Bereavement Research Forum Bereavement Research Forum Jan Oyebode Chair  Jan is a clinical psychologist and worked for many years with older people in the NHS in both physical and mental health services, often working with issues of loss and bereavement. She made a part-time move to an academic post within the Clinical Psychology Programme team at the University of Birmingham in 1996 which allowed her to pursue her interest in bereavement research. She is now working 4 days a week as Director of the Clinical Psychology Doctorate Programme and 1 day a week as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist with older people in the NHS. She uses a wide range of research methods including single case series and qualitative approaches. Her main research interests are in continuing bonds after bereavement especially in relation to older adults. Email: J.R.Oyebode@Bham.ac.uk Joanne Anning Publicity Officer Joanne has been the Coordinator and Assistant Psychologist for Jeremiah’s Journey for the last six and half years. Her interest in research in the bereavement area has grown particularly following a collaborative project with a group of teenagers who had used the service to redesign our website. She was struck by how they had made sense of their bereavement and how this experience had been used to inform their sense of self. This research has already been shared at several conferences and is being prepared for publication. Together with Dr. Jacqui Stedmon, Joanne is considering the impact of attachment style on the grieving process and specifically its impact on the construction or not of an adaptive continuing bond. This has developed her interest in further exploring the role of qualitative research in the field of bereavement work. Email: info@jeremiahsjourney.org.uk Dawn is a registered nurse with an MSc in Health Sciences and is completing a PhD at the University of Birmingham on Bereavement in the Abrahamic faiths. She has recently been appointed to Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust as Head of Bereavement Services with a remit of developing a seamless bereavement care service fit for purpose in the 21st century. Dawn is a founder member and current vice chair of the Bereavement Services Association, and has worked with the DH on the implementation of ‘When a Patient Dies’. She is currently working on a national project with the BSA and Cruse bereavement Care looking at bridging the gap between NHS bereavement services and the voluntary sector. Email: dawn.chaplin@heartofengland.nhs.uk Dawn Chaplin Mollie worked as a ward sister on the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at Guy’s Hospital between 1986 and 1998 during which time she recognised the lack of information and support offered to the parents whose children died. She began to develop a very small service in her own time, which included co-facilitating a bereaved parents’ support group with the Counselling Psychologist for Paediatrics. Mollie also began an Open University Psychology Degree in 1990 and a counselling certificate course at WPF in 1994. Her bereavement support work gradually developed and in 1998 it became a full-time post, and offered support to all bereaved parents within the Evelina Children’s Hospital at Guy’s. Between the years 1994 and 2003 Mollie completed her BSc Hons. Psychology, and a diploma and MSc Counselling Psychology at Roehampton, University of Surrey. She is a chartered Counselling Psychologist. The research component of her Masters looked at possible reasons for clients not returning to counselling after the initial session. Email: Mollie.cook@gstt.nhs.uk Mollie Cook Membership Secretary Dr Jacqui Stedmon is a Lecturer at the University of Plymouth where she acts as Academic Director for the Doctorate Programme in Clinical Psychology. She developed an interest in bereavement while working clinically in paediatrics and went on to co-found Jeremiah's Journey; a charitable organistion providing support for bereaved children and their families in the local area. Currently Jacqui acts as Clinical Director for this service as well as being a director for the Bereavement Counselling Service for adults in Plymouth. Jacqui works as a family therapist and has combined her interests in narrative therapy with understanding grief in children. Her research interests are focused on understanding the meaning making process in younger people's grief from an attachment perspective. In particular she thinks there is much to be learned about how attachment style might influence the telling of stories about bereavement for younger people and whether or not they construct an adaptive continuing bond with the deceased. This work is being prepared for publication. Jacqui is also co-editing a book on Reflective Practice in Psychotherapy and Counselling due out in 2009. Email: j.stedmon@plymouth.ac.uk Tina is a UKCP registered psychotherapist with an MSc in integrative psychotherapy based on research undertaken around end of life issues. She has extensive experience of working within palliative care and bereavement. She has over 20 years of clinical experience, working therapeutically in a range of different contexts and has worked with many people approaching the end of their lives as well as bereaved individuals. In addition to her research, Tina has been involved in writing and delivering accredited, training programmes within the bereavement field, presented her research at the BACP Research Conference in 2003 and in 2007 helped to run a workshop at the CRUSE National Conference. Tina is now head of The Laura Centre a regional charity offering support to bereaved families, parents and children. She has a specific interest in the dissemination of knowledge and understanding about bereavement and loss and is keen to promote the sharing of knowledge in the field through research, writing and the development of forums. Since joining The Laura Centre three years ago she has been actively involved in networking and supporting the local community and voluntary sector as well as the bereavement field nationally. In 2006 in conjunction with Nicola Barden, the Chair of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy, Tina co-authored an academic book ‘Words and Symbols in Therapy’ edited by Michael Jacobs and by the Open University Press in Dec ’06. Email: Tina@thelauracentre.org Tina Williams Jacqui Stedmon Treasurer Sarah Nuttall-Worsley BRF Administrator Sarah has been the Fundraiser/Administrator at Jeremiah’s Journey for the last five years.  She was approached by the BRF Steering Committee to see if she was interested in becoming the administrator in 2009 and has been with them ever since, bringing her admin experience to bear on the committee's ways of working.  She fits her post with Jeremiah's Journey and her BRF administration around care for her 1Email: year old Jack who also keeps her very busy. Email: bereavementbesearchborum@googlemail.com