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Lisa Athan is the Executive Director and founder of Grief Speaks. Lisa has over 20 years of experience in communicating
educational and inspirational information to adults, teens and children. Her speciality is facilitating
workshops and training programs on grief and loss. Lisa is able to communicate with passion, compassion and humor.
She explains that grief is not only about death but divorce, job loss, pet loss, moving, bullying, living with someone
who is ill or addicted, having someone in the family incarcerated, loss of home and more. Lisa has a Master's degree in Education and Counseling and is a Grief Recovery Specialist. Lisa serves on the Traumatic
Loss Coalition for Youth as a Lead Responder in Union, Essex and Middlesex Counties. Lisa also is on staff at Camp Clover,
a NJ bereavement day camp for children and teens. There she is a sharing circle leader as well as runs the staff trainings
and conducts screenings for the camp. Lisa worked at Fair Oaks Hospital in the outpatient recovery unit working with people
dealing with drug and alcohol addiction. Lisa also worked at The Center for the Treatment of Eating Disorders and ran groups
for people dealing with eating disorders and their parents. Lisa worked at Overlook Hospital on the in-patient psychiatric
unit as a counselor and facilitated daily group therapy, and met hundreds of teens and adults suffering
with unacknowledged and unresolved grief which often presented itself through addictions, depression,
anxiety, eating disorders, psychosis, self injurious behavior, and suicide attempts. Lisa speaks
to various audiences including children, teens and adults in many different venues such as schools, service organizations,
hospitals, assisted living communities, companies, police and fire departments, first aid squads, agencies, religious
affiliations, support groups, parent groups, and more. Lisa speaks to students, K -12th and college students, in their classrooms as well
as in assemblies. Students write Lisa letters thanking her for "changing their lives" "helping them to speak
up to an adult about their depression or anxiety" "giving them the knowledge about normal grief reactions signs
that more help may be necessary". Lisa's programs leave participants with a wealth of knowledge, skills and tools and a deeper respect
and understanding for the grieving and healing process. People will "get" the value of listening to
a griever and the value of finding the words for our experiences, losses and feelings. The importance of finding healthy
ways to express those feelings and thoughts is key to Lisa's message along with the understanding that grief is unique
to each person. No two people grieve in the same exact way. Lisa helps people find helpful ways to deal with anniversaries,
special days and other very personal times of remembrance of a loved one who has died. Audiences come away with an understanding
of what they can do when a loved one is dying or ill, how they can create memory books, suggestions of how many others have
learned to include the memories of a deceased loved one, in their present celebrations if they choose. Lisa is the proud mother of four wonderful children ages 13,15,18 and 22 as well as being a step-mother to three girls ages 18, 24,and 26. She is married to her wonderful husband, Scott Strickland. They share their busy home with 3 dogs, (who star on Lisa's YouTube grief videos) and even more cats. Lisa is a knowledgeable,
engaging and compassionate grief educator who specializes in speaking with adults and young people about grief and loss. Her
passion is to normalize grief and loss in our grief avoiding and "get over it" society. Lisa helps people voice
their thoughts and feelings about their losses. Lisa creates a safe space and teaches others to do the same which enables people
to acknowledge, identify and express their grief. She teaches healthy ways to identify, handle and express the normal and
natural feelings and thoughts that follow a loss of any type. Lisa teaches that everyone grieves in their own time and in
their own way. Children and teenagers grieve differently than adults do. This information is vital for adults who wish to
guide and support a grieving child or student. Lisa realized that a significant amount of the patients
admitted to the hospital's psychiatric unit had experienced multiple losses either in childhood or recently,
whether it was a death of a significant person, loss of relationship through divorce, loss of purpose or identity
through retirement, loss of job, estrangement in relationships, domestic violence, moving, emotional, sexual
or physical abuse as a child, a past traumatic experience, bullying, abandonment or other secondary
losses as a result of their addictions or depression or other symptomatology. There were also many patients with
a mental health disorder who had needed immediate stabilization and aftercare follow up. Lisa also served as the
Coordinator of Education and Outreach for Good Grief. Good Grief is a resource for grieving children, teens and their families. This
non-profit organization provides free, year round peer support programs for children, teens and adults coping with
loss due to death. Lisa led 4 thirty hour facilitator training sessions for Good Grief.
Lisa Athan is a member of:
Lisa has had additional specialized training and continuing education in:
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www.griefspeaks.com (973) 912-0177 Lisa@Griefspeaks.com