Carol Frank ’04 Grief, Loss and Trauma Degree

Carol Frank is a graduate of the Grief, Loss and Trauma master’s degree program. Carol did her internship with UNM Hospital Psychotherapy Services and worked with groups at UNM Hospice with Diane Longeway. She grew up in New Mexico and has a background in critical care nursing and nursing management. “My husband and I had a dream and we moved to Taos to open a Bed & Breakfast when he died suddenly at the age of 40. Larry was an organ donor, and his gifts helped 36 other people.” Carol sought grief support, and received some from being a donor family. “I knew from that experience I wanted to be a grief counselor because I knew there wasn’t much out there.”

As part of her own healing process, Carol became active in the donor family community, speaking at conferences about her experiences and organ donor issues. At an annual donor memorial service in Albuquerque, Carol met Betty Butler, who received her Grief, Loss and Trauma certificate from SC in 2000. When Carol visited SC she discovered the new master’s degree program in Grief, Loss and Trauma counseling.

“I was heavily influenced by my nursing career, seeing people who are dying and families in trauma, who are not getting the kind of support they need. That experience combined with my own personal loss led me to want to be a therapist specializing in grief & loss issues.” Carol’s personal goal is to bring 'soul' to Western medicine. “Healthcare professionals don’t want to deal with grief & loss, and physicians don’t get very good training. What called me to SC was to give back, not only to help families, but to work with professionals who see death and dying every day.”

Carol and Dr. Janet Schreiber offered the first six-day Grief & Loss certificate training in Nashville, TN this past summer for bereavement counselors with DCI Donor Services. DCI operates in five areas of the country including New Mexico, Tennessee, and Northern California. “Since hospitals have cut back so much on mental health services, it is up to agencies like DCI to promote organ donation and coordinate organ recovery and delivery. But they need training in dealing with traumatic grief, questions about organ donation, the stress of bereavement, and self-care to prevent burnout.”

“By offering this program, it is opening up a whole new arena and contributing to society’s understanding of grief & loss. It gives added credibility to therapy in the medical community beyond drugs and technology.”

“SC is truly an opportunity for self-transformation. The whole transformational process has been phenomenal for me. SC has given me so many gifts and made my life fuller.” Since finishing the academic program at SC, “I am more whole and I have discovered more of me.”