About Us

Meet Our Team

Irwin Sandler, Ph.D.

Irwin Sandler is a Regents Professor Emeritus and Research Professor with the REACH Institute and the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University. He has been doing research on resilience of bereaved children and on the effects of the most well researched program for bereaved families, the Family Bereavement Program. His current work focuses on training providers to deliver the Resilient Parenting for Bereaved Families Program.

Sharlene Wolchik, Ph.D.

Sharlene Wolchik has been a faculty member in the Psychology Department at Arizona State University for over 35 years. During this time, she has conducted research on factors that promote positive adjustment of children who have experienced family transitions, such as parental divorce and parental bereavement.

Liza Hita, Ph.D., NCC

Liza Hita is a clinical associate professor at Arizona State University who began her career as a community mental health counselor working with tribal communities across Arizona. Her research focuses on the adaptation, dissemination, and implementation of community-led preventive interventions for families experiencing major life transitions. Her work strives to promote equitable, accessible, and culturally resonant program development that integrates evidence-based parenting practices with the broader intersectional and ecological contexts that shape family and community well-being.

Kara Thieleman, Ph.D.

Kara Thieleman has served as a grief counselor, hospice social worker, and Resilient Parenting for Bereaved Families facilitator. She has taught in the School of Social Work and the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Arizona State University. Her research focuses on bereavement, grief, child loss, mindfulness, and holistic interventions for grief-related distress.

Karey L. O’Hara, Ph.D.

Karey O’Hara conducts research on the ways that children and parents adjust after stressful events in the family, such as parental bereavement and divorce. Her current work focuses on designing digital programs that teach helpful coping tools in an easy-to-access format.

Tashel C. Bordere, PhD, CT

Tashel Bordere is an internationally-known scholar, author, speaker, consultant, and PI at the Center for Family Policy and Research at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is Past President of the National Alliance for Children’s Grief (NACG). Dr. Bordere’s research and programming focus on intersectionality and cultural trauma, stigmatized loss (gun violence), suffocated grief (a term she coined), Black youth and family grief and mourning rituals. Her newest co-edited/co-written book - The Handbook of Social Justice in Loss and Grief (Routledge) - addresses inequities in loss, cultural healing, and culturally conscientious practices. Dr. Bordere has been a cultural consultant in programming and research on ASU’s Resilient Parenting Program for Bereaved Families (RPBF) and created Cultural Guides outlining culturally conscientious practices in work with grieving families to accompany each Practical Tool of RPBF.

Emily Winslow, Ph.D.

Emily Winslow received a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Indiana University and a Ph.D. in Clinical and Developmental Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh. She completed a clinical internship at Duke University Medical Center and a postdoctoral fellowship in Prevention Science at Arizona State University. Dr. Winslow studies the benefits of parenting skills, programs for children, parents, and families. She also develops and tests strategies for how to increase participation in parenting programs.

Jen Sandler, Ph.D.

Jen Sandler teaches in the Department of Anthropology at University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She studies how diverse groups of people work together to create change, and has conducted research on parent engagement, grassroots policy change, and community organizing for racial and economic justice. Jen also facilitates collaborative processes and trains facilitators. She has been working with the ASU Reach Institute on the RPBF collaboration process for four years.