08/17/2026
: Join ADEC live on Tuesday, August 18, 2026 for Reconstructing Identity After Loss: An Embodied–Narrative Integrative Framework. Presented by Liza Barros-Lane PhD, MSW, Sarah Vollmann DSW, MPS, ATR-BC, LICSW, and Lucas Sanchez DSW, LCSW
Tuesday, August 18th
1:00-2:30pm ET | 12:00pm-1:30pm CT | 10:00-11:30am PT
Purchasing this live webinar will also give you access
to a recording of the event.
$70 for Non-Members
$45 for Members
1.5 CEs - Click for CE Boards
For more information please use this link: https://adec.mycrowdwisdom.com/diweb/catalog/item?id=18941724
Description:
Significant loss can profoundly disrupt one's identity and sense of self. While grief scholarship has predominantly focused on narrative processes of identity reconstruction, the embodied and implicit ways that loss reshapes identity are often overlooked. Building on Neimeyer's meaning reconstruction framework and perspectives from phenomenology, occupational science, and expressive arts, the Integrative Embodied–Narrative Model (IENM) describes post-loss adaptation across three overlapping modes: Embodied, Hybrid, and Narrative. This webinar introduces the IENM and demonstrates how clinicians can assess clients' dominant processing modes and implement mode-sensitive interventions using specific clinical procedures, techniques, and illustrative case examples.
Learning Objectives:
1.. Explain how loss disrupts identity across embodied, hybrid, and narrative modes in the Integrative Embodied–Narrative Model (IENM), with attention to real-world signs such as changes in daily habits, action readiness, and sense of belonging in time.
2. Identify clients’ dominant processing modes during grief by recognizing embodied and hybrid indicators that are often missed in traditional talk-based approaches.
3. Apply the IENM framework in practice by selecting mode-sensitive strategies—such as movement- or habit-based interventions for the embodied mode, action-oriented tasks for the hybrid mode, and reflective re-authoring for the narrative mode—to better support identity reconstruction and reduce mental health vulnerabilities after loss.
About the Presenters:
Liza Barros-Lane
Liza Barros-Lane, PhD, MSW, is an Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Houston-Downtown and founder of The Young Widowhood Project. Widowed at 36 just months after joining UHD, she pivoted her research to focus on the emotional, social, and embodied experiences of young widows. Her work explores identity, sexuality, and disenfranchised grief, including widows’ fire—the sudden resurgence of sexual desire after loss. She has published in Death Studies, OMEGA, and the Journal of Loss and Trauma, and has presented at national and international conferences. Liza is committed to bridging the gap between research and practice through accessible and socially conscious grief education. She shares her work on Instagram and Facebook and hosts the podcast WidowPod: The Stories and Research of Young Widowhood.
Sarah Vollmann
Sarah Vollmann, DSW, MPS, ATR-BC, LICSW, is a registered, board-certified art therapist, licensed clinical social worker, and researcher. She is a faculty member of the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition, and the Associate Director of the Young Widowhood Project. She maintains a private practice specializing in grief and traumatic loss and is the Lead Counselor at Buckingham Browne & Nichols School. Her work has been published in OMEGA: Journal of Death and Dying, Death Studies, The International Journal of Art Therapy, and The Journal of the American Art Therapy Association. Dr. Vollmann has authored several book chapters on art therapy and grief, and recently co-authored a book entitled Born Into Loss: Shadows of a Deceased Sibling and Family Journeys of Grief. She presents nationally and internationally on art therapy, grief, and bereavement.
Lucas Sanchez
Lucas Sanchez, DSW, LCSW, is a clinical social worker, educator, and researcher whose work explores the intersection of trauma, grief, and meaning making. He discovered his passion for research on young widowhood during his doctoral studies, which examined the complex dimensions of sexuality, traumatic bereavement, and meaning reconstruction following the loss of a partner. His current research focuses on the existential impact of off-time partner loss and the profound sense of alienation that often follows. Dr. Sanchez remains actively engaged in clinical practice, teaching, and ongoing research, committed to deepening our understanding and appreciation of the young widowhood experience.
