Featured Speakers
Featured Speakers
During the seminar, you will have the opportunity to hear from national experts in grief, trauma, health and wellness and more. Below is a list of the speakers and presenters who will be in attendance.
Make sure to also download the TAPS Events app. Recommended session schedules for different grief programming and speaker information are all built into the easy-to-navigate app.
Tina Barrett, EdD, LCPC
Dr. Barrett is Founder and Executive Director of Tamarack Grief Resource Center. Dr. Barrett specializes in companioning, stabilizing, and strengthening families following tragedy. Tina weaves stories and lessons from 25+ years of experience with grief programs, schools, hospitals, private practice, group homes, treatment centers, and nonprofits into her workshops. She serves on the Leadership Team for Project Tomorrow Montana, on the Board of Directors for the National Alliance for Children's Grief (NACG), and on the Advisory Board for TAPS. Tina received the Community Educator Award from Association for Death Educators and Counselors (ADEC) in 2019.
Session: Rooted in Hope; Connected in Love
Audri Beugelsdijk
Audri Beugelsdijk serves as the Vice President of Survivor Services for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), overseeing immediate and long-term survivor support and outreach, and survivor programming. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology. She came to TAPS as a survivor in March 1997 after her husband CTRSN Jason Springer, USN, was lost at sea in the Pacific from the USS Kinkaid. As a Navy veteran as well, Audri is passionate about supporting our military families. Her work in honor of her late husband is a testament to her passion for the TAPS mission and her desire to offer safe places of hope and healing for all those grieving a military loss.
Frank Campbell, PhD, LCSW, CT
Dr. Frank Campbell is the Executive Director Emeritus of the Baton Rouge Crisis Intervention Center, where he is developing the first National Training Center for Suicidology. He is also Senior Consultant for Campbell and Associates Consulting where he consults with communities on Active Postvention efforts and Forensic Suicidology cases. During his more than thirty years of working with those bereaved by suicide he introduced his Active Postvention Model (APM) in 1997 it is most commonly known as the LOSS Team (Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors). His work with survivors and victims of trauma has been featured in three discovery channel documentaries, multiple professional journals, and several book chapters. Frank has been a consultant to TAPS for years, beginning with the very first National Military Suicide Survivor Seminar in 2009.
Sessions: Saturday Wrap-up | Parenting Panel
Susan Carron
As a TAPS Survivor Care Team Advocate, Susan works in honor of her late husband Major Paul D. Carron who died by suicide while serving in the Army in Afghanistan in 2010. They have two children together. Susan has her Bachelor's Degree in Nursing from East Carolina University, holds a Certification in Thanatology through the Association for Death Education and Counseling, and has worked in a variety of hospital settings. She is passionate about her work with other survivors and sharing vital support connections.
Bob Delaney
Bob is an NBA Cares Ambassador, a member of the TAPS Board of Advisors and the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Special Advisor Officiating Development/Performance. He served as the NBANBA's Vice President of Referee Operations and Director of Officials, after 25 seasons as an NBA referee. Prior to his career in professional basketball, Delaney was a highly decorated New Jersey State Trooper who went undercover to infiltrate the mafia; causing his post-traumatic stress journey. Delaney's firsthand experiences coupled with a passion to better understand mental health make him an expert on the subject. His efforts to educate and bring attention to the topic of post-traumatic stress have entailed visits to military troops around the world, including multiple trips to Afghanistan and Iraq. Described by retired General Robert Brown, U.S. Army Four Star Commander of the Pacific, as the "person who related to soldiers better than any visitor I have seen in my 36 years in the military," Delaney authored a book on the topic, Surviving the Shadows: A Journey of Hope into Post Traumatic Stress. He is also the author of Covert: My Life Infiltrating the Mob. His most recent book - Heroes are Human...Lessons in Resilience, Courage and Wisdom from the COVID Frontlines shares the emotional toll on our healthcare community as they fought an invisible enemy. He has been the subject of numerous media articles and shows including Dr. Sanjay Gupta CNN. Delaney is with the University South Florida Corporate Training and Professional Education Office as Lead Instructor for Trauma Awareness, Resilience, Selfcare programs.
Ken Doka, PhD, MDiv
Dr. Doka is a Senior Vice President of Grief Programs at Hospice Foundation of America (HFA) and recipient of the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC). He serves as editor of HFA's Living with Grief® book series and its Journeys bereavement newsletter and numerous other books and publications. He is a prolific author, editor, and lecturer; a retired graduate school professor at The College of New Rochelle; past president of ADEC; a member and past chair of the International Work Group on Death, Dying, and Bereavement (IWG); and a member of the TAPS Advisory Board. In 2018, the IWG presented Doka with the Herman Feifel Award for outstanding achievement in thanatology. He received an award for Outstanding Contributions in the Field of Death Education from ADEC in 1998. Doka is an ordained Lutheran minister and a licensed mental health counselor in the state of New York.
Session: The Uniqueness of Your Grief
Kerry Garland
Kerry currently serves as the Logistics Coordinator for Youth Programs, she is also transitioning to Team TAPS as a Special Events Coordinator. Kerry is originally from Anchorage Alaska, both of her parents served in the Marine Corps and her father medically retired after 9-11. Kerry first came to TAPS in the summer of 2017, volunteering as a Mentor for our 23rd National Survivor Seminar and Good Grief Camp. She had volunteered many times in a variety of roles supporting different departments before she came on staff full time. Kerry holds a Bachelors of Science in Nutrition with an emphasis on Community Engagement, she also minored in Communication.
James S. Gordon, MD
Dr. Gordon, a psychiatrist and former National Institute of Mental Health researcher, is a Clinical Professor at Georgetown Medical School and was Chair of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy. He is the author of Transforming Trauma: The Path to Hope and Healing. In his role as the founder and executive director of The Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM), Gordon has created and implemented the world’s largest and most effective program for healing population-wide trauma. He and his 150 international CMBM faculty have brought this program to war-traumatized populations in the Balkans, the Middle East, and Africa; to first responders, military personnel and veterans and their families in the U.S.; to communities that have suffered climate-related disasters, endured school shootings, and struggled with the opioid epidemic; and to Native American children and their families—as well as to stressed out professionals, stay-at-home mothers, inner-city children, White House officials, health professionals and medical students, and people contending with severe emotional and physical illnesses. Dr. Gordon has authored or edited ten previous books, including Unstuck: Your Guide to the Seven-stage Journey Out of Depression. He has written often for popular publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and The Guardian, as well as in professional journals. Dr. Gordon has also served as an expert for such outlets as 60 Minutes, the Today show, Good Morning America, CBS Sunday Morning, Nightline, CNN, MSNBC, and NPR.
Session: A Trauma Healing Diet
William G. (Bill) Hoy, DMin, FT
With more than 35 years of care for the dying and bereaved, Dr. Hoy is Clinical Professor of Medical Humanities at Baylor. He is widely regarded as an authority on the role of social support in death, dying and grief and his experience includes more than 20 years leading bereavement and pastoral care programs in hospice care. Dr. Hoy has authored more than 125 articles and book chapters as well as six books. His books include Road to Emmaus: Pastoral Care with the Dying and Bereaved (Compass, 2007); Do Funerals Matter? The Purposes and Practices of Death Rituals in Global Perspective (Routledge, 2013) and Bereavement Groups and the Role of Social Support: Integrating Theory, Research, and Practice (Routledge, 2016). In addition to his role with students at Baylor, he is a frequent presenter among groups of professional colleagues in health care across the United States and Canada. Dr. Hoy is active in the Association for Death Education & Counseling on whose board he served from 2012 to 2020 including six years as an officer. He also holds advisory board positions with Our House Grief Support Center in Los Angeles, California, Pathways Volunteer Hospice in Long Beach, California, and the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) in Washington, D.C.
Rachel Hunsell
As the TAPS Outdoor Programs Manager, Rachel develops and supports programs in the outdoors across the TAPS network. Rachel connects survivors with the healing power of nature and encourages participants to reconnect with their inner strength by creating emotionally safe and understanding environments. As a survivor honoring the life and death of her brother, Marine Lance Cpl J. Kyle Price, she understands the valleys and mountaintops we experience along the journey after loss. Rachel resides in Southern Illinois, has a background in communication and event management, is Dare to LeadⓇ trained, and is currently pursuing her Master of Science in Education with a degree in Recreation Therapy.
Rayanne Hunter
Rayanne Hunter is a MindBody Coach, yoga instructor, and equine facilitated learning practitioner. Having grown up in a military family, she served in the Army National Guard and is the surviving spouse of SSG Wesley Hunter. Leading to a passion for working whenever possible with military, their families, and the fallen military families. Specializing in trauma, grief, anxiety, post traumatic stress and woman’s empowerment she uses her knowledge from a variety of training backgrounds, interests and personal experiences to guide those she works with individually or within a group. A yoga enthusiast for the majority of her life, she loves being able to combine it with other tools, like mindbody and equine assisted coaching, yoga, meditation, reiki, modern shamanism, woman circles, body movement, outdoor therapy, nutrition and eating psychology principles. Continuously looking for ways to inspire people in their growth, through their transitions, and in learning to find their strength. Embracing trust and love of theirSelf again. Creating spaces for people to heal while exploring the person they are meant to be. Rayanne has worked with TAPS since 2010. She hosts events, mentors, facilitates workshops and grief care groups, is a member of the TAPS Advisory Board, and the TAPS International Team.
Pre-Recorded Session: Introduction to Yoga - Benefits for Grieving and Stress Reduction
Erin Jacobson
Erin serves as the Director of Adult Programs for TAPS. Within the past decade, Erin has built transformative programming within the retreat and seminar programs with an emphasis in women's empowerment, art, mindfulness and nature based healing. At the heart of her workshops and programs is the desire to create spaces where survivors can feel safe to explore the difficult questions surrounding identity and purpose after loss. Erin resides in the Pacific Northwest and is the surviving partner of Army Ranger Corporal Jason Kessler. Along with a degree in counseling, her educational background includes nonprofit leadership, religious studies and art history.
Judy Mathewson
Judy Mathewson, PhD, Licensed Professional Counselor, has been a group leader, mental health lead, and Director of the Good Grief Camp. Judy is a retired special education teacher and school counselor, has done research on military families and volunteered for TAPS for over 25 years. She has also served as a Board Member of TAPS. Judy served in the Alaska Air National Guard and U.S. Air Force, retiring after 30 years. She served with Bonnie when Brig. Gen. Tom Carroll’s plane crashed in Alaska over 25 years ago. Bonnie asked Judy to “find a way to work with the children.” Since there was limited research on military children and death, Bonnie and Judy determined what services would help the children acknowledge the reality of their grief following their loved one’s death, honor their emotions and feelings, and support them with mentors as they search for ways to honor their loved one’s service to the USA. As TAPS has evolved to meet the needs of our families, so has her service.
Renee Monczynski, MAOL
Renee is the creative director of the TAPS Young Adult Program that was established in 2016, specifically for surviving children and siblings. Since the sudden death of her husband when they were both active duty, she found healing and new purpose among her military family and peers at TAPS. Renee has a passion for education and volunteerism, earning multiple undergraduate degrees in education and psychology with a concentration in child development, culminating in a MA in Psychology - Organizational Leadership, from Southern New Hampshire University. She has spent her life in service to others through volunteering in several organizations including Young Marines as a training officer, Gold Star Wives Inc. as the Education Chair, National Board, Marine Corps League and TAPS as a military mentor and group leader. Renee has presented the TAPS Young Adults Program to the professional communities of Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) and the National Alliance for Children's Grief (NACG).
Sessions: I Served, Too | Goals, Grief & How Things Change | Family Project - The Legacy of Us
Emily Muñoz
Emily is the Director of Program Innovation at TAPS. Emily brings fresh concepts to the Survivor Care Team to keep programming and services on the leading edge for the survivor community. Emily works closely with each Survivor Care Team program lead and supports the Programs Committee, facilitating activities that offer a healthy and active healing path for survivors. Emily first came to TAPS in 2005 following the death of her husband, Captain Gilbert Munoz, U.S. Army.
Robert A. Neimeyer, Ph.D.
Dr. Neimeyer is Professor Emeritus of the Department of Psychology, University of Memphis, and maintains an active consulting and coaching practice, and also directs the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition. Neimeyer has published 30 books, including Routledge’s series on Techniques of Grief Therapy, and serves as Editor of Death Studies. The author of over 500 articles and chapters and a popular workshop presenter, he is currently working to advance a more adequate theory of grieving as a meaning-making process. Bob served as President of the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC), and Chair of the International Work Group for Death, Dying, & Bereavement. He has been granted the Eminent Faculty Award by the University of Memphis, made a Fellow of the Clinical Psychology Division of the American Psychological Association, and given Lifetime Achievement Awards by both the Association for Death Education and Counseling and the International Network on Personal Meaning.
Session: Finding the Meaning in Your Grief
Eileen O'Grady, PhD, RN, NP
Dr. O’Grady is a certified nurse practitioner and wellness coach, is founder of The School of Wellness, a group of practitioners dedicated to inspiring and providing practical tools to organizations and individuals to enable them to choose, practice and promote wellbeing. Dr. O’Grady has worked (virtually) across the United States in dozens of organizations leading discussions on wellbeing and resilience. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Health (George Washington University), a Master’s degree in Nursing and a PhD in Nursing (George Mason University). She is an author and editor of two textbooks, Advanced Practice Nursing: An Integrative Approach (7th ed., 2022) and Intentional Therapeutic Relationships: Advancing Caring in Health Care a how-to book on placing relationships at the center of health care (DesTEch, 2022). Her most recent book, Choosing Wellness: Unconventional Wisdom for the Overwhelmed, the Discouraged, the Addicted, the Fearful or the Stuck, (2021) is her most personal.
Tony Paz
Tony came to TAPS in 2019 after serving 25 years in the U.S. Army. An experienced leader in special operations, training development, and an avid outdoorsman, Tony joined TAPS to continue serving everyone with ties to our military. He is dedicated to connecting the TAPS family to the therapeutic and transformative power of the outdoors.
Gabriel Rao
Gabriel Rao is the Manager of the TAPS Men's Program and leads a variety of programming including workshops during Survivor Seminars, Men's Programs, Expeditions, and Special Events. Gabriel creates an environment that is safe and encouraging for all TAPS Survivors no matter where they are in their journey of grief. As a survivor who honors the life and death of his brother Elijah J.M. Rao and of his wife's late husband, Jack Martin III. Gabriel understands intimately well the challenges and gifts of life after loss.
Denise Hall Brown Rollins, PhD
Dr. Rollins is a master life coach, speaker and executive director of the Whole Heart Grief & Life Resource Center in Frederick, Maryland, where her team offers one-on-one coaching and group support services. She holds a doctorate in marriage and family therapy and a masters in thanatology. In addition, at the Gary L. Rollins Funeral Home in Maryland, she partners with her husband, Gary, in managing the business and providing aftercare services. She has more than 20 years of experience in corporate America, where her roles included training, human resources and diversity. Denise's personal experience with loss changed her career path. She is author of 2Grieve 2Gether: A Journal from the Heart Helping Survivors & Supporters Navigate the Healing Process, an autobiographical account of her own grief journey. Denise teaches a course on Death, Dying and Bereavement at Frederick Community College. She serves as a member of the TAPS Advisory Board and also serves as an Advisory Board member for the Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation Autism and Grief Project.
Session: Love After Loss
Kim Ruocco, MSW
Kim Ruocco develops comprehensive, peer-based programs that offer comfort and care to all those who are grieving the loss of a service member to suicide. Kim also provides suicide prevention education and is an internationally renowned speaker, providing trainings to both military and civilian audiences. Kim is a military widow; her husband, Marine Major John Ruocco, was a decorated Marine Cobra helicopter pilot who died by suicide in 2005 while preparing for a second Iraq combat deployment. She holds a bachelor's degree in Human Services and a master's degree in Clinical Social Work.
Joseph Silva
With 13 years in the financial services industry, including 5 at Prudential, Joe enjoys working with people from all walks of life to help prepare them for their financial future. He is an educator and a resource for his clients as he addresses their financial concerns in a collaborative manner. Joe hold a bachelor's degree from Campbell University. He served for 12 years in the United States Marine Corps.
Session: Managing Day-to-Day Finances During the Coronavirus Crisis
Heather Stang, MA, C-IAYT
Heather Stang is a thanatologist and author of Mindfulness & Grief: With Guided Meditations to Calm Your Mind & Restore Your Spirit, developed from her eight-week course, which uses mindfulness meditation, yoga, and journaling to help people who are grieving cope with loss, manage stress, and cultivate posttraumatic growth. Heather discovered yoga and mindfulness while she was the CEO of a web development company and diagnosed with a stress-related illness. These contemplative practices inspired her to live a life in service to others, and she became a suicide/crisis hotline call specialist in honor of her uncle who died by suicide when Heather was a child. Heather has led workshops for organizations including TAPS, National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, and the Association of Death Education and Counseling. She is the founder of the Frederick Meditation Center in Maryland where she has a private practice and offers guided meditations.
Pre-recorded Session: 4 Things You Can Do Right Now To Start Feeling Like Yourself Again
Sharon Strouse, MA, ATR-BC, LCPAT
Sharon Strouse is a board-certified and licensed clinical professional art therapist and Associate Director for the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition. She is a workshop presenter for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors 2008 to 2020. Her art therapy private practice, national presentations, trainings and practitioner supervision/ mentoring focus on traumatic loss, specifically with parents who have lost a child, suicide bereavement, and military family loss. The theoretical foundations of her group and individual art therapy work are grounded in meaning reconstruction, attachment informed grief therapy, continuing bonds with the deceased and restorative retelling. She is author of Artful Grief: A Diary of Healing, written twelve years after the suicide of her seventeen-year-old daughter, Kristin. Additional published works can be found in Neimeyer’s Techniques of Grief Therapy: Creative Practices for Counseling the Bereaved, Thompson and Neimeyer’s Grief and the Expressive Arts: Practices for Creating Meaning as well as, Di Maria’s, Exploring Ethical Issues in Art Therapy and Gershman and Thompson’s, Prescriptive Memory in Grief and Loss: The Art of Dreamscaping. She is co-founder of The Kristin Rita Strouse Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to supporting programs that increase awareness of mental health through education and the arts.
Pre-Recorded Session: Artful Grief: Tapping into Creativity and Imagination
Carla Stumpf Patton, EDD, LMHC, NCC, FT, CCTP
Dr. Stumpf Patton serves as the Senior Director of Suicide Prevention & Postvention Programs at the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), where she oversees programs and services provided to military community members and families after a suicide loss. She is a suicidologist and subject matter expert in the areas of grief, trauma, and suicide prevention, intervention, and Postvention, is a registered ASIST trainer in suicide first aid, and is trained in Psychological Autopsy Investigations and Crisis Response Planning. Dr. Stumpf Patton holds a B.S. in Psychology, an M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and School Guidance Counseling, and a Doctorate of Education in Counseling Psychology. Her dissertation research focused on military families bereaved by suicide, and was a key contributor in the development of the TAPS Suicide Prevention Model™. Dr. Stumpf Patton is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, a Certified Fellow Thanatologist, a National Certified Counselor, a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, a Florida Qualified Supervisor, and a counseling educator in higher academia. She is the surviving spouse of Sergeant Richard Stumpf, an Active Duty U.S. Marine Corps Drill Instructor and Gulf War Era Combat Veteran who died by suicide in 1994, several days before their only child was born. She is remarried to a retired U.S. Marine, who was also a suicide survivor widower, with whom she shares five children.
Kimberly Taylor
Kimberly serves as the Manager of TAPS Youth Programs, providing direct support to families and children, developing age appropriate curriculum standards for grief work and coping skills, and creating and setting systems in place for Youth Programs. She has always had a love for the care of children having worked as a nanny, a dance instructor, supporting children on the autism spectrum in group home settings, and directing a Parent As Teachers program. Kimberly first came to TAPS as a survivor after her fiancee, SSG Josh Rath, was KIA January 8, 2009 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. After receiving much care and support from TAPS, Kimberly became a peer mentor to other survivors, and a volunteer. She earned her Bachelors of Science in Psychology, and her Masters in Clinical Psychology with a focus on children and adolescents. Kimberly currently lives in Alabama where she enjoys outdoor activities and anything to do on the water.
Session: Family Project - The Legacy of Us
William Wagasy
William Wagasy, a former Notre Dame football player under Coach Lou Holtz, William graduated with an accounting degree and a second major in philosophy in 1996. He went on to receive his Juris Doctorate from Pepperdine University in 2000 and his master's in Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine in 2001. Following the attacks of 9/11, he enlisted in the Navy. He is a decorated U.S. Navy SEAL, having completed four combat tours from 2002 to 2012, three to Iraq and one to Afghanistan. After his time in the Navy, he served as the Director of Veterans Outreach for the Gary Sinise Foundation and continues to be an official ambassador for the foundation as well as sitting on the Advisory Board for Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, the Board Council for Hope for the Warriors, the West Coast Host Committee for the Navy SEAL Foundation and also on the Selection Committee for the Orange County Community Foundation's veteran initiative. Today he is the Vice President of National Sales, National Commercial Services for Commonwealth Land Title Company as well as for Fidelity National Title Group for Home Builder Services.
Justin M. Yopp, PhD
Dr. Yopp is a clinical psychologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As a member of UNC’s Comprehensive Cancer Support Program, Dr. Yopp offers psychotherapy, assessment, and consult-liaison services for both pediatric oncology and adult oncology populations at the North Carolina Cancer Hospital. Dr. Yopp also co-leads the Widowed Parent Program, which supports parents who have lost a spouse or partner and are raising children on their own. In addition to offering support groups, the program has a website resource for parents and professionals and conducts research to learn how best to support grieving families. Dr. Yopp co-authored the book, The Group: Seven Widowed Fathers Reimagine Life (Oxford University Press), which weaves together contemporary thinking on grief, adaptation and resiliency with the story of the men from their first parent support group. After earning his undergraduate degree from Appalachian State University and his doctoral degree from Central Michigan University, Dr. Yopp completed his internship and fellowship at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Prior to joining the faculty at UNC, Dr. Yopp served as a psychologist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Session: Love After Loss