Living with Grief®: Children and Adolescents - Panelists
Frank Sesno, an Emmy-award winning journalist, special correspondent with CNN and a faculty member George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs, moderated the program, which featured panelists:
Kenneth J. Doka, PhD, MDiv, is a professor of gerontology at the graduate school of The College of New Rochelle. Dr. Doka is also senior consultant to Hospice Foundation of America and is a driving force behind the annual Living with Grief teleconference. Dr. Doka has written or edited 18 books, including HFA’s Living with Grief series, and has published 60 articles and book chapters. He is editor of Omega, a professional journal on death and dying, and Journeys, HFA’s monthly and special issue bereavement newsletter. Dr. Doka was elected president of the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) in 1993, and in 1998, ADEC presented him with an Award for Outstanding Contributions in the Field of Death Education. He was elected to the Board of the International Work Group on Dying, Death and Bereavement in 1995, and served as chair from 1997 to 1999. His alma mater, Concordia College, presented him with its first Distinguished Alumnus Award. In 2006, Dr. Doka was recognized as a mental health counselor under New York State’s first licensure of counselors. He is an ordained Lutheran minister.
Nancy Hogan, PhD, RN, FAAN, is distinguished professor and associate dean for research at Loyola University -- Chicago. Dr. Hogan’s research and scholarship has been devoted to generating and testing adolescent and adult theories of grief and loss and the dissemination of those findings. Early in her career, Dr. Hogan recognized that theoretical formulations of grief and loss must be grounded in the experience of those who have suffered loss directly. This realization led to a series of studies that culminated in empirically derived concepts including on-going attachment and personal growth, and generating research instruments to measure child and adult grief. The Grief to Personal Growth Theory and adolescent and adult bereavement questionnaires have undergone rigorous testing, and are used nationally and internationally to guide research and practice. The theory and measures are the foundation of several federally funded longitudinal studies of parent, child, and grandparent bereavement, for which she provided consultative services. Dr. Hogan has published over 50 peer-reviewed bereavement and end-of-life works nationally and internationally. She was awarded the Association of Death, Dying and Counseling 2007 Research Award.
Rita Milburn-Dobson, MA, RNC, FT, is a registered nurse with over 25 years of health care experience. Personal experiences of perinatal loss led her to form Precious Gems Supportive Services (PGSS). PGSS is a non-profit organization that provides bereavement support and counseling within vulnerable populations regardless of ability to pay. She has received advanced training in grief support and counseling from the Association of Death Education and Counseling and has obtained the highest certification in the field, Fellow in Thanatology; the study of dying, death and bereavement. In addition, she is a nationally certified End of Life Trainer and a Critical Incident Stress Management Counselor (CISM). She has received advanced training in CISM and school crisis response. She is an author, church musician and frequent national lecturer of grief and loss related topics to professional staffs, churches and the community.
Laura Olague, M.Ed., CT, is the executive director and co-founder of the Children’s Grief Center of El Paso. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Texas Tech and a master’s degree in Guidance & Counseling from the University of Texas at El Paso. She has been a member of the Association of Death Education and Counseling since 1992 and is certified in thanatology. Ms. Olague has been working with grieving children and families for 16 years and began her bereavement work with two local hospices before co-founding the Children’s Grief Center. She has been the executive director of the Children’s Grief Center of El Paso for the last 12 years, where over 400 children and adults are served each year. Ms. Olague is involved in providing professional education to the community on helping bereaved children thrive and believes that young lives can be transformed through hope, healing and love.
Stacy Orloff, EdD, is the vice president of Palliative Care and Community Programs of the Hospices of the Florida Suncoast and has worked at Hospice of the Florida Suncoast for 17 years. Dr. Orloff serves on several task forces through the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, including the social work steering committee. She serves as chair of the organization’s Social Work Outcomes Workgroup and is also co-chair of the Children’s Project on Palliative/Hospice Services. Dr. Orloff has presented at many national conferences. She also serves as Florida’s hospice representative on the state steering committee for the Partners in Care: Together for Kids, a palliative care waiver program in partnership with the Department of Health, Children’s Medical Services and the Agency for Health Care Administration. She has published in several peer reviewed books and journals and has co-edited two books. Dr. Orloff holds a doctorate degree in Organizational Leadership.
J. William Worden, PhD, ABPP, is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and holds academic appointments at Harvard Medical School and the Rosemead Graduate School of Psychology in California. He is also co-principal investigator for Harvard's Child Bereavement Study, based at Massachusetts General Hospital. His research and clinical work over 30 years has centered on issues of life-threatening illness and life-threatening behavior. Dr. Worden has lectured and written on topics related to terminal illness, cancer care, and bereavement. He is the author of Personal Death Awareness; Children & Grief: When a Parent Dies; and is co-author of Helping Cancer Patients Cope. His book Grief Counseling & Grief Therapy: A Handbook for the Mental Health Practitioner, now in its third edition, has been translated into 12 languages and is widely used around the world as the standard reference on the subject. Dr. Worden’s clinical practice is in Laguna Niguel, California.
Frank Sesno, is Professor of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University (GW) in Washington, DC, where he teaches about the media and its impact on the shape and direction of public policy in America. In addition, Sesno serves as a Special Correspondent for CNN. From 2004-05, public television aired "Sesno Reports," a series of programs focusing on key issues facing the country.. In 2003 he hosted "worldtalk," an Emmy award-winning globally-focused public affairs series on WETA. Prior to joining the faculty at GW, Sesno served as a university professor of public policy and communication at George Mason University in Virginia. He has anchored and reported many major international news events, including presidential and economic summits, Middle East Peace talks, and the 50th anniversary of D-Day from Normandy. Sesno has been a senior fellow with the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also a former trustee of Middlebury College, and he is a former board member of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Journalism awards. Sesno originally joined CNN in 1984 from AP Radio where he was an overseas correspondent based in London and later a White House correspondent. He started his broadcast career with WCFR Radio in Springfield, Vermont. Sesno earned an honors degree in American history from Middlebury College, graduating cum laude. He holds an honorary doctorate from the Monterrey Institute of International Studies.
