Heidi Horsley

Dr. Heidi Horsley is a licensed psychologist, social worker, and bereaved sibling. She co-hosts the award-winning weekly cable television show and podcast, Open to Hope. Dr. Heidi is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University, and an award-winning author, who has co-authored eight books, and serves on the United Nations Global Mental Health Task Force. She also serves on the Advisory Boards for the Tragedy Assistance Program, the Elisabeth Kubler-Ross Foundation, and Peace of Mind Afghanistan. She served on the National Board of Directors for The Compassionate Friends, and for 10 yrs. worked on a Columbia University research study looking at traumatic loss over time in families who lost a firefighter in the World Trade Center.

Articles:

Sara Daren: Boys and Grief

Boys and girls grieve differently, as do men and women. Dr. Heidi Horsley talks with Sara Daren about the unique way boys grieve. Daren is from Experience Camps, and as the founder and executive director she runs one-week camps for boys in Maine and New York. In 2015 a camp for girls began, but she has focused on boys for the past seven years. Boys and girls emote differently. At camp, the boys are often stiff and uncomfortable when they first arrive. Boys like to play before talking and need to get active. Diving right into camp with tug of […]

Jordan Karem: Kate’s Club Helping Teens and Kids with Grief

Jordan Karem works with Kate’s Club, an organization that helps kids and teens going through grief. She’s 15 years old, and lost her dad to stage four lung cancer in 2011. She was eleven when her father died, and found herself needing a unique type of support. Living in Atlanta, Georgia, she found Kate’s Club herself after doing an online search. Grief groups, activities, and outings are all available, as well as a summer camp. Here, Karem said she felt normal and could meet other kids who’ve experienced a similar loss. Her other friends weren’t familiar with parental loss and […]

Thom McLeod: Tips for Teens who have Suffered a Loss

At the National Alliance for Grieving Children, Dr. Heidi Horsley talks with Thom McLeod, a hospice chaplain in Ft. Lauderdale. He also facilitates a teen bereavement group in Davey, Florida. Working closely with teens puts McLeod in a unique position. He says teens can find hope after loss in many ways. The bereavement process is a normal process (if you’re lucky and live long enough to experience it). You need to find a new normal, and teens are going through so many changes already. They’re readjusting to loss while also moving from being a child to a young adult. He […]

Therese Oettl: Outdoor Grief Programs

At the National Alliance for Grieving Children conference, Dr. Heidi Horsley interviews Therese Oettl, who’s studying for a master’s degree in European Outdoor Studies. She studies with a group of 18 people throughout England, Norway, and Germany. The group is looking at how Outward Bound and other outdoor programs help people grieve. There’s a variety of these programs in the US, but few in Germany and Europe. She’s here to discover what’s working, how to initiate the programs, and why they’re important. Dr. Horsley has personal experience with Outward Bound, having gone on the program for a month in Colorado […]

Evan Johnson: Loss of a Parent by Suicide

Evan Jonson lost his father in 2010 to suicide. Dr. Heidi Horsley interviews him about his experience Johnson lives in Portland, Oregon and he struggled to find hope afterward. He was in complete disbelief at first, unable to fathom why his father killed himself. It came out of the blue for Johnson, and as that shock wore off he moved out of denial and into reality. That’s when anger arrived, and Johnson was angry at the situation rather than at his father. His dad destroyed his family, and it upset the life that everyone had planned. When Dr. Horsley’s brother […]

Laurie Goble-VanDiest: Loss Due to Adoption

Dr. Heidi Horsley talks with Laurie Goble-VanDiest, the mother of three adopted children. Dr. Horsley adopted one of her children as well. Goble-VanDiest explains that she decided to adopt after she couldn’t conceive. She went the route of foster to adoption and was initially just looking for one child. A three-year-old girl was in her home for six months when it was discovered that the girl’s brothers were also becoming adoptable. The girl had already bonded with the family, and it was important that the siblings stayed together. The instant family happened quickly. Adopted children are born from our hearts. […]

Kristan Glover: Foster Club

While at the National Alliance for Grieving Children conference, Dr. Heidi Horsley talked with Kristan Glover from FosterClub. Based in Arizona, Glover is a former foster youth. FosterClub fosters for children in the foster system, and encourages foster kids to never lose hope. There are things you will face that nobody should have to handle, but you can overcome them. She remembers times when she hated herself and hated her life, but knows that it’s up to her to be positive and be happy. For foster youth, there are additional challenges that can make growing up very difficult, and identifying […]

Maryana Stern: Foster Kids Helping Each Other

During the National Alliance for Grieving Children conference, Dr. Heidi Horsley interviews Maryana Stern of Foster Club and a former foster child in the system. It’s a peer to peer support program, and you need to have been in foster care yourself to participate. Now an advocate, she works to change policies that will improve the experience of foster care and works with children around the world. Another aspect of her work is serving as a mentor and big sister to foster youth who might not otherwise have that experience and support. Having come from the foster system herself, Stern […]

Alexis Sandagato: Teens and Grief

The latest National Alliance for Grieving Children conference brought together Alexis Sandagato and Dr. Heidi Horsley. Sandagato is a teenager who’s a junior in high school and doing a three-year research project on the impacts of parental death and how that affects children. She lost her father when she was two years old, and has spent her childhood without her father. What helped her heal was having a supportive family and professional help. If you feel you need it, don’t be afraid of what anyone else will say or think. Children need support, and to know that other kids have […]

Kaela Vance: Helping Kids Cope with Loss

Dr. Heidi Horsley talks with Kaela Vance at the National Alliance for Grieving Children conference. Vance is getting ready to work with an organization, as well as build her own organization, in Columbus, Ohio that help kids cope with loss. When she was seven years old, her mom died of ovarian cancer. As the eldest of three siblings, that loss inspired her to do this work. Dr. Horsley relates, having been inspired by her brother’s death. As a grieving child, Vance recommends that parents look for a program to help children heal. Vance joined Stepping Stones, which offered day camps […]

Open to Hope is an online community offering inspirational stories of loss, hope and recovery. We believe hope is the bridge between loss and recovery.