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Grief support for drug-related loss (Philly HEALs)

Grief support for drug-related loss (Philly HEALs)

Our bereavement support program is called Philly HEALs, which stands for Healing and Empowerment After Loss. We provide care and support for these grieving the loss of a loved one related to substance use.

This grief can include symptoms such as:

Sadness.
Anger or irritability.
Numbness.
Anxiety or racing thoughts.
Relief (and guilt from feeling that relief).
A feeling of being “stuck.”

Grief counseling can’t “fix” you, because there is nothing wrong with you. However, we can provide a non-judgmental space to work through your relationship with the loved one you lost. We can help you understand the complicated emotions you are experiencing.

Philly HEALs offers online peer support groups, individual grief counseling for adults and youth, educational workshops, and more.

Peer support groups

Drop-in Group
Parents’ Group
Hot Widows’ Club
GRANDS
Hay Otros en Duelo
Writing Grief

Learn more about our support groups.

Counseling, workshops, and other support

Always Beside Us

Always Beside Us is a virtual memorial that honors the lives of people lost to overdose and other drug-related deaths in Philadelphia. You can submit photographs, memories, and messages in remembrance of someone you have lost to substance use.

Other resources

Philly HEALs is proud to be one of the many organizations in Philadelphia providing support and resources for grief, substance use disorder, and harm reduction work.

Learn more about other helpful organizations.

Other support

We don’t work outside normal business hours. If you’re in crisis and need emergency help, please don’t wait. Call 988 or (215) 685-6440, where folks are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to help.

Not an emergency but need to talk to someone ASAP? Call the NAMI Philadelphia Warmline at (844) 745-4673. These caring folks will help you to feel heard and understood. Available Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

If you are not eligible for our grief counseling program, you can search for counselors and therapists that take your insurance at Psychology Today’s Find a Therapist.

Staff

Kaitlin Worden, MSW, LSW

Bereavement Care Program Manager

kaitlin.worden@phila.gov

(267) 239-1958

Kaitlin (she/her) has worked with the Substance Use Prevention & Harm Reduction Division since 2020, and has led Philly HEAL’s as Program Manager since March 2023. She received her Master of Social Work from the School of Policy and Practice at the University of Pennsylvania, and attained her clinical licensure in May 2023.

Kaitlin works hard to use her ever-growing understanding of systemic oppression and cultural humility to inform her relational approach to grief counseling. Being relational means that she prioritizes the development of trust in her client relationships above all else. She strives to work with clients in a way that honors the dignity and strengths of the people they have lost. She is also committed to anti-racist grief work by challenging ideas of what grief should look like. One way she does this is by accessing the power of community as a tool for healing, because no one should have to suffer alone. She tries to combat the isolation of grief by connecting her clients with each other individually, in groups, or at various organized events throughout the year.

Before working in Philly’s Public Health Department, Kaitlin worked at a methadone clinic run by Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. There she learned firsthand about the barriers to not only getting someone into treatment, but keeping them there and safe afterwards as well. The bonds she made with her clients at the clinic drive her to continue this work and reduce stigma around people who use drugs. She continues to try involving people who use drugs in Philly HEALs’ grief programming as she believes that grief care is preventative care.

Please contact Kaitlin for general inquiries, how to become a part of our community, and any potential collaboration opportunities.

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Cadence Giles, MA, LPC Candidate

Bereavement Care Provider

cadence.giles@phila.gov

(215) 982-0959

Cadence is passionate about utilizing creative expression as part of the grief process. She holds a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Goddard College, where her studies focused on expressive arts therapy. She is an LPC candidate receiving supervision towards licensure. Prior to joining the Philly HEALs team, Cadence worked at JFK Behavioral Health as an outpatient therapist. Cadence believes that counseling relationships should always be collaborative, and that grief (and healing) are non-linear processes unique to each individual person. She works to tailor her therapeutic approach to match each person’s interests, needs, and belief systems.

In her role with Philly HEALs, Cadence provides individual grief counseling and support for her clients using relational, existential, and narrative practices. Additionally, Cadence runs Writing With Grief, a time-limited support group focused on using creative writing to explore and express grief, as well as to share stories about the people who have been lost to overdoses. Cadence believes that visual and narrative art practices are important tools for combatting the stigma associated with substance use and mental health. When she’s not working, Cadence enjoys spending time with her pets, getting out into nature, and playing video games.

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Rachel Essy, MFT

Bereavement Care Provider

rachel.essy@phila.gov

(215) 516-9429

Rachel (she/her) is a Marriage and Family Therapist and previously worked with people and families from all walks of life. As a Marriage and Family Therapist, Rachel has learned the importance of understanding how systems and relationships can affect a person's grief.

Rachel’s approach to therapy is one of warmth and empathy. Rachel understands that change and growth have its fair share of ups and downs and every client has their own journey. Rachel previously worked at Thomas Jefferson NARP, a methadone clinic in Philadelphia, where she got to know amazing people who influenced her approach to grief and loss. Through her work at NARP she gained an understanding of the complicated journey that is grief. Rachel believes that self-care and goal-setting are important parts of mental well-being, and she incorporates those into her practice.

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Antonia Jiménez-Trail, MS, LSW

Bereavement Care Provider/Consejera de Duelo

antonia.jimenez-trail@phila.gov

(215) 240-2745

Antonia (she/ella) comes to us from Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where she worked to support patients and their various needs while in the hospital and facilitate a safe discharge back to the community or to an inpatient facility. After working and studying in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for four years, where Antonia was researching gender violence, she worked at the Community College of Philadelphia in the Office of Collegiate Recovery where she worked with students in recovery from substance use disorder/contemplating to begin their recovery from substance use disorder. Antonia then worked in the prisons department of Philadelphia where she supported mental health needs of incarcerated individuals. Antonia received her master’s in social services at Bryn Mawr College. Antonia is a coffee and pet enthusiast and loves discussing social policy as well as traveling. On the Philly HEALs team, she uses her skills as a bilingual therapist to provide bereavement outreach and counseling to the Latinx communities in Philadelphia.

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Suzannah McNamara, MS, LPC Candidate

Child and Adolescent Counselor

suzannah.mcnamara@phila.gov

(267) 239-1823

Suzannah (she/her) is a trauma-informed clinician with experience providing therapeutic services tailored to the unique and specific needs of children and adolescents affected by the substance use of a caregiver or loved one, including fatal drug overdoses. Suzannah is trained in trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) and incorporates a variety of evidence-based therapeutic interventions into her work, such as play, talk, art and somatic experiencing therapies.

Suzannah approaches grief work with a lens of cultural humility and acknowledgment that the client is the expert in their own lived experience while utilizing a holistic and strength’s-based view of each individual’s and family’s processing of traumatic grief and loss. Suzannah received her Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Jefferson University’s Community and Trauma Counseling Program and is currently a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) candidate.

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Samantha Sandy, MS

Child and Adolescent Counselor

samantha.sandy@phila.gov

(267) 671-7052

Samantha has about 10 years of experience working in the mental health field with various populations. Before earning her Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in 2021 at Walden University, she worked as a psychiatric technician at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia providing support to children and adolescents who struggled with behavioral health or mental health concerns. She has worked at Temple University’s Crisis Response Center with individuals facing substance use and other psychiatric concerns. Samantha also worked at Fairmount Behavioral Health as a psychiatric technician working with children, adults, and individuals struggling with substance use and mental health diagnosis. Samantha is very passionate about helping others and is well-rounded in working with both substance use and mental health. Samantha has worked at Thomas Jefferson methadone clinic as a Counselor providing individual and group counseling to individuals with an opioid addiction receiving Medication Assisted Treatment. Samantha feels that working at Jefferson gave her a better perspective on how individuals struggle with addiction and the complexity of survival on a day-to-day basis.

Samantha came to us from an inpatient facility, Malvern Treatment Center, where she provided individual and group counseling for adults struggling with substance use and co-occurring mental disorders. Samantha believes grief can relate to any aspect of life and the impact can be extraordinary when you do not explore your feelings and thoughts over time. Samantha approaches to therapy are the following: CBT, TF-CBT, person-centered, and motivational interviewing, and DBT.

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Peer support groups

Counseling, workshops, and other support

Always Beside Us

Other resources

Other support

Staff