Creating Healing: Connection & Vulnerability | Dr. Jennifer Kaplan | TEDxBeaverCountryDaySchool

NOTE FROM TED: This talk represents the speaker's personal experiences and business approach to grief counseling. TEDx events are independently organized by volunteers. The guidelines we give TEDx organizers are described in more detail here: http://storage.ted.com/tedx/manuals/t...

“Sometimes you have to sit in the mud…. At times alone, and at times together.” Dr. Kaplan will explain how this metaphor represents her belief that finding the courage to sit in the mud -- meaning, opening oneself to being vulnerable with ourselves and others -- opens doors to unlimited possibilities in every aspect of our lives. She will share how her personal journey of loss and healing propelled her into the professional field of childhood bereavement, and what she has learned along her journey. She wants to share the message that we create healing through connection and vulnerability. Jennifer Kaplan, Ph.D., LICSW, FT is Founding Director for Jeff’s Place Children’s Bereavement Center, serving MetroWest and beyond, FRIENDS WAY in RI, and Founding Clinical Director of Experience Camps a weeklong overnight camps for grieving youth across the USA. She was awarded the annual Excellence in Service Award at the 2018 Symposium for the National Alliance for Grieving Children for her professional contributions in research and practice on a national level in the field of childhood bereavement. Jennifer has numerous publications and peer-reviewed journal articles. Dr. Kaplan is currently seeking a research partner to have the Inventory of Youth Adaptation to Loss (IYAL) -- an instrument she invented to better understand youth grief -- accessible to bereavement programs everywhere to stimulate further research and public policy. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx