Deborah Nadzam Melnyk, PhD, RN

I've had a long career in healthcare, working in mental health settings, and assisting health care organizations and clinicians improve the quality and safety of care provided to patients. When an adult, I lost both elderly parents and a husband of 40 years within 7 months of a cancer diagnosis. But when my daughter Chrissie died unexpectedly in 2022, my heart broke like never before; she was only 42 yrs. old and was a strong patient advocate on the national scene and locally in NE Ohio. My grief was unbearable and unlike the grief I experienced after losing my parents and husband. Helping my son-in-law and 15-year-old granddaughter provided me the only type of strange and complicated comfort. I found the Grief Recovery Method through a church posting. As a mental health professional, I was skeptical, but knew I needed to try something. The program helped me immensely and I decided to become a Grief Recovery Method Specialist to assist others understand grief and work through it. I offer both group and individual education, in-person (Cleveland, Ohio area) and online. My particular interest is in assisting health care professionals to better understand grief towards helping their own patients.