COMPLICATED GRIEF - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Clinical Psychologist
- Senior Trainer
Bonnie Gorscak, PhD is a clinical psychologist and serves as a senior trainer and supervisor at the Center for Prolonged Grief. Bonnie has been engaged in work on prolonged grief since 2001, when she was a therapist in the first NIMH-sponsored study led by Dr. Shear. In her current role, Bonnie assists in the Center's efforts to educate and train clinicians about prolonged grief disorder and its treatment. Bonnie oversees and implements training workshops and contributes to the development of accessible and effective training programs and initiatives. She also supervises students, trainees and study therapists.
Outside of her work at the Center, Bonnie is a therapist in private practice providing PGDT and has previously held several teaching appointments. She holds an undergraduate degree in psychology from Baldwin-Wallace College, a Master's degree in psychology from Duquesne University and completed her doctoral training at Duquesne University.
Job Titles:
- Manager
- Program Manager
- Manager of the Center for Prolonged Grief
Colleen is the Manager of the Center for Prolonged Grief. She has worked with Dr. Katherine Shear for over a decade and was part of the founding team of the Center.
Colleen manages the day-to-day activities of the Center for Prolonged Grief, including coordinating the center's professional training program, overseeing the website, liaising with the Center's supporters, coordinating referrals, and providing programmatic support. Colleen also provides support for teaching and research activities.
Colleen previously served as an assessment rater for the Complicated Grief Research Program at the New York Psychiatric Institute.
Colleen holds a BS in Psychology from Brown University, an MA in Clinical Psychology from Teachers College, and an MS in Social Work from Columbia University.
Dana López is currently enrolled at CSSW as an MSW candidate with a focus in both
Job Titles:
- Psychologist in Private Practice
Dr. Sonya Lott is a psychologist in private practice, specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of Prolonged Grief Disorder. She is a workshop presenter for the Center for Prolonged Grief, and regularly presents on PGD and its treatment at mental health conferences throughout the United States. In addition to her clinical work, she is the founder and CEO of CEMPSYCH, LLC, a continuing education company that offers multicultural training for licensed mental health professionals.
Gaëlle has been the Program Assistant at the Center for Prolonged Grief for the past six years. In this role, she assists our center manager by coordinating training workshops and webinars and providing operational support to research and outreach projects. She is a graduate of Columbia School of Social Work, where she focused on children, youth, and families in the advanced generalist practice and programming track. During her studies, Gaelle served as editor-in-chief of the Columbia Social Work Review, a peer-reviewed academic journal for students and scholars of social work. As an undergraduate at Michigan State University, Gaelle earned dual degrees in psychology and Spanish.
Henry A. Willis, Ph.D. graduated from the Clinical Psychology program at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is originally from Jackson, Mississippi, and he received his
John Bean, LCSW-R is a clinical social worker with expertise in complicated grief, depression, anxiety, and issues related to young adult life transitions, work performance, acculturation and marital health. At the Center for Prolonged Grief, John has served as a trainer for many years. Outside of his work at CPG, John maintains a full-time private practice specializing in loss, work performance, couple's conflict and communication. Previously, John has served in several clinical and administrative leadership positions for community based outpatient mental health organizations. John holds a Masters of Social Work from Hunter College, has completed post-graduate clinical training at New York University, and is a licensed psychoanalyst.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Founder
- Clinical Researcher
M. Katherine Shear, MD is the Marion E. Kenworthy Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University and the founding Director of the Center for Prolonged Grief at Columbia School of Social Work.
Dr. Shear is a clinical researcher who first worked in anxiety and depression and held several academic appointments in these areas. For the last two decades, she has focused on understanding and treating people who experience persistent, intense grief. She developed and tested prolonged grief therapy (PGT) (previously called complicated grief therapy: CGT), a short-term targeted intervention and confirmed its efficacy in three large NIMH-funded studies. PGDT is strength-based and focused on fostering adaptation to loss.
Dr. Shear is widely recognized for her work in bereavement, including both research and clinical awards from the Association for Death Education and Counseling and invited authorship of articles for Uptodate and the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Shear is also engaged in teaching and training students and professionals of several mental health disciplines in the identification and treatment of prolonged grief disorder.
Dr. Shear is a graduate of the University of Chicago and Tufts University School of Medicine, and completed residencies in internal medicine and psychiatry at New York City medical centers.
Liane Fry is a licensed marriage and family therapist with a general practice, as well as a specialty in grief, in particular, Prolonged Grief Disorder. She is passionate about supporting the bereaved who in the wake of a significant other's death, are struggling with the profound impact that death is making upon their lives. For over 10 years Liane has provided an evidence-based treatment called Prolonged Grief Treatment for those whose grief has become stuck and maladaptive. She has been able to share her knowledge and expertise through professional conference presentations and guest speaking at various universities and colleges. The Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) has awarded Liane with a fellow in thanatology and she is an AAMFT Approved Supervisor with an 18-year history of supervising trainee and associate level therapists.
During nearly 25 years in the mental health field, she has worked with teens, adults, hospice patients, the elderly, couples, and families. Liane is trained in EMDR, level II and in general, views cases from a systemic, postmodern narrative lens. Daily, she is moved and motivated by the profound and powerful resilience that is inherent in each person despite the greatest of pains, the largest of obstacles, and the feelings of hopelessness. With support, treatment, and self-compassion, she believes, we are all able to create a life that is worth living.
Job Titles:
- Clinical Psychologist
- Trainer
- PGT Trainer
Meredith Charney, PhD is a clinical psychologist with expertise in trauma, anxiety and complicated grief who serves as a trainer and supervisor at the Center for Complicated Grief. Dr. Charney has worked as an independent evaluator and study therapist for several studies concerned with complicated grief, and has also led efforts to provide training in the gold standard evidence-based psychotherapies for anxiety, trauma, and complicated grief to clinicians who are either in training or have not yet learned these specific treatment protocols. Throughout her appointments at the VA Boston Healthcare System, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Maine Medical Center, Dr. Charney has provided direct patient care and clinical leadership as well as contributing to teaching and supervision of psychology and medical students and psychiatry residents. Dr. Charney holds a PhD in clinical psychology from Boston University.
Job Titles:
- Research Scientist PGDT Trainer
- Research Scientist PGT Trainer
Natalia Skritskaya, PhD is a clinical psychologist who currently holds the position of adjunct associate research scientist at the Center for Prolonged Grief. She focuses on co-leading training workshops and presenting invited talks on Prolonged Grief Disorder and its treatment, as well as contributing to the center's research activities. Natalia was a part of the founding team of the Center. Before that, she was a therapist and researcher in clinical trials on complicated grief and health anxiety at Columbia University.
Natalia completed her undergraduate studies in psychology at St. Petersburg State University in Russia. She also holds a master's degree in clinical psychology from Eastern Kentucky University and a doctoral degree in clinical and school psychology from Hofstra University.
Nicole Alston, MSW is a social worker with a particular expertise in grief who has served the Center for Prolonged Grief in various capacities over many years. Nicole has worked as a community liaison and recruitment coordinator and an independent evaluator for several of the Center's studies. Nicole is also a frequent contributor to the Center's presentations and training. Outside of her work with the Center, Nicole has taken clinical and non-clinical roles providing grief support including pediatric social work, group facilitation, and development of grief curriculum for schools. More recently, Nicole has drawn on her diverse skillset to provide support as an associate producer on a film focusing on communities affected by disparities in health. Nicole holds a Masters Degree in Social Work (Advanced Generalist Practice and Programming) from Columbia University.
Stephanie Smith is a second year MSW candidate at Columbia School of Social Work. After graduating from UC Berkeley with a BA in History, she worked in IT, non-profit administration, and gerontology for several years in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is trained as an end-of-life doula and has a private coaching practice with bereaved clients. Her primary interests are end-of-life care and grief support for individuals and communities. Stephanie has worked as a research assistant with the Columbia Social Intervention Group (SIG), served as the Managing Editor for the Columbia Social Work Review, and completed her first year MSW practicum with the Center for Prolonged Grief.
Stephanie is currently working with the Center for Prolonged Grief as an interviewer for a collaborative research project with the Uniformed Services University and VOICES Center for Resilience.
Sung-Ji Park is a student at School of Social Work, Columbia University, pursuing a Master's Degree in Social Work with concentration in Advanced Clinical Social Work. With profound interests in the prolonged grief therapy, program development in community education in grief, and working with bereaved families, Sung-Ji joined the Center for Prolonged Grief as a student intern in 2022-2023. Sung-Ji holds a Bachelor's degree in International Studies in Sociology and also a Bachelor of Fine Art in Dance from University of California, San Diego.