Disenfranchised Grief Virtual Panel

Loved ones experiencing grief as the result of a suicide, a miscarriage, a drug overdose, a stigmatized illness such as HIV/AIDS, or even the death of a pet can be disenfranchised in their grieving experience, making it harder to seek help, community support, and understanding.   

The panel will discuss the different forms of disenfranchised grief, how it can be addressed and remedied, and various resources available to those experiencing disenfranchised grief. There will be a Q&A portion at the end of the panel. 

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Sara Murphy, PhD, FT, is a death educator, Certified Thanatologist and Fellow in Thanatology (Association for Death Education and Counseling), and suicidologist with over eighteen years of scholarly, pedagogical, and professional experience in the field. She has been a faculty member at the University of Rhode Island for seventeen years, where she has developed and taught more than sixty interdisciplinary courses on thanatological theory; death, dying, and bereavement; biopsychosocial grief experiences; disenfranchised grief; and stigmatized means of death. She is also an affiliate faculty member in the Thanatology Graduate Program at Marian University, where she teaches courses on suicide, loss across the lifespan, social justice thanatology, losses of addiction, and death in the literary imagination.

Publicly, Dr. Murphy conducts diverse and dynamic professional development and educational workshops, trainings, and seminars on specialized topics of death, dying, and bereavement nationwide for businesses, schools, and professional organizations.

Dr. Murphy is also a suicide and bereavement consultant; a contributing writer for the National Funeral Directors Association; and an expert witness on suicide and on disenfranchised grief.

Dan Everton is an artist and historian specializing in archaeology, death, and ethics in museums. He holds a Masters in Public Humanities from Brown University and is currently attending Dominican University in the Masters in Library and Information Science program.

Bill Gately is a licensed grief counselor and former Funeral Director and owner of the Gately McHoul Funeral Home in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Moderator: Corinne Elicona has worked at Mount Auburn for seven years in many different roles including natural burial volunteer, administration assistant, and crematory operator. She is currently Mount Auburn’s Education & Digital Content Manager, working on creating educational content on Mount Auburn; its history, landscape, and legacy. She is passionate about fostering a positive discourse around death and promoting education around end-of-life choices and equity so that everyone can experience a good death. 

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