Join us for a thoughtful conversation about grief, remembrance, and healing. This webinar will explore the many ways people experience loss, including the death of loved ones, migration, family separation, detention and deportation, chronic illness, caregiving, and community trauma through the cultural lens of Day of the Dead, All Saints Day, Samhain and related traditions. A panel of experts will discuss how community health workers/promotores, clinicians, and other health center staff can recognize different forms of grief, provide culturally responsive support, honor community strengths and healing traditions, and connect individuals and families to additional resources when needed. Participants will gain practical, culturally responsive strategies to support grieving patients and communities while honoring traditions that foster healing, connection, and hope, while also caring for themselves as helpers. This webinar will be presented in Spanish with simultaneous interpretation to English.
At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to…
- Recognize multiple forms of grief, including death-related, ambiguous, migration-related and collective grief.
- Describe the cultural significance and diversity of Day of the Dead and related remembrance traditions.
- Apply culturally responsive communication strategies when supporting grieving individuals and families.
Presenters
Dr. Karolyn González Colón is a social worker with a PhD in Social Policy Analysis and Administration with a Master’s degree in Social Work. She has specialized training in Gerontology, Clinical Thanatology, and Medical Case Management. Her professional experience spans diverse areas of practice in health care, HIV and women’s health, gerontology, grief and loss, and supporting individuals, families, and communities navigating complex health and life experiences. She currently serves as a Social Worker and faculty member in the Department of Family Medicine and Geriatrics at the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus and as faculty in the Department of Social Work at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus.
Elizabeth Robles, MSMHC, LPC, CT, FT is a Licensed Professional Counselor and nationally recognized Fellow in Thanatology who brings over a decade of experience to her work with grief, trauma, and life transitions. A Certified Thanatologist through the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC), she is known for integrating clinical depth with cultural fluency and compassion. Based in El Paso, Texas, Elizabeth’s work bridges the emotional and existential impact of loss through a bicultural, neuroscience-informed lens—helping individuals and communities navigate grief with dignity and purpose. She continues to stand as a bridge between clinical practice and cultural soul—inviting others to see grief not as an ending, but as a sacred act of remembrance and transformation.
Dr. Mercedes Martinez is a bilingual, bicultural psychiatrist certified by the National Latino Behavioral Health Association (NLBHA) and the mother of three wonderful adult children. She completed a Child Fellowship at the University of Illinois at Chicago and her adult psychiatric training at the Rosalind Franklin School of Medicine and Science. She was awarded the Ginsburg Fellowship for the Group for Advancement of Psychiatry (GAP) from 1995 to 1997 during her psychiatric residency program. Dr. Martinez has had the privilege to provide mental health services to underserved communities of Chicago. She was faculty with Rosalind Franklin School of Medicine and Science and was Medical Director for the Division of Behavioral Health at the Illinois Department of Public Health. Currently, she serves on the board of the National Latino Behavioral Health Association (NLBHA), is a member of the American Association of Community Psychiatry (AACP), the Illinois State Medical Society (ISMS) and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). She volunteers with the Midwest Workers Association (MWA). She continues to serve the Hispanic community at Pilsen Wellness Center.
