italy, England and Japan. Lynne is on the international editorial board of the journal Mortality.
Albert Lee Strickland, CT, is a writer and musician. He is a past editor of ADEC’s Forum Newsletter, received ADEC’s Service Award in 1989, and was elected to two terms on ADEC’s Leadership Recruitment and Development Committee. His musical presentations centering on themes of loss and death in American blues and gospel music include performances in Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, Canada, Italy, and the United States.
Together, Lynne and Al are coauthors of The Last Dance: Encountering Death and Dying, a college textbook first published in 1983 and currently in its seventh edition, and co-editors of The Path Ahead: Readings in Death and Dying. Recently, they contributed a chapter on “Culture, Socialization, and Death Education” to The Handbook of Thanatology: The Essential Body of Knowledge for the Study of Death, Dying, and Bereavement (Northbrook, Ill.: ADEC, 2007). They were recipients of the ADEC Death Education Award in 2003 for contributions to the field. Lynne and Al are members of the International Work Group on Death, Dying, and Bereavement (IWG) and are life members of National ADEC and The Southern California Chapter of ADEC.
Ronald K. Barrett, Ph.D, FT, is a professor of psychology and acting chair of the African American Studies Department at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles where he created and teaches a course (with an accompanying lab) on the Psychology of Death & Dying among other topics. He is an internationally recognized specialist on the study of cross-cultural differences in death, dying and funeral rites and has published widely on African American funeral practices and multicultural perspectives. He has served as a consultant to groups locally and nationally including the Open Society Institute, Los Angeles and Philadelphia County coroner’s offices, etc. He is widely known for his expertise on urban youth homicidal violence. He has been a featured national teleconference speaker on the Hospice Foundation of America’s 1995 (“Children Mourning, Mourning Children”), the Service Corporation International 1997 (“Communities in Crisis: Safeguarding our Kids at School and on the Streets”), and the Hospice Foundation of America’s 1998 (“Living with Grief: Who We Are - How We Grieve”).
He is a speaker, social advocate, researcher, and author of numerous scholarly projects on children, youth and death & dying. He has ten years of “hands on” experience as the founder & project director of a grass-roots urban anti-gang, drug & violence prevention program in South Central Los Angeles (The United Methodist Junior Basketball League & Youth Employment & Development Project). The project received numerous citations and awards. In 1998 he was recognized and honored for this work as a Expert in Residence via a grant from the Kellogg Foundation. He has worked on the treatment end as well working in research and design of grief support groups and methodologies in the treatment of traumatic loss in young inner city children.
Dr. Barrett is also actively involved in the HIV/AIDS community as well and is widely known nationally for his work and consultations on “Bereavement Burnout Prevention.” His international reputation includes research and teaching in Germany (1995), seminars in Australia (1998), and Ghana (2001). During his sabbatical in 2001 Dr. Barrett has begun to study funeralization & aftercare practices among West African Akan in Ghana & Blacks and in the Carribean. He created and teaches a seminar on the “Psychology of Men” and regularly conducts workshops on “Men and Grief.” Dr. Barrett is a member of the Association for Death Education & Counseling (ADEC) and is the founder & past chair of the ADEC People of Color Forum and the ADEC Multiculturalism Committee. Dr. Barrett received the ADEC Fellow in Thanatology. He is also a member of the Association of Traumatic Stress Specialists, and the International Work Group on Death, Dying & Bereavement. Dr. Barrett is a life member of The Southern California Chapter of ADEC.
Donna Schuurman, Ed.D., FT, is an internationally recognized authority on grief and bereaved children, teens, and families, and the author of Never the Same: Coming to Terms with the Death of a Parent (St. Martin's Press, 2003). She is the Executive Director of The Dougy Center for Grieving Children & Families in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1982, it is the first peer-support program in the United States for children, teens, and their parents or adult caregivers who have experienced the death of a family member. The Dougy Center's pioneering model, replicated in over 140 sites throughout the United States and into Australia, England, Jamaica, Japan, Germany, and Rwanda, has been the subject of numerous articles, including those in Newsweek, People, and U.S. News & World Report, and was featured on ABC's “20/20” and “Good Morning, America”. Dr.Schuurman and Dougy Center program staff have been instrumental in assisting communities in setting up long-term assistance programs following man-made and natural disasters, including the Kobe, Japan earthquake, the bombing in Oklahoma City, and the September 11 attacks.
Donna earned her master's degree in communications from Wheaton Graduate School, and her doctorate in education from Northern Illinois University's Department of Psychology, Counseling, and Special Education. Her dissertation topic was "The Impact of Parent Suicide on Children." She served for eight years on the Board of Directors of The Association for Death Education & Counseling (ADEC), including as President in 2001/2002. In 2003 she received ADEC’s Annual Service Award. Donna is also a member of the invitation-only International Work Group on Death Dying and Bereavement (IWG). She also serves as Treasurer on the Board of Directors of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention-NW and is a life member of The Southern California Chapter of ADEC.
Donna has written extensively on topics related to parentally bereaved children. Her articles and other contributions have been published in scholarly journals and textbooks, and she has been interviewed as an expert on the subject by Redbook, The New York Times, SmartMoney, and many other consumer publications. A seasoned and compelling speaker to both public and professional audiences around the world, Donna trains, lectures, serves on panels, and presents keynote addresses on understanding and facilitating the grieving process of children. She also serves as an Expert Witness in court trials relating to the impact of death on children, parents and families.
Jamie Yetter, B.A., CFSC, Chaplain, is currently a Family Service Coordinator with the Arkansas Regional Organ Recovery Agency (ARORA). In the past three years, she has worked extensively with numerous families in trauma settings, companioning them on their journey as they make crucial end of life decisions for their loved one.
Prior to that, Jamie spent one year as a Chaplain resident at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences where she received her Clinical Pastoral Education certification, ministering to patients, families, faculty and staff in a wide variety of emotional environments, with special emphasis in newborn death, cancer, and trauma. It is through this experience that she gained awareness about organ and tissue donation and began her work in that specialized field. In the past four years, she has also volunteered as a hospice chaplain.
Jamie received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Education from Prescott College and worked for over ten years in communications, marketing and training before making the transition to the field of death, dying and bereavement. In addition to her role as a Certified Family Service Coordinator with ARORA, Jamie also trains all new Family Service Coordinators and is currently helping to create the model for training new tissue call center employees who will be working with families via telephone. She also performs hospital inservices with ICU/CCU/ER nurses, providing new nursing orientation, as well as facilitating hospital development on policy and procedure for organ and tissue donation.
Jamie has received training in Advanced Bereavement Facilitation and Spirituality Counseling Facilitation from the American Academy of Bereavement, Medical Ethics training from the College of Medical Humanities at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, as well as other specialized training. She is a member of the National Association for Transplant Coordination (NATCO), the American Academy of Bereavement, and the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC). Jamie plans to sit for her Certification in Thanatology in November.