Ep. 7: Death & Dying: A Journey through Grief and Loss–with Guest Dr. Erica Sirrine

            As someone who loves the Marvel movies, hated the character Thanos–like most I assume, and rooted for the good guys to triumph, it never occurred to me the meaning behind Thanos; who he was, what he represented. It makes sense that since he’s obsessed with Death (the literal embodiment of death, not just the concept) he calls himself Thanos, since it evokes the words Thanatology, the study of death. Why do I bring this up? Because our guest on this month’s episode, Dr. Erica Sirrine, a licensed clinical social worker with over 20 years of experience in the field of death, dying, and bereavement, not only earned a PhD in social work but was awarded the distinction of Fellow in Thanatology by the Association for Death Education and Counseling. Thanatology–the study of death.

Dr. Sirrine has conducted and published research on grief and bereavement, including a recent study on college student experiences of grief and loss amid the COVID-19 pandemic. She maintains a blog on grief and loss and is the author of Sammy’s Story, an anticipatory grief counseling book for young children experiencing the serious illness of a parent. She has extensive expertise providing individual and group therapy to children, adolescents, adults, and families experiencing illness and loss, and has implemented numerous interventions and programs aimed at improving the emotional health of clients and currently serves as the Director of Social Work at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Clinical Trials

The Columbia Center for Complicated Grief- Complicated Grief,

Heal Grief: Mourner’s Bill of Rights

Blogs:

Grieve Well: 30 Ideas for the first anniversary,

hope and Grief Blog,

Open to Hope

Books:

Dr. Kenneth J. Doka- Disenfranchised Grief: Recognizing Hidden Sorrow

John W. James, Russell Friedman- The Grief Recovery Handbook

For more resources, visit: brainsforthecure.org