Phyllis Silverman

Areas of Expertise

Bereavement Over the Life Cycle

Email: smpr2@brandeis.edu

Current Project

I plan: to submit a trade version of my book Never too Young to Oxford U. Press; to explore data from the Child Bereavement Study  to see if differences exist between girls and boys in their reactions to the death of a parent; and  my work at the Children’s Room continues.

Biography

Phyllis Rolfe Silverman’s work focuses on how death is dealt with in our society.  She is one of the early pioneers in this field.  Her best teachers are her husband, her five children and now her grandchildren.  She recognized the value of learning from peers who have been through the same experience and resulted in her developing the concept of  widow-to-widow.  From 1964 through 1972 she directed the research project that demonstrated its effectiveness.  This research was the model for the American Association of Retired Persons  Widowed Person’s Service. AARP honored her for this work on their 25th anniversary. She is the recipient of the 1991 Presidential medal from Brooklyn College, for her contributions to the fields of bereavement and social welfare.  She spent the 1993-1994 academic year at the School of Social Work at Haifa University, Israel as a Senior Research Fulbright Fellow.  In 1994 she was the recipient of the National Center for Death Education Award from Mt. Ida College, Newton, MA for her outstanding contributions to thanatology.  The Association for Death Education and Counseling presented her with their first research recognition award.  She was the 1998 Scholar-in-Residence at the University of Sydney, Australia and continues to lecture in the United States and abroad.

Education

Ph.D., Brandeis University

Sc. M. Hyg., Harvard School of Public Health

M.S.S., Smith College School for Social Work

Representative Publications

Berzoff, J. and P. R. Silverman, eds.  Living With Dying: A Handbook for Health Care Practitioners in End of Life Care.  New York: Columbia University Press, 2004. 

Silverman, P.R. Never Too Young to Know: Death in Children’s Lives. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Links

Personal Web Page