By John W. James and Russell Friedman, founders of The Grief Recovery Institute® and authors of The Grief Recovery Handbook.
Since the Grief Recovery Institute was founded in the mid 1980s, we have expanded our staff to provide training coast-to-coast, border-to-border in the United States and Canada. In addition, we have affiliates in Sweden, the United Kingdom, and most recently Mexico. We are very proud to introduce you to The Grief Recovery team.
John W. James founded the Grief Recovery Institute thirty years ago as a solution when he couldn’t find the resources he needed to deal with his own overwhelming grief at the death of his infant son. Since then the Institute has expanded to include sister organizations in Canada, England, Sweden, and Mexico. Our mission is to deliver grief recovery assistance to the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time.
John is internationally recognized as one of the foremost authorities on grief in the world today. Along with the Institute partner, Russell Friedman, John is the co-author of three benchmark books on the topic of recovery from loss, The Grief Recovery Handbook, When Children Grieve, and Moving On. He is a visiting faculty member at UCLA, Chapman University, the University of Southern California and has guest lectured at Kings College in London. He has delivered workshops and programs for the State of Ohio Dept. of Health, the National SIDS Foundation, and the LAPD and Sheriff’s Departments, to name a few. He is a leading advocate for veterans and has trained military personnel on bases all over the country.
Russell Friedman arrived at the Grief Recovery Institute in 1986 on the heels of a second divorce and a bankruptcy. After dealing with the emotions caused by those and other losses, he began a rigorous training under the guidance of the Institute founder, John W. James, eventually becoming a partner and co-author of The Grief Recovery Handbook, When Children Grieve, and Moving On. Together, Russell and John co-developed the Grief Recovery Method Outreach Program, which has helped more than 500,000 people all over the country and abroad.
Russell has become the go-to Grief Recovery expert on CNN. He has appeared on that network many times, most notably in the wake of 9/11. He has made a number of media appearances in the aftermath of national tragedies, most recently on The Today Show, in response to the death of Michael Jackson to help guide parents when children suffer loss. He is also a guest lecturer at local academic institutions and has consulted with major companies who are learning that unresolved loss has a negative impact in the work place.
Nancy Martin is a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner and Seminary Professor. She did her postgraduate training at Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute. The impact of unresolved loss within the faith-based community was the focus of her doctoral dissertation. Nancy has degrees in Psychology and Adult Psychiatric Nursing. She is an educator, researcher, and author. Nancy consults extensively for hospice and the medical community, and has established Grief Recovery Method Outreach Programs all over the world. She is AACC Board Certified: Advanced Practice Nurse, and Adult Psychiatry. As Executive Director at Sunrise at Midnight, she has developed and presented educational materials in school systems throughout the country. She also teaches master and doctoral level counseling curriculum as a professor at Covington Theological Seminary.
Stephen Moeller is a licensed Funeral Director since 1978. Steve established one of the first Grief Recovery Method Outreach Programs over twenty-five years ago. Since then thousands of grievers have gone through his programs. Steve is the Director for Community Relations at Floral Haven Crematory, Funeral Home, and Cemetery in Broken Arrow, OK. He also serves on the Tulsa County Task Force on Infant Mortality, the Tulsa Human Response Coalition, and is a member of "Ask the Experts" on Aurora Casket's Funeral Plan. Steve is a featured grief and recovery speaker at hospitals, churches, civic clubs, Compassionate Friends, and many other organizations.
Lois Hall has over 30 years of experience in the field of public health, including work in HIV/AIDS, cancer prevention and control, and infectious disease epidemiology. Lois earned her Master's Degree in Preventive Medicine from the Ohio State University, College of Medicine. She has been facilitating community-based Grief Recovery Method Outreach Programs since 1998 and was invited to become a trainer for the Grief Recovery Institute in 2002. She is currently Executive Director of the Ohio Public Health Association. Her background gives her a unique perspective on the impact that health and grief have on each other and how each can be a contributing factor to the other.
June earned her Bachelor’s in Vocal Music and Education from Westminster College, New Wilmington, PA in 1964. After graduation, June travelled extensively as the wife of an Air Force officer. She taught K-12 in public schools in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Hawaii, and California in a wide range of socio-economic communities. June was the first African American teacher in the Madison, WI school system. While in California she earned her Master of Science in Counseling Psychology from California Baptist University, Riverside, CA. In addition to her course work, June was a Teaching Assistant and did counseling work for both students and the community. She developed a cultural enrichment program in the Jurupa School District integrating music, culture, and history.
June worked as a social worker in foster care and family reunification programs for the Court System in Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Diego counties from 1990 to 2001.
After moving to Ohio, June became a Grief Recovery Certified Specialist® in 2004. Since then, June has served as Coordinator and has facilitated Grief Recovery Method Outreach Programs at her church, and for other community resources in the communities surrounding Akron and Cleveland, Ohio. June officially became a trainer for the Grief Recovery Institute in 2011.
Cole has worked in the communication field for Fox Movie Channel and the FX network for the past six years before joining the Grief Recovery Institute team. His team at Fox won an Emmy in 2009 for their work on the Fox Series, “Writer’s Draft.” Cole was also awarded three Promax Awards for his creative input and production skills on the “Channel of the Apes” promotional campaign.
Cole brings his enthusiasm and media savvy to our organization. He directed the rebranding and development of our new website. Cole’s knowledge of high-tech options, including the use of social media, has brought us into the 21st century and dramatically enhanced our communication tools. We look forward to his next bright ideas.
Ashley received her Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of San Diego with a minor in Fine Arts. While at USD she participated in Tijuana Outreach, which facilitated programs in orphanages in Mexico that developed activities to promote personal and psychological stimulation and growth for children.
Ashley brings ten years of business skills and experience to her position at The Grief Recovery Institute. In her most recent position as Design Assistant and Production Manager for a fashion house, she traveled to China to source vendors and production facilities. In addition to wearing many hats as Director of Operations at the Institute, Ashley is passionate about healthy cooking, the environment, camping, and yoga.
Nancy earned her BA in Elementary Education at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She went on to receive a second BA in Humanities and a Masters in Elementary Education at San Francisco State. Following her graduation, Nancy taught at the first year-round school in California, where she helped develop curriculum for an individualized, multi-graded program.
Following her teaching career, Nancy shifted gears and honed her business skills in the field of graphic arts and media in San Francisco where she later started her own small business. She has also worked freelance in graphic production before she landed at The Grief Recovery Institute in 2009.
Anders, who is based in Sweden, first came in contact with Grief Recovery shortly after his mother died from lung cancer. The amazing power of The Grief Recovery Method not only had an impact on his emotional life but resulted in a career shift. With an exam from the prestigious Stockholm School of Economics, a clear career within the business field laid ahead for Anders. Instead he chose to train at the Grief Recovery Institute and became a Certified Grief Recovery Specialist® in 2002.
Anders has since then translated the Grief Recovery Handbook into Swedish, Finnish, Danish, and German. He founded the Swedish Institute for Grief Recovery, which has helped and educated thousands of people in Sweden. In 2005 Anders became a trainer of the trainers, which led to a real expansion of the number of Certified Greif Recovery Specialists in Scandinavia. Anders is a frequently booked lecturer, has appeared on Swedish television, and has been interviewed for numerous magazines and newspapers.
Carol joined the Grief Recovery team in 2009 after finding how the principles of the Grief Recovery Method changed her life following the death of her husband. She has trained with both John W. James and Russell Friedman and is currently the Executive Director of The Grief Recovery Institute UK.
Carole is a Holistic Health Practitioner with diplomas in Holistic Nutritional Practice and Allergy Intolerance Therapy. She is a member of the British Complementary Medicine Association, the Federation of Nutritional Therapy Practitioners, the British Thought Field Therapy Assoc., and the NHS Directory of Complementary Therapists.
Arturo became involved with grief work when he volunteered at his parish to become part of their bereavement team. It was very rewarding, but he was not satisfied. He could listen to the grievers, but he didn’t know how to help them. And then he discovered The Grief Recovery Method and went through extensive training with the Grief Recovery Institute, both in Mexico and in the United States. At last he could guide people to help them work effectively on their emotional recovery.
Arturo was so excited with his new Grief Recovery skills that he left a 30-year career in finance and systems and along with his wife, Alejandra, decided to start the Institute affiliate in Mexico to be able to reach more grievers to help them move beyond their pain.
Alejandra had searched many different approaches to deal with her own personal grief before she found The Grief Recovery Method Certification Training. With the Grief Recovery Method she was able to stop using the “head language” and started using the tools and language that heal the heart. Now she is passionate about teaching other people this action program that brought her a new life.
