Therapy and Clinical Work
Jason is a therapist and the associate director of The Barr-Harris Children and Family Grief & Loss Center. His clinical focus is on grief and loss, providing compassionate guidance to children, adolescents, and adults as they navigate the intricate emotional landscape associated with loss. Within a supportive and safe therapeutic environment, he assists clients in processing their grief, adjusting to life without their loved one, and integrating the experience of loss into their lives in meaningful ways.
His areas of expertise encompass grief related to the loss of family members, including parents, spouses, children, and other important relationships; relational losses such as romantic partnerships, friendships, and familial bonds; and grief stemming from significant life transitions, including divorce, job loss, retirement, pet loss, and other personal or professional losses
You can reach out to him at their website to schedule a consultation or learn more about their offerings.
About the Barr-Harris Center
The Barr-Harris Center is a non-profit program of the Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute. The Center and was established in 1976 to provide services to recently bereaved children and parents. Currently, Barr-Harris has expanded its clinical practice to include the general category of grief and loss. It applies a fee structure that considers the financial circumstances of the family, applying a sliding scale when appropriate. No child or family needing therapeutic treatment related to loss is denied services because of their financial status.
Many of our clients are children who have lost a parent by death or divorce. However, we see adolescents and adults as well as they experience losses that come up during the life course. The relationship between our clients and clinicians is vital and requires a nuanced approach to support them in their grieving process. Through this exploration, the therapist helps the patient make sense of their loss, find meaning in their grief, and integrate the loss into their life story.
As with all populations we serve, we see them for psychotherapy for as long as is diagnostically appropriate.
In situations where a parent or loved one dies; we encourage the family to contact us as soon as possible. Most bereaved families come to us within the first six months following the death. Families also contact us for assistance when a parent is facing imminent death in discussing the handling of the death with them and participation in the funeral, among other issues.
Our center has vast experience in supporting Chicagoland communities. Barr-Harris is committed to the wide dissemination of knowledge on the effect of losses and separations in childhood and to the education of both professionals and laypersons on means of preventing lasting damage to children from such traumatic events. Schools and teachers are vital partners in the process of treating children. Kids spend approximately one-third of their waking life in school, so teachers have a profound effect on the child’s outlook on life and the world following loss (death or divorce). To this end, consultation services are available to agencies, clinics, hospitals, schools and children's institutions.
In addition, the Barr-Harris staff will help plan for in-service training of professionals and will make available educational opportunities for the public.
Since its inception, Barr-Harris staff has provided more than 400 workshops for teachers, principals, and special education professionals from urban and suburban school systems in the greater Chicago area. Topics have included assisting the bereaved child in the classroom; dealing with the death of a classmate or teacher; the effect of bereavement on a child's learning process and teaching about death in elementary-level curriculums. Staff have also provided consultation to school staff designing emergency psychological services for children in circumstances of traumatic and violent death.
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Death of a Loved One: spouse or partner, parent, sibling, child or extended family member or friend.
Complicated Grief & Prolonged Grief Disorder: persistent, intense grief reactions that interfere with daily functioning and do not lessen over time.
Non-Death Losses: Divorce or relationship breakup, loss of a job or career, loss of financial stability, business and personal losses, retirement, loss of health or physical abilities, and loss of a pet.
Life Stage Losses: Miscarriage, stillbirth, infertility, loss of childhood due to trauma or other circumstances.
Immigrants and Migrants: Cultural adjustment, family separation and reunification, migration trauma, uncertain legal and economic stressors, language barriers, social isolation and support networks, and mental health stigma.
Grief In Specific Populations: Children and adolescents, older adults, LGBTQ+ Individuals, Military personnel and veterans.
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"The Basic Elements of Traumatic Grief"
"The Impact of Parental Murder"
"The Impact of a School Shooting, Management Issues"
"The Impact of Trauma on the Grieving Child"
"Trauma and Grief an Integration"
"Helping the Young Child Deal with Loss"
"Diagnostic Evaluation of the Traumatized Child"
"Intervention in a School Shooting" and
"The Developmental Aspects of Violent Loss"
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Met with workers at the Cancer Wellness Benefit
Met with bereaved parent group at Little Company of Mary Hospital
Discussion with bereaved parent group at Little Company of Mary Hospital
Met with workers at Evanston Hospice
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Presented a paper entitled "If I Can't do it now, I will do it Later; An Adolescent Girl's Mourning of Her Father" at the Creativity and Madness Conference in Maui, Hawaii.
Presentation about Barr-Harris to the Psychiatric Staff of Little Company of Mary Hospital.
Consultation with the staff at The Lakeside Congregation Nursery School in Highland Park on "How to help children deal with the death of a teacher."
Article about the Center entitled "The Barr-Harris Center for the Study of Separation and Loss in Childhood" was written for Chicago Medicine, Vol. 100, #2.
Presentation on "How the school can help the bereaved child" to the staff at the Jane Stenson School in Skokie, which had experienced recent losses among parents and staff.
Formal opening of the Barr-Harris Clinic at Little Company of Mary Hospital. A large welcoming party with a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony was held, with many attendees from the Hospital and the Institute, along with the local press and cable channel.
The Institute's first Educational Fair was held at the Institute with many Chicago area mental health professionals in attendance. Barr-Harris was represented as one of the Institute's programs, and several attendees expressed further interest in the Center.
Workshop at Glenbard South High School on "Supporting the Grieving Child in School" as part of a program called "Responding to Change in Education." About 30 mental health professionals attended.
Presentation at Harper School in Chicago to social workers and counselors on the services offered by Barr-Harris and the work being done at the Center.
Presentation on "An Overview of the Parent Loss Research at the Barr-Harris Center" to the Psychiatric Staff of Highland Park Hospital.
Met with The Heart Connection Staff at the Little Company of Mary Hospital to discuss "How to Help the Bereaved Child Deal with Parental Suicide."
Provided consultation to Little Company of Mary Hospital Bereavement Group Staff, meeting with surviving parents and caretakers of bereaved children participating in the Hospital's Heart Connection Program.
Provided consultation and crisis intervention to the staff and faculty of the Antioch Middle School following the accidental shooting and death of a student.
Met with the staff at the Lutz Center in Highland Park regarding a child whose mother died.
Consulted with staff at the Lutz Center regarding a 7th grade boy who died in a car accident.
Met with the 7th and 8th grade teachers at the Antioch Middle School to help them deal with the accidental shooting of an 8th grader by a classmate.
Consulted with the Antioch Middle School social workers about the accidental shooting of an 8th grader by a classmate.
Met with the parents of the children involved in the shooting of an 8th grader at the Antioch Middle School.
Consulted with the Psychiatric staff at Highland Park Hospital to admit one of the 8th graders involved in the shooting at the Antioch Middle School.
Met with the staff at the Cove School in Winnetka regarding the placement of a child whose mother died.
Provided consultation to the staff and met with parents at The Chicago Academy of Fine Arts following the death by suicide of a student.
Met with Psychiatric staff at Highland Park Hospital to collaborate with emergency room personnel about admissions to the Psychiatric Unit.
Participated in Black Expo held at Soldiers Field, publicizing the work of the Center to visitors.
Presentation at the Institute to various school personnel from Chicago Public Schools on "The Effect on Children of the Death of a Teacher."
Presentation at the Institute to various school personnel from the Chicago Public Schools on "The Impact on Children of the Loss of a Parent and Grandparent."
Presented a workshop at the Institute to Chicago Public School social workers on "The Impact of Parental Chronic Illness on the Child."
Presentation to a group of mental health professionals in Evergreen Park on "The Impact of Sudden Loss."
Presentation to the Association of Child Psychotherapists on "Untimely Grief."
Seminar at the Institute to mental health professionals from the Chicago Public Schools on "The Impact of Parental Suicide on the Child."
Presented childhood bereavement information and consultation on a case of parent loss at an Evergreen Park mental health center.
Workshop at the Institute to various mental health personnel from the Chicago Public Schools on "The Impact of Death in the Classroom."
Met with representatives from an advocacy group for the children of incarcerated women to determine how Barr-Harris can provide intervention for these children.