Speakers

Charlene Ray, MSW, LICSW
Forefront Trainer
Charlene Ray is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker and has been in practice as a therapist, mentor, grief counselor, and workshop facilitator for 35 years. Charlene teaches mindfulness in the school, K-6, and facilitates Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction for teachers. Charlene has led programs for school districts on various mental health topics and is a frequent speaker at Sno-Isle Library Issues that Matter events. She works for Forefront Suicide Prevention as a coach and trainer.

Session

Alice Ryan, LICSW
Alice Ryan, LICSW
Clinical Manager of the Journey Program, Seattle Children’s Bereavement Program and Lecturer, University of Washington School of Social Work
Alice Ryan began her social work career over 23 years ago. Most of her practice orientation has been in large healthcare settings. She was drawn to the needs of patient and families as illness progressed towards the end of life. Her practice eventually led her to her current work in accompanying people in their grief journey, with special emphasis on the experience of complicated grief through the death of a child. Through the years of listening and learning from grieving families, it became more apparent that the narratives of grief from historically marginalized communities were not as present or represented in bereavement support programs. Elimination of disenfranchisement, even within the universal human experience of grief, is the north star that guides Alice’s work. She currently manages Seattle Children’s Hospital’s bereavement program, The Journey Program and has also been a faculty member of the UW School of Social Work since 2012, teaching in the MSW program. She is the recipient of 3 Instructor of the Year Awards and is the recent recipient of the Odessa Brown Ken Feldman Award at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Although she values her presence in academia, she strongly identifies as a practitioner and believes that humble service to others informs and shapes theoretical constructs.

Sessions

Alexandra Wyman, MS, OTR
Alexandra Wyman, MS, OTR
Alexandra Wyman is an Amazon Bestselling author of The Suicide Club: What To Do When Someone You Love Chooses Death. After she lost her husband to suicide in August of 2020, Alexandra found a need to change the rhetoric around suicide. She has spoken at the Colorado School Counselor Association’s annual conference (2021); the Orthodox Christian Association of Medicine, Psychology, and Religion (OCAMPR) annual conference (2021); and Bridging the Divide Suicide Prevention and Awareness Summit 2022. She has also been a guest on the YouDoWoo, Author Hour and Resilience Unravelled podcasts. Alexandra produces a podcast with her sister, called The Russian Sisters. She practices occupational therapy and lives in Colorado with her son.

Session

Samiira Mohamed, MSN
Samiira Mohamed, MSN
Executive Director, Diaspora Family Healing Network
Samiira Mohamed is the executive director of Diaspora Family Healing Network, fiscally sponsored by Omprakash. The Diaspora Family Healing Network (DFHN) is a Seattle based non-profit agency dedicated to assisting historically excluded migrant BIPOC families in Washington State who are disproportionately impacted by racism and mental health disorders. The term "diaspora" refers to migrant communities who have resettled in the U.S. and have had their identities and sense of belonging profoundly shaped by their migration experience and distinctive cultural background.

DFHN envisions a community in which marginalized diasporic families, particularly the women and youth facing mental health challenges, have access to mental health support programs and resources.

Sessions

Kiri Meyer, MS, LPC, NCC, RYT-200
Kiri Meyer, MS, LPC, NCC, RYT-200
Bereavement Programs Manager
Kiri Meyer, LPC, is Bereavement Programs Manager at Eluna, a non-profit with a mission to support children and families impacted by grief or addiction. Kiri has been a grief camp enthusiast for the past 14 years, working and volunteering for camps in Wisconsin, throughout the US, and in Ireland. She is so glad to be able to join the Eluna team to continue to help support children, teens, families, and partners in their Camp Erin experience. Kiri has dedicated her professional life to helping advocate, educate, and introduce people into the world of death, dying, and bereavement so we are able to have these “tough talks” in a more comfortable fashion as a society. Kiri has seen the magic of camp firsthand and believes that camps provide a fun and healing environment where we can take the stigma of grief away and learn to connect to ourselves and others in ways that feel right for our own unique journeys with grief. Kiri is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Wisconsin specializing in grief and trauma. She is also a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-200) basing practices in restorative yoga for grief with a trauma-sensitive lens. When Kiri is not working or volunteering at camps, she can be found spending time outdoors with her family, finding fun projects for her fixer-upper home with her husband, and baking up new recipes to share.

Session

Zoe Tapp, MPH
Forefront Suicide Prevention

Session

Jim Cubbage
Jim Cubbage
Wild Grief Co-Founder and Hike Guide
Jim Cubbage co-founded Wild Grief where he leads grief support hikes and walks, co-develops programming, and is on the board. He has 15 years experience in facilitating grief support groups for teens and families through different organizations and venues. Before that he taught telephone crisis intervention for 4 years through the Crisis Clinic of Thurston County. He started his professional career as a wildlife biologist for 10 years.

Session

Jen McCormick, LICSW
Jen McCormick, LICSW
Mental Health Therapist
Jen McCormick, LICSW graduated from the University of Washington in 2002 with a Masters Degree in Social Work, and holds a post-graduate certificate in Psychological Trauma. She has served in multiple capacities including community mental health, inpatient psychiatry, hospice, and emergency department social work. She also served as the Clinical Director for the Healing Center, a grief and loss center for youth and adults. Jen currently has a private practice working with youth and adults that have experienced traumatic loss.

Sessions

Nancy Dorrier
Nancy Dorrier
Nancy Dorrier teaches writing to leaders as a way for them to be clear and focused, bring completion to challenging situations, and powerfully express their own wisdom. In addition to her leadership and team consulting, she has led workshops for incarcerated women, survivors
of sexual abuse, and young people impacted by loss. She is the author of Stan Went Fishing: Stories and Images of Waking Up, which grew out of a journey of self-discovery as her family embraced life with a child who never walked or talked, but filled their hearts with his crooked
smile and radiant laugh.

Session

Karen Kirsch, MA
Karen Kirsch MA is a registered Somatic Movement Therapist with a Masters in Somatic Psychology.  Karen has been working in the field of childhood grief for over a decade as a facilitator of children’s groups and served as coordinator of the Sound Care Kids grief program for 10 months. She is a founding member of Wild Grief, where she serves on the board and guides hikes.

Session

Makenzie Muilenburg, MS, LMHC, NCC
Makenzie Muilenburg, MS, LMHC, NCC
Grief Counselor
Makenzie Muilenburg is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor from Seattle, WA. Makenzie currently works as a Grief Counselor for Providence Hospice of Seattle’s Safe Crossings Program, a program that serves grieving children and teens across King County at no cost to families. She also runs her own private counseling practice serving adults facing a range of mental health and life challenges. Makenzie has been supporting grieving children in differing capacities for 10 years and also brings her own personal experience of childhood parental loss to her understanding of the work she does. Makenzie received her BS in Psychology from the University of Washington and her MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Western Washington University. She is also a Certified Child and Adolescent Trauma Professional and Nationally Certified Counselor. In her free time Makenzie loves to read, explore new places, and dance.

Sessions

Courtney McGrue, LICSW
Courtney McGrue, LICSW
Grief Counselor
Courtney McGrue, LICSW is a Pediatric Grief Counselor with Safe Crossings Program of Providence Hospice of Seattle. Courtney has been supporting grieving children in this capacity for over two years. Due to her own experience in losing a parent in adolescence, she brings a passion and relatability to this work. Previously, Courtney has supported children and families in various arenas, including child welfare, residential care settings, and elderly medical care. Courtney is also a part- time Doula and enjoys tap dancing, hot yoga, and weightlifting.

Sessions