

Tennessee Conference on Grief
7 Continuing Education Hours awarded to full-day attendees.
Tennessee Conference on Grief has been approved by NBCC for NBCC credit. Alive Hospice is solely responsible for all aspects of the program. NBCC Approval No. SP-5078.
No partial credit will be awarded, attendees must attend the conference for the full day.
Event Details
Date: Thursday, November 6
Location: Catholic Charities, 2806 McGavock Pk, Nashville
Cost:
- CE Credit: $100 (check out our early bird special of 20% off)
- NO CE Credit: $25
(Prices do not include eventbrite fees)
Food: Lunch will be provided by LiveFire BBQ.
Questions?
If you need special accommodations or have questions, please contact us.
Laura Gay Clark, Mission Based Services Program Manager: lclark@alivehospice.org | 615-679-4328
November 6: Program Agenda
Total CE Credit Hours Available: 7
Doors Open: 8:00 a.m.
Welcome: 8:15 – 8:25 a.m. Welcome and Introduction by Amir Hamad, Alive’s President/CEO
Session 1: 8:30 – 10:00 a.m. – Keynote Speaker, Dr. Mikel Harris, Attachment and traumatic grief: Rebuilding secure connections (1.5 CE Clock Hours)
Break: 10:00 – 10:10 a.m.
Session 2: 10:10 a.m. – 11:25 p.m. – Alissa Drescher, GriefBots: Can digital companions truly hold space for grief? (1.25 CE Clock Hours)
Lunch: 11:25 – 12:15 p.m.
Session 3: 12:15 – 1:45 p.m. – Brie Overton, Supporting grieving children through play: A creative approach to connection, expression, and healing (1.5 CE Clock Hours)
Break: 1:45 – 1:55 p.m.
Session 4: 1:55 p.m. – 3:10 p.m. – Lori Myers, Cultivating felt safety within grief (1.25 CE Clock Hours)
Break: 3:10 – 3:20 p.m.
Session 5: 3:20 – 4:50 p.m. – Dr. Eboni Webb, The cost of unspoken grief: trauma, silence, and generational pain in marginalized communities (1.5 CE Clock Hours)
Closing: 4:50 – 5:00 p.m. – Prizes and evaluations
Event Speakers
Dr Mekel Harris, Ph.D., NCSP, PMH-C, CAGCS
Keynote Speaker
Attachment and traumatic grief: Rebuilding secure connections
Dr. Mekel Harris is a licensed psychologist and CEO of Harris Psychological Services, LLC. Trained at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, she specializes in grief, loss, illness, and trauma, and provides evaluation, training, and consultation worldwide. A TEDx speaker and author of Relaxing Into the Pain: My Journey Into Grief & Beyond, she has presented at 30+ conferences, created grief-focused courses and toolkits, and contributed to numerous publications. Featured as a mental health expert in media including FOX13 Memphis and The Washington Post, she also serves on the board of New Hope Christian Academy.
Alissa Drescher, MA, LPC, Fellow in Thanatology
GriefBots: Can digital companions truly hold space for grief?
Alissa Drescher has worked in the field of bereavement for 21 years, a path inspired by the death of her first born child. She has held both Program Director roles, as well as having worked as a licensed counselor at a community grief center serving both children and adults who have experienced a death related loss. She is a national speaker for PESI providing education regarding therapeutic approaches to working with bereaved clients, and has served as the Grief Center Director at Alive Hospice in Nashville, TN for the past seven years. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor and holds a Fellowship in Thanatology: Death, Dying and Bereavement from the Association of Death Education and Counseling.
Brie Overton, LPC-S, FT
Supporting grieving children through play: A creative approach to connection, expression, and healing
Brie Overton is the Chief Clinical Officer of Experience Camps, a national nonprofit that provides no-fee, clinically informed programs for kids who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling or primary caregiver – as well as resources and advocacy so all grieving children can live a life rich with possibility. Brie received her MA in Thanatology from Hood College, her M.Ed in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from University of Missouri – St. Louis, and her Ph. D. in counselor supervision and education at the University of Missouri – St. Louis. She has spent 17 years in the field of thanatology providing grief education, support, counseling, death education, suicide prevention and intervention, and consultation.
Lori Myers, LCSW, RPT -S™
Cultivating felt safety within grief
Lori Myers, LCSW, RPT-S™, has 23 years of experience treating children impacted by trauma and attachment disruptions. She earned her Psychology degree from UNC Chapel Hill and her MSW from the University of Tennessee. Lori has worked in therapeutic preschool and school settings, a rape crisis center, and outpatient care, while also supervising clinicians, interns, and staff. She trains on child sexual assault, trauma-informed care, brain development, attachment, and parenting, and provides supervision in play therapy and licensure. Lori also serves as an adjunct professor in UT’s College of Social Work.
Dr. Ebony Webb, PsyD, HSP
The cost of unspoken grief: trauma, silence, and generational pain in marginalized communities
In 2010, Dr. Webb opened the private practice Kairos in Middle Tennessee. Kairos, now The Village of Kairos, offers diverse DBT specializations including DBT for trauma-based disorders and co-occurring disorders.
Learning Objectives
-
Keynote Presentation - Session 1: Attachment and traumatic grief: Rebuilding secure connections+
Presented by: Dr. Mikel Harris (1.5 CE Clock Hours)
- Examine how personal and cultural values influence our perceptions and responses to grief.
- Offer strategies for restoring a sense of safety and connection through the lenses of Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Family Systems.
- Identify techniques to help individuals center themselves, manage their grief, and maintain emotional well-being.
-
Session 2: GriefBots: Can digital companions truly hold space for grief?+
Presented by: Alissa Drescher (1.25 CE Clock Hours)
- Identify emerging AI technologies being utilized by the bereaved
- Assess ethical considerations of tech-assisted interventions in clinical practice
- Analyze a case example involving intelligent support platforms in grief counseling
-
Session 3: Supporting grieving children through play: A creative approach to connection, expression, and healing+
Presented by: Brie Overton (1.5 CE Clock Hours)
- Identify how grief presents in children at different developmental stages.
- Describe the role of play as a medium for communication and healing in grieving children.
- Engage in an experiential activity that deepens empathy and equips participants with practical tools for the field.
-
Session 4: Cultivating felt safety within grief+
Presented by: Lori Myers (1.25 CE Clock Hours)
- Define and contextualize the usage of windows of tolerance within grief work
- Identify the impact of a trauma history on a client’s ability to stay within their windows of tolerance during grief work
- Integrate grief support practices that prioritize nervous system safety, emotional pacing, and therapeutic presence.
- Enhance therapeutic presence and attunement to foster safety and resilience in clients navigating complex or prolonged grief.
-
Session 5: The cost of unspoken grief: trauma, silence, and generational pain in marginalized communities+
Presented by: Dr. Eboni Webb (1.5 CE Clock Hours)
- Identify the clinical features and functional impact of unspoken grief as it presents in trauma-affected individuals and families, with attention to dissociation, somatic symptoms, and emotional constriction.
- Describe how intergenerational transmission of grief and cultural silence contribute to complex trauma in marginalized communities and differentiates these patterns from singular traumatic events.
- Demonstrate trauma-informed strategies to help clients name, validate, and begin to process unexpressed grief within a culturally responsive and ethically attuned clinical framework.