Sheila K. Collins, Ph.D., knows grief, having lost a son to AIDS and a daughter to breast cancer, experiences she chronicled in her award-winning memoir, Warrior Mother: Fierce Love, Unbearable Loss and the Rituals that Heal, published by She Writes Press in 2013. Since then, she has become a grief advocate, international speaker, grief coach and consultant, having identified many artful ways grief transforms our hearts, minds, and souls. Her soon to be released book, The Art of Grieving: How Art and Art-making Help Us Grieve, and Live Our Best Lives explores how the arts of storytelling, dance, music, and visual arts help mourners navigate episodes of grief, process loss, and extract meaning and wisdom for their future lives. Her 40-year career as a therapist, professor of social worker, and author has followed her experience as a professional dancer. Applying wisdom gleaned from that career, she has guided thousands of people through the tough challenges life handed them—inspiring them to turn grief into a gift. She's delighted audiences worldwide with demonstrations of how art-based expressions, such as dance, storytelling, song, and music, can help anyone turn life’s toughest challenges into growth. Her 2016 TEDx talk, When Death Threatens Someone We Love, offers a poignant perspective for anyone accompanying a loved one through life-threatening illness and death. Her first book, released in 2018 for a second edition and co-authored with Christine Gautreaux, Stillpoint: A Self-Care Playbook for Caregivers to Find Ease and Time to Breathe and Reclaim Joy has become a popular online course for professional and family caregivers.Sheila currently directs the Wing & A Prayer Pittsburgh Players, an InterPlay-based performance troupe that helps individuals and organizations tell their stories in transforming ways. Sheila and her partner of 45 years, international consultant, and leadership coach Richard Citrin, live in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Read more about this authorRead less about this author