Experts & Educators
We are a hub for the country’s most distinguished hospice and grief experts, researchers, and professionals. HFA experts help to inform and educate on a wide range of timely and relevant topics essential to best practice.
Our HFA educators are well known and widely recognized as experts in their fields.
They’re researchers with decades of knowledge backed by evidenced-based studies.
They’re professionals who have honed their skills with years of patient and family care.
HFA has been privileged to include many notable experts in its professional education offerings over the past 30 years, including the late Earl. A Grollman; Nancy Hogan, RN, PhD; Karla Holloway, PhD; the late William M. Lamers, MD; the late Richard E. Payne, MD.
Below is a complete listing of our presenters and authors from 2020 onward. We are grateful for their willingness to share their expertise to advance hospice and bereavement care through HFA.
Working with people confronting grief, loss, trauma, and tragedy is an intensely personal endeavor—one that carries well-documented risks for practitioners, including burnout, moral distress, and compassion fatigue. Yet current research and clinical wisdom show that the demands of this work can be managed effectively and may even promote personal and professional growth. Drawing on recent developments in positive psychology, neuroscience, and contemporary psychotherapy, this session presents evidence-based strategies to strengthen emotional resilience, sustain meaningful self-care, and enhance clinical effectiveness.
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Continuing education included with registration
Jocelyn Smith Lee is an assistant professor of Human Development and Family Studies at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. Her research examines the health disparities of violent injury and violent death and works to understand how losing loved ones to homicide shapes the health, well-being, development, and family relationships of Black males and their…
Brad Speaks is the President and CEO of Speaks Family Legacy Chapels. He runs three funeral homes, a cemetery, a crematory, and a pre-need operation in the Kansas City area. He is a past president of the Selected Independent Funeral Homes association, the largest group of family-operated funeral homes in the world. Speaks is a…
Heather Stang is the author of Mindfulness & Grief and is the host of the Mindfulness & Grief Podcast. She has a Master’s Degree in Thanatology and is a certified yoga therapist in the Phoenix Rising tradition. Stang is on the board of advisors for Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) and partners with survivor and…
Gary Stein is Professor at the Wurzweiler School of Social Work – Yeshiva University, NY, where he is a tenured faculty member in the master’s and doctoral programs. He is also the director of the Gerontology and Palliative Care Programs for MSW students and for clergy. He is PI of the study, “Project Respect: Experiences…
David Steinhorn is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Medical School with residency in pediatrics and fellowship training in pediatric hepatology and critical care medicine. He completed post-doctoral training in 1997 in hospice and palliative medicine at Hospice Buffalo in New York and has been continuously board-certified in those specialties. Steinhorn served on the…
Judith Stillion is professor emerita of psychology and currently serves as a consultant on a variety of subjects including end-of-life issues, meaningful aging, positive psychology applied to grieving and dying, and facilitation of grief groups. Stillion’s varied career includes teaching and counseling in the public schools and at the university level. She also served as…
Elisa Stone is a Grief Specialist at YoloCares Hospice & Palliative Care. She has decades of experience supporting and educating those facing life-limiting situations. Elisa is accomplished in developing and managing social programs and services, she focuses on the emotional life of individuals and families across the age spectrum. She has extensive experience supporting and guiding…
Margaret Stroebe is Professor Emeritus at both the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Utrecht University, and the Department of Clinical Psychology and Experimental Psychopathology, University of Groningen, The Netherlands. She has specialized in the field of bereavement research for many years. With Henk Schut she developed the Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement….
Carla Stumpf Patton is the senior director of Suicide Postvention Programs at the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). As a subject matter expert in grief, trauma, and suicide, she helped develop the TAPS Suicide Postvention Model™, providing outreach and care to bereaved survivors. She is trained in Crisis Response Planning, certified as an Applied…
Kathie Supiano is a Professor Emeritus in the College of Nursing, and the past director of Caring Connections: A Hope and Comfort in Grief Program at the University of Utah College of Nursing. She has been a practicing clinical social worker and psychotherapist for over 45 years. Her clinical practice has included care of older adults with depression…
Judy Tatelbaum is a psychotherapist, public speaker, and author.
Kathleen Taylor has over 30 years of experience in the healthcare and nonprofit sectors. Her passion is centered in improving the healthcare experience for people who are sick and vulnerable, and helping healthcare professionals master skills in cultivating empathy and communicating compassionately. She operates a healthcare consulting practice focused on advance care planning, palliative care program…
Whether you’re a patient, family member, or a friend trying to determine whether hospice is the right choice, HFA is here. We provide guidance before, during, and after the important decisions are made.
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