Dr. Kenneth Doka, a licensed mental health counselor and preeminent expert on grief, discussed modern theories on loss and grief at Mount Saint Mary College on Tuesday, April 30.
“No Boundaries: Grief, Growth, and Resilience,” the last in a three-part conversation on grief and loss, took place at Mount Saint Mary College’s Aquinas Hall Theatre on Tuesday, April 30.
The event was aimed at healthcare professionals, particularly those who counsel the bereaved or individuals struggling with personal loss.
Attendees enjoyed a welcoming and networking reception before the keynote speaker, Dr. Kenneth Doka, a licensed mental health counselor and preeminent expert in grief, discussed modern grief theories.
The presentation explored the phenomena of post-traumatic growth and resilience. Whether loss is experienced because someone has passed away or because something else important has been lost, there are strategies that can be applied to help one be resilient through grief, Dr. Doka noted.
Dr. Doka is a professor emeritus at the graduate school of The College of New Rochelle and Senior Vice-President for Grief Programs for the Hospice Foundation of America. He is one of the authors of Dying and Death: Life and Living. His other works include When We Die: Extraordinary Experiences at Life’s End, Living with Grief since COVID-19, Living with Grief: Before and After Death, and many more books, chapters, and scholarly articles.
The talk was presented by the Kaplan Family Foundation, in collaboration with Cornerstone Family Healthcare; Mount Saint Mary College’s Center on Aging and DIS-Ability Policy (CADP); Access: Supports for Living; and Montefiore St. Luke’s Cornwall.
Mount Social Science professors Lawrence Force and Jeffrey Kahana are co-directors of the Mount’s CADP. Established in 2006, CADP promotes an interdisciplinary perspective dedicated to excellence in research and scholarship in the fields of gerontology and disability studies.
Force has worked in the field of aging and disabilities for more than three decades as an administrator, clinician, and educator. Kahana, in addition to his work at the Mount, is a prolific author on subjects ranging from academics to social issues in the United States.
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