Collaborators

Nicole Alston, LMSW

Nicole Alston is a licensed master social worker (LMSW) with a particular expertise in grief. In 2005, Nicole experienced the loss of her stillborn daughter, Skye. Within months, she began speaking to audiences nationally, and then internationally, about providing comprehensive psychosocial support for families who are grieving the death of a baby. Nicole has worked in various capacities at The Center for Prolonged Grief at Columbia University, and currently serves as Senior Trainer.

Outside of Nicole’s work with the Center, she has taken clinical and non-clinical roles providing grief support to families after pregnancy loss as well as pediatric social work and group facilitation. Nicole is a consultant at Academy for Community Behavioral Health at CUNY School of Professional Studies. She is also a member of the Board of Directors for the International Stillbirth Alliance. Additionally, Nicole is the founder and CEO of Ok2Grieve, an organization established to inspire the world at large to see loss and unresolved grief from a broader perspective. To support this effort, she has produced animation videos related to grief experiences.

Nicole holds a Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University and is a Social Work Health Futures Lab Fellow for the Portland State University School of Social Work project funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in medical humanities at Drew University.

COURSES TAUGHT

• Grief in Children
• Grief In Film
• Grief: Let's Talk
• Grieving Sudden and Traumatic Losses
• Organizational Responses to Loss: Best Practices for Responding to System-Wide Grief
• Principles of Grief Support
• This Too is Grief
• Understanding Grief and Loss: Supporting Bereaved Community Members (Session 2)