Dr. Kenneth J. Doka is a Professor Emeritus at the Graduate School of The College of New Rochelle and Senior Vice-President for Grief Programs for the Hospice Foundation of America. He is one of the authors of the text, Dying & Death: Life & Living. A prolific author, Dr. Doka’s books include When We Die: Extraordinary Experiences at Life’s End, Living with Grief since COVID-19, Intimacy and Sexuality during Illness and Loss. Aging America: Coping with loss, dying, and death in later life, Transforming Loss: Finding Potential for Growth, When Grief Is Complicated, Grief Is a Journey: Finding your Pathway through Loss, Managing Conflict, Finding Meaning, The Longest Loss: Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia, Helping Adolescents Cope with Loss, Journeys with Grief: A Collection of Articles about Love, Life, and Loss, Improving Care for Veterans Facing Illness and Death, Ethics and End-of-Life Care, Beyond Kübler-Ross: New Perspectives on Death, Dying, and Grief, Spirituality and End-of-Life Care, Grieving beyond Gender: Understanding the Ways Men and Woman Mourn; Counseling Individuals with Life-Threatening Illness; Cancer and End-of-Life Care; Diversity and End-of-Life Care; Living with Grief: Children and Adolescents, Living with Grief: Before and After Death, Death, Dying and Bereavement: Major Themes in Health and Social Welfare (a 4 Volume edited work), Pain Management at the End-of-Life: Bridging the Gap between Knowledge and Practice, Living with Grief: Ethical Dilemmas at the End of Life, Living with Grief: Alzheimer’s Disease, Living with Grief: Coping with Public Tragedy; Men Don’t Cry, Women Do: Transcending Gender Stereotypes of Grief; Living with Grief: Loss in Later Life, Disenfranchised Grief: Recognizing Hidden Sorrow: Living with Life Threatening Illness; Children Mourning, Mourning Children; Death and Spirituality; Living with Grief: After Sudden Loss; Living with Grief: When Illness is Prolonged; Living with Grief: Who We Are, How We Grieve; Living with Grief: At Work, School and Worship; Living with Grief: Children, Adolescents and Loss; Caregiving and Loss: Family Needs, Professional Responses; AIDS, Fear and Society; Aging and Developmental Disabilities; and Disenfranchised Grief: New Directions, Challenges, and Strategies for Practice. In addition to these books, he has published over 100 articles and book chapters. Dr. Doka is editor of both Omega: The Journal of Death and Dying and Journeys: A Newsletter to Help in Bereavement. He has an ongoing blog for Psychology Today entitled Good Mourning.
Dr. Doka was elected President of the Association for Death Education and Counseling in 1993. In 1995, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Work Group on Dying, Death and Bereavement and served as chair from 1997-1999. The Association for Death Education and Counseling presented him with an Award for Outstanding Contributions in the Field of Death Education in 1998, Significant Contributions to the Field of Thanatology in 2014 and Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. In 2000 Scott and White presented him an award for Outstanding Contributions to Thanatology and Hospice. His Alma Mater Concordia College presented him with their first Distinguished Alumnus Award. He is a recipient of the Caring Hands Award as well as the Dr. Robert Fulton CDEB Founder’s Award. In 2006, Dr. Doka was grandfathered in as a Mental Health Counselor under NY State’s first licensure of counselors. Dr. Doka is a recipient of the International Center for Loss, Bereavement, Loss and Human Resilience and the Israeli Bereavement Forum Award for Lifetime Contributions to the Study of Loss, Bereavement, and Human Resilience, and The International Work Group on Death, Dying, and Bereavement’s Herman Feifel Award for Lifetime Contributions to the field of thanatology as well as the Lifetime Achievement Award from ADEC (The Association for Death Education and Counseling).
Dr. Doka has keynoted conferences throughout North America as well as Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. He participates in the annual Hospice Foundation of America Teleconference and has appeared on CNN and Nightline. In addition he has served as a consultant to medical, nursing, funeral service and hospice organizations as well as businesses and educational and social service agencies. Dr. Doka is an ordained Lutheran minister.
