SoYun has been a clinical social worker at Boston Children’s Hospital since 2005. She has managed the BCH Bereavement Program since 2022, facilitating and coordinating groups, workshops, and other events designed to support bereaved Boston Children’s Hospital and Dana-Farber families.

Ellie Frechette, LICSW, APHSW-C

Ellie Frechette is one of the inpatient clinical social workers on the Pediatric Advanced Care Team (PACT), who specializes in supporting bereaved parents/caregivers and siblings. Ellie facilitates and runs many of the programs offered through the bereavement program, including support groups, educational sessions, and expressive arts workshops.

The Boston Children’s Hospital Bereavement Program serves our community of bereaved parents and family members following the death of a child who was treated at Boston Children’s Hospital and/or at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The mission of the BCH Bereavement Program is to provide comprehensive and sensitive bereavement care throughout the Boston Children’s Hospital community, with the belief that all families deserve access to a set standard of supportive bereavement care extending from the hospital institution that cared for their child. The program provides outreach, individualized bereavement resources, and grief support, including facilitation of bereavement groups, workshops, and events aimed to help families navigate their grief experience following the loss of a child.

Jen Noonan, LCSW

Managing Director of Programs at The Children’s Room

Jen Noonan is the Managing Director of Programs at The Children’s Room, Massachusetts’ largest independent child bereavement nonprofit. She has worked with bereaved children, teens, and adults for the past 13 years and strives to provide approachable grief support to families by normalizing the grief experience and fostering a sense of connection and community. Jen leads a dedicated team that utilizes play, expressive arts-based interventions, and peer support to facilitate effective groups and programs for bereaved children, teens, and adults, ensuring that no child or family has to grieve alone.

In addition to her bereavement work, Jen has experience working with children and teens with illness. She worked in Pediatric Oncology at Dana-Farber for over 12 years, where she developed and ran support programs, activities, and events for adolescents and young adults treated in The Jimmy Fund Clinic.

With 20 years of experience, Jen holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work and is passionate about creating meaningful, accessible support for children and families navigating grief.

Time: 8:45-9:40 AM

Topic Title: “Centering the Voices of Grieving Young People: A Conversation”

This panel will feature grieving young people of varying ages and lived experiences with grieving the loss of their siblings. The day intentionally starts with the stories of grievers as an opportunity to center the rest of the day’s educational offerings. This panel will be facilitated by Jen Noonan of The Children’s Room, and conference attendees will be able to ask questions of panelists.

Christine Lambright, MA, MAAT, LMHC

Program Director of School & Community-Based Services at The Children’s Room

Christine Lambright is the Director of School & Community-Based Services at The Children’s Room. Since 2015, Christine has acted in multiple programmatic roles. She oversees the development of school & community partnerships to provide grief-related programming and professional development. She has presented training sessions at district, state, and national levels. Christine is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor who has received a Master’s in Clinical Psychology, Master’s in Art Therapy, and has nearly 10 years of prior clinical experience with foster youth.

Time: 9:45-10:40 AM

Topic Title: “Working Together to Support Students Who Are Grieving: Tools and Resources”

Grief is a critical but often overlooked issue in the lives of students with significant implications for academic success, mental health, and long-term well-being. Professionals in schools, healthcare, and mental health settings play a primary and instrumental part in connecting these families with both internal support and outside resources. Led by The Children’s Room—a Massachusetts nonprofit with 30 years of experience in grief support and education—participants will examine ways to strengthen the functioning and support system for children and teens who are grieving by working together with caregivers, students, educators, and administrators to ensure that meaningful, responsive, and concrete communication and support plans are put in place. This session will include data, interactive activities, and strategies, as well as information on how to access resources, make referrals, and pursue additional consultation.

Jennifer Wiles, LMHC, BC-DMT, FT

Executive Director, Heartplay Program

Jennifer Wiles, LMHC, BC-DMT, FT is the Executive Director of the HEARTplay Program at Good Shepherd Community Care in Newton, MA. She serves as Secretary of the Board of Directors at the National Alliance for Children’s Grief and is the director of Expanding the Language of Grief, a multi-year project dedicated to ensuring accessible grief support to young people of all abilities and their families.

Time: 10:45-11:40 AM

Topic Title: “Expanding the Language of Grief: Widening the Circle of Compassionate Grief Support for Young People of All Abilities”

This presentation will focus on the impact, challenges and joys that accompany the work of supporting young people with disabilities who are grieving. The presenter will share information about the need for these services, programming and curriculum ideas, best practices, and recommended resources. Time will be allotted to practice replicable activities that use expressive therapies to support neurodiverse young people who are grieving. This session will address issues and questions as we strive to create inclusive grief support in our practices and community.

Alan Pender, LMSW

Senior Director of Programs at The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp

Alan Pender, LMSW, is the Senior Director of Programs for Connecticut at The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, a year-round community dedicated to providing “a different kind of healing” for children with serious illnesses and their families. In addition to leading therapeutic recreation programs, he helps oversee a residential bereavement program that supports families grieving the loss of a child. Alan brings more than two decades of experience working with children and families across four continents and is committed to fostering resilience, connection, and hope.

Time: 11:45-12:15 PM

Topic Title: “Beyond the Diagnosis: Bereavement Camp as a Continuum of Care for Children Following the Death of a Sibling”

Bereavement is not a single moment in time but a lifelong journey, and meaningful support must evolve alongside families as they grieve. This presentation explores the residential bereavement program at The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, designed for families who have experienced the loss of a child or sibling due to serious illness. Participants will learn how the program uses a camp-based continuum of care model to support grieving families while creating opportunities for connection, healing, and remembrance. Special attention will be given to age-appropriate interventions for bereaved siblings, bringing young people together in a safe and supportive environment where they can honor their sibling and share their experiences with peers who truly “get it.” Attendees will hear how therapeutic programming is intentionally woven together with play, recreation, and community-building to foster both joy and healing. The session will highlight the rituals and ceremonies that help siblings and families feel seen, connected, and part of a community where they belong. Finally, we will explore some of the unexpected and powerful moments of “Camp Magic” that have emerged from the program, offering insights into the unique role that residential camp experiences can play in supporting grief and resilience.

Jennifer Kaplan, PhD, LICSW

Founder, Jeff’s Place

Jennifer Kaplan, PhD, received the 2018 Excellence in Service Award for the National Alliance for Grieving Children for her contributions in research developing the IYAL, an outcome instrument used to understand the feelings and social supports experienced by bereaved youth to develop an evidence-base for grief interventions, and practice in childhood bereavement. She is Founding Director for Jeff’s Place Children’s Bereavement Center, serving MetroWest, FRIENDS WAY in RI, Founding Clinical Director of Experience Camps, and Bereavement Specialist for Hole in the Wall Gang Camp.  Jennifer’s publications include: You Are Not Alone: Young Adults Coping With Death, book chapters, and journal articles.

Matthew Carper, PhD

Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology

Dr. Carper is a licensed clinical psychologist and an Associate Professor within the Department of Clinical Psychology at William James College where he teaches, supervises, and mentors doctoral students in clinical psychology.  In addition to his work at William James College, he has a small private practice focusing on the treatment of youth with anxiety, OCD, and behavioral sleep problems.  Dr. Carper has published over 30 peer reviewed articles and serves on the editorial board for several journals within the field.

Time: 1:00-1:55 PM

Topic Title: “The Inventory of Youth Adaptation to Loss: A 27-Item Strengths-Based Measurement Tool”

Understanding the feelings experienced by bereaved youth, as well as the social support they receive is an important step in developing an evidence-base for bereavement interventions. A rigorous assessment tool to assess youth’s communication, sense of social support, sense of connection, and social and emotional experiences of loss and resilience related to bereavement is required. The Inventory of Youth Adaptation to Loss (IYAL) was created to fill this gap and with the most rigorous research standards through the help of more than 20 children’s bereavement programs over ten years and is a statistically valid and reliable instrument for youth ages 9-17.

From September 2022 – June 2025 children’s bereavement providers across the United States and Canada participated in a research study utilizing the revised 27-item IYAL in a pre/post design to test the efficacy of intervention and to determine the validity and reliability of the shortened version. This workshop will present the data collected from the diverse dataset, findings from year 1, and implications to inform program development and implementation, policy development and standards of prevention and care for youth experiencing traumatic loss. This presentation will also include new data through 2025, which remain consistent with prior results. These data would be invaluable for individual programs, therapists, and for the field. Jeff’s Place is thrilled to partner with William James College, ALEX CARES and The Sanctuary National Grief Support Network on this important research, as well as all of the partner grief support providers whose youth have participated in the research.

Kacy C. Maitland, LICSW

Chief Clinical Officer at Samaritans, Inc.

Kacy C. Maitland, LICSW brings more than 19 years of specialized leadership in suicide prevention and postvention, crisis services, statewide systems transformation, and implementation of evidence-based clinical practices. In her role as Chief Clinical Officer at Samaritans, Inc., she provides clinical and operational oversight for all programs, including the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, support for survivors of suicide attempts, community education and training, and suicide grief support services, ensuring that services remain trauma informed and person centered. Ms. Maitland’s career has centered on designing complex clinical workflows, building scalable program models, and supervising multidisciplinary teams. Ms. Maitland has a broad range of experience working with and training individuals in suicide prevention and mental health awareness, emphasizing the importance of active listening and relational care.

Sissi O’Shaughnessy

Senior Director of Suicide Grief Support Services

Sissi O’Shaughnessy is the Senior Director of Suicide Grief Support Services at Samaritans, where she leads innovative postvention programming designed to support suicide loss survivors and strengthen community response to suicide. She oversees SafePlace grief support groups, Survivor-to-Survivor visits, and the implementation of a LOSS (Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors) Team—bringing immediate, peer-based support to individuals and families in the earliest stages of grief. Grounded in both professional training and lived experience as a suicide loss survivor, Sissi’s work is centered on creating spaces where grief can be expressed, witnessed, and held with compassion. She is the founder of the Mo Foundation, established in memory of her late husband, and is a passionate advocate for expanding suicide prevention and postvention efforts, particularly for young people.

Time: 2:00-2:55 PM

Topic Title: “Helping Children Heal: Responding to Grief After Suicide and Overdose Loss” 

When a child experiences the death of someone they love through suicide or overdose, the grief that follows is often layered with trauma, confusion, stigma, and questions that can be difficult to express. This presentation will explore compassionate, developmentally informed approaches to supporting children, adolescents, and families as they navigate these complex losses.

Drawing on their extensive experience in suicide prevention and postvention, Kacy C. Maitland, LICSW, Chief Clinical Officer at Samaritans, and Sissi O’Shaughnessy, Senior Director of Suicide Grief Support Services, will share practical guidance for responding to the unique needs of young people grieving after suicide or overdose-related deaths. Through clinical expertise, real-world examples, and insights informed by lived experience, presenters will discuss how grief may show up across developmental stages, ways to foster honest and age-appropriate conversations, and strategies for creating supportive environments where children feel safe, connected, and understood. Participants will leave with trauma-informed tools and resources to help children and families move through grief with resilience, hope, and compassionate support.

Corina Garcia, LMHC

Program Coordinator for Outreach School & Community-Based Services at The Children’s Room

Corina is a bilingual Licensed Mental Health Clinician and Program Coordinator at The Children’s Room, where she facilitates peer grief support groups across school and community settings. She holds a Bachelor’s in Psychology from San Carlos University in Guatemala, a Master’s in Mental Health Counseling, and a post-graduate Certificate in Thanatology. Drawing on her background with Boston Medical Center’s Good Grief Program and in-home therapy, where she worked with Latino/Hispanic populations, she utilizes cultural humility and her bilingualism to make grief support services more accessible.

Time: 3:15-4:10 PM

Topic Title: “Caminando Juntos: Culturally Grounded Grief Support for Latino and Newcomer Children”

Grounding therapeutic practice in compassionate presence, relational safety, and cultural humility, Caminando Juntos is an intermediate/advanced training for professionals across clinical and support disciplines ready to deepen their grief-informed work with Latino youth. Beginning with the premise that grief is a normative, non-pathological human response, this presentation provides a framework to understand the diverse experiences of first-generation and newcomer Latino children. It weaves together core cultural values and practical recommendations based on direct clinical experience, offering a model of relational accompaniment that honors the intersecting layers of family, culture, and migration loss.

Jenny Silverberg, Dance / Movement Therapist

Clinician at Jeff’s Place Children’s Bereavement Center

Jenny believes in the power of movement as a vehicle for connection, self-expression and healing through the body. She has used movement in her work with children with physical disabilities, female trauma survivors and currently working at Jeff’s Place, a supportive community for grieving children, teens, young adults, families, and individuals.

Time: 4:15-4:40 PM

Topic Title: “How to grieve the body’s way: Embracing Stillness and Movement in the Therapeutic Process”

Grief is not just an emotional or mental experience; it is a whole-body response. Instead of trying to “think your way out” of grief ask your body instead! A practice for children, caregivers and for those who support grieving families.

Please join us for an optional networking opportunity following the conclusion of the symposium presentations. Conference presenters and attendees can connect with one another and with clinicians from area grief organizations who will share resources and more information about their programs.