Angela Dean

Angela M. Dean, PsyD, FT, is a licensed psychologist, Fellow in Thanatology, founder and owner of The Broken Pack, as well as the CEO and clinical director of Dean Psychological and Well-Being Associates in Wexford, Pennsylvania. She is also the host of The Broken Pack: Stories of Sibling Loss, a podcast dedicated to giving voice to one of grief's most overlooked populations. Dr. Dean's path into grief work is both professional and deeply personal. The loss of her own brother a month prior to the COVID-19 pandemic introduced her to the particular invisibility of sibling grief, a loss that rarely receives the acknowledgment it carries, and one that reshapes identity, family structure, and the sense of a shared future in ways that are rarely named. That experience became the foundation for The Broken Pack, which she founded in 2022 with a vision to change how sibling loss is understood and supported. In her private practice, Dr. Dean works with individuals navigating grief, loss, and life transitions, as well as those living with chronic illness, anxiety, and the psychological effects of medical conditions. This clinical work sits alongside years of specialized training and practice in psychosocial oncology. She trained at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and WVU Medicine before joining the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, where she provided psychological care to patients and families navigating cancer and its aftermath. She is a longstanding member of the American Psychosocial Oncology Society, active in the Caregiving and Healthcare Disparities Special Interest Groups since 2014. This background deepened her understanding of anticipatory grief, disenfranchised loss, and the ways that medical systems often fail to recognize the emotional complexity of those living alongside illness and death. It also informs her understanding of non-death losses including caregiving grief, chronic illness, anticipatory loss, and secondary losses that accumulate alongside medical uncertainty, experiences that rarely receive the language or recognition they deserve. She holds a Level 2 Certification in Meaning-Focused Grief Therapy (MFGT) from the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition, training grounded in the work of Dr. Robert Neimeyer. Her clinical approach centers on narrative, meaning-making, and continuing bonds, frameworks that inform both her therapeutic work and her writing. Dr. Dean's work has appeared in the OMEGA: Journal of Death and Dying, where she reviewed Doka and Martin's Grieving Beyond Gender. She has been cited in The Atlantic and has presented at ADEC on sibling loss, ethics, and the algorithmic invisibility of grief. She serves as adjunct faculty at Chatham University, teaching grief counseling to graduate psychology students. She writes about sibling loss, disenfranchised grief, meaning reconstruction, non-death and anticipatory loss, and the intersection of personal and professional grief. Her work is informed by the conviction that grief does not resolve on a timeline, and that the people least likely to be asked how they are doing are often the ones carrying the most. Dr. Dean is based in the Greater Pittsburgh area and sees clients via telepsychology across Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and PsyPact states.

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