Bereavement SIG

Our Mission

To advance the knowledge and practice of psychosocial care for bereaved persons and to support the development of bereavement programs within oncology settings.

 

  • To foster awareness among psycho-oncology providers of how their practice and research efforts may be connected to the future bereavement needs of patients' surviving family members.
  • To support the development of clinical and support programs for bereaved loved ones within oncology-specific settings.
  • To promote research to examine links between psychosocial care of persons with advanced cancer and their families with the bereavement needs of surviving loved ones

Meet Our Chair

Sue Morris, PsyD

Dr. Sue Morris is a clinical psychologist specializing in adult mental health and bereavement with expertise in program development and medical education. Sue moved to the US in 2010 from Australia to join Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) as the first Director of Bereavement Services. She is also the co-director of bereavement for Robert’s Program on Sudden Unexpected Death in Pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Sue’s work in the field spans 25 years, and includes building a successful grief and loss practice in Sydney; developing courses about grief; hospice bereavement experience in the US; and the publication of two self-help books about grief in the UK. Early in her career, Sue became interested in grief and how little education and training clinicians receive about caring for the bereaved.

At DFCI, Sue developed the bereavement service, adopting an education, guidance and support model. She has published about the experience of the bereaved and created educational materials for families and clinicians alike, in addition to developing group programs for both the adult and young adult populations. Working at DFCI has allowed her to combine her interests of writing about grief, supporting the bereaved, and educating clinicians about the nature of grief and how to take care of themselves.

Sue currently holds the position of Senior Psychologist at DFCI within the Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care, and Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School.

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