News
What has GNA-NM been up to?
GNA-NM Hosts First Virtual Care Conversations Series of 2026!
For the past several years, Carol Frank has generously offered her time, care, and expertise to create a welcoming space where grief and loss professionals could receive support, reflect on the emotional weight of their work, and connect with others who understand it. We are deeply grateful to Carol for her commitment to this group and to everyone who participated over the years.
Although we continue to believe strongly in the importance of support and self-care for professionals working with grief, loss, death, and caregiving, attendance has remained consistently small. The current meeting schedule and structure no longer appear to be the most accessible or sustainable way to meet this need.
GNA-NM is currently evaluating groups and professional-support opportunities available locally so that we can identify appropriate resources and provide meaningful referrals to professionals seeking this type of support. We will share additional information with the community as suitable options are identified.
We will also continue exploring other ways to foster professional connection and support through GNA-NM. This may include incorporating facilitated conversations into future general meetings or developing occasional self-care, experiential, or professional-support gatherings.
This decision does not mean that professional support is no longer needed. Rather, it provides an opportunity to thoughtfully reconsider how that support can be offered—and how professionals can be connected with existing resources—in ways that are accessible, responsive, and sustainable. If you have ideas, please feel free to share them with the GNA-NM Steering Committee.
Thank you again to Carol and to everyone who helped make the GAPS group a meaningful and caring space. We welcome ideas and recommendations from our community as we evaluate local resources and consider what professional support through GNA-NM might look like in the future.
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GNA-NM Hosts First Virtual Care Conversations Series of 2026!
Charlene Lam spoke as part of our 2026 Care Conversations series on March 26 to 15 participants. She shared the Curating Grief® approach, a thoughtful and gentler way to navigate belongings, memory, and meaning after loss, with practical tools to support grievers with more care and less pressure. You can learn more about her work at https://www.charlenelam.com/.
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GNA-NM Hosts First General Meeting of 2026 with NMDN
The first GNA-NM general meeting of 2026 on January 13 included a joint gathering with New Mexico Deathcare Network...and it was powerful! We welcomed 15 engaged participants for an in-person conversation led by Danielle Slupesky, Executive Director. She shared an overview of the New Mexico Deathcare Network (NMDN), including the Provider Reimbursement Program, and offered timely insights into the current landscape of psilocybin legalization in New Mexico. We explored how this emerging work may support people approaching end of life, their caregivers, and others navigating serious illness and grief — followed by meaningful networking, resource-sharing, and connection. These are the conversations shaping the future of end-of-life care and grief support in New Mexico. Thank you to everyone who showed up, shared your work, and brought your curiosity and heart. Business cards were exchanged. Upcoming events were shared. Hearts were connected.
GNA-NM Hosts Final General Meeting of 2025
Four members of the Grief Networking Alliance of New Mexico (GNA-NM) gathered at Daniels Family Funerals–Carlisle Chapel on December 9, 2025 for a facilitated roundtable focused on navigating the holidays as grief professionals. GNA-NM Steering Committee member, Carol Frank (a licensed, psychodrama-informed therapist) led experiential exercises to help participants reflect on how they personally hold the holidays, identify emotions that arise, and clarify self-care needs. In addition to gaining new processing tools, attendees strengthened professional connections, including two participants who had not previously met and were able to exchange resources across organizations. The gathering also included GNA-NM’s annual holiday self-care gift exchange, reinforcing community care among local grief professionals.
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GNA-NM Adds Griever Section to Website to Better Serve the Community
In late October 2025, GNA-NM launched the newest addition to the website: A page for grievers to find resources. While GNA-NM is a professional community of practitioners and volunteers dedicated to supporting those who grieve, we want this virtual space to be a welcoming place for anyone who has been impacted by grief and loss. Please feel free to direct your clients, colleagues, and communities to this page as a resource and link to it on your personal or organizational website.
Do you have a grief support resource or program to share?
GNA-NM Hosts Fall Virtual Presentation byDr. Macy Burkett
On October 20, 2025, the Grief Networking Alliance of New Mexico, in partnership with HeartLight Center, welcomed 17 professionals for our Fall Virtual Presentation with Dr. Macy Burkett, a researcher at the University of Kansas, mother of two, and pregnancy loss survivor.
Dr. Burkett shared both her personal and professional insights into the often invisible and isolating grief that accompanies miscarriage and pregnancy loss. Through her presentation, participants explored ways to better understand this unique form of loss, recognize common experiences among grievers, and learn how professionals across all fields can offer meaningful support to those affected.
The discussion encouraged open reflection and collaboration, reminding us that while pregnancy loss is an under-discussed experience, it is far from uncommon. The Grief Networking Alliance is grateful to Dr. Burkett for her honesty, expertise, and compassionate guidance in helping our professionals better serve those who grieve.
GNA-NM Hosts Tour of Horses for Healing in Albuquerque
GNA-NM members recently had a truly moving visit to Horses for Healing, an incredible equine therapy facility in Albuquerque! We got a behind-the-scenes look at their work on August 12, 2025 and learned about their philosophy of treating horses as therapeutic partners. We even got to practice some of the techniques used with the horses firsthand. One of the most fascinating takeaways was the neurobiological component of this therapy. Because horses have larger hearts than humans, they generate an electromagnetic field that can help regulate our nervous systems and heart rates. It was a day of profound insights, with members sharing comments like, “I didn’t know how bad I needed this” and “Now I have more referral sources for my clients.” This visit was a powerful reminder of the deep connection between nature, animals, and mental well-being - and the need to care for ourselves as grief and loss professionals.
GNA-NM Hosts the First Annual Grief and Loss Resource Fair for Professionals
We hosted our first (now annual) Grief and Loss Resource Fair for professionals at Daniels Family Funerals-Carlisle Chapel on May 15, 2025. Over 40 organizations and 75 attendees from all over the state attended to share their resources and be in community as support professionals.
The winner of our prize drawing was
Christi Rein, Death Doula, Angel Way!
