Camille Wortman, Ph.D.
Duke University (1972) Professor, Social and Health Psychology
|
Contact: camille.wortman@stonybrook.edu |
Dr. Wortman is an expert on grief and bereavement, with an emphasis on coping with the sudden, traumatic loss of a loved one. She received the Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution in Psychology from the American Psychological Association for this work. Her research has been featured in such media outlets as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, National Public Radio (NPR), The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), Scientific American, and many others.
Dr. Wortman has completed several studies on how people are affected by the sudden, unexpected death of a spouse, child, or parent. She has authored five books, including one on traumatic bereavement, as well as more than 100 articles and book chapters, most dealing with grief, loss and trauma. Her research confirms that those who experience the sudden, traumatic loss of a family member show enduring difficulties in nearly all areas of their lives. On the basis of these studies, Dr. Wortman received an award from the Science Directorate at the American Psychological Association and the National Science Foundation. This award recognizes the achievements of women in science.
Over the course of her career, Dr. Wortman has been involved in public service and has volunteered her time to several projects pertaining to traumatic loss. Following the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, Dr. Wortman was contacted by special master Kenneth Feinberg, and asked to develop a position paper on the long-term effects of traumatic loss. This paper was utilized in determining financial compensation for those who lost family members on September 11. She was also asked to design a training program for therapists on how to treat traumatic bereavement. In collaboration with Dr. Laurie Pearlman and Dr. Therese Rando, she developed a treatment that addressed the PTSD symptoms that often plague survivors of traumatic loss, as well as grief symptoms. This program, which was described in the New York Times, was made available to therapists throughout the city. In recognition of this work, she received an award “for providing assistance to families who lost loved ones in the attacks on September 11, 2001.”
In the years following the September 11 terrorist attack, Dr. Wortman was invited to offer many workshops to clinicians who were interested in treating survivors of traumatic loss. Because of the strong interest in this topic, Dr. Wortman and her colleagues, Dr. Laurie Pearlman and Dr. Therese Rando, decided to write a book on Traumatic Bereavement. This book, entitled Treating Traumatic Bereavement: A Practitioner’s Guide, was published by Guilford Press in 2014.
Dr. Wortman has been invited to develop educational materials on trauma and loss for several websites, including those of the American Psychological Association, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, and the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors. She also assisted in creating a website on grief for PBS. She posted a number of blogs on that website for bereaved individuals (e.g., How to Get Through the Holidays) and their family members and friends (e.g., Offering Support for the Bereaved: What to Say and Do).
For over four decades, Dr. Wortman has served as a professor on the faculty of Northwestern University, the University of Michigan, and Stony Brook University. At every college at which she has taught, Dr. Wortman has received recognition for her teaching and awards for teaching excellence. One of the awards, which was received from the Psychology Department at Stony Brook, was for Teacher of the Year. This award was based on the votes of graduating seniors, who were asked to identify the professor who had inspired them the most.
Because her research focuses on the ramifications of traumatic loss, Dr. Wortman is frequently asked to serve as an expert witness in wrongful death cases. Over the past 30 years, she has been involved in cases against Boeing Aircraft, American Airlines, Electrolux Home Products, Union Pacific Railroad, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, General Motors, and Fox News, among others. Her role is to help the jury understand the intense and prolonged distress that many people experience following the sudden, traumatic death of a loved one.
Dr. Wortman is the president of a small nonprofit organization called Grief Matters, which she founded during the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, few resources were available or those struggling with grief. Dr. Wortman and her staff reviewed hundreds of websites and identified a wealth of information for people who lost a loved one during the pandemic. She selected the best of these resources and combined them into a comprehensive, searchable guide. Recognizing that these resources could benefit anyone who is grieving, she broadened the guide to include many other types of loss. This guide, which can be accessed at www.whyqriefmatters.org, has received acclaim from grief experts and has been featured in the New York Times and other influential media outlets. This resource guide is being tranformed into an interactive website, which will greatly enhance the potential for bringing the material to those who would benefit from it.
Representative Publications:
Books:
Pearlman, L. A., Wortman, C. B., Feuer, C., Farber, C., Rando, T. (2014). Treating
traumatic bereavement: A practitioner’s guide. New York: Guilford Press.
Carr, D., Nesse, R., Wortman, C. B. (2006). Spousal bereavement in late life. New
York: Springer.
Articles and Book Chapters:
Wortman, C. B. (2022). Internet resources for the bereaved: Facebook’s Influence on
the Grieving Process. In L. A. Burke E. Rynearson (Eds.), The restorative nature of
ongoing connections with the deceased: Exploring presence with absence. New York:
Routledge.
Wortman, C. B. (2022). Psychic mediums for the bereaved: Exploring their procedures
and contemplating the use of their services. In L. A. Burke E. Rynearson (Eds.),
The restorative nature of ongoing connections with the deceased: Exploring presence
with absence. New York: Routledge.
Wortman, C. B. (2022). Doing what matters: A framework for academic success. In J.
Bookwala N. Newton (Eds.), Reflections from pioneering women in psychology (pp.
328-341). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Wortman, C. B. (2021). September 11: 20 years later. American Association of Retired
Persons Newsletter.
Barlé, N., Wortman, C. B., Latack, J. A. (2017). Traumatic bereavement: Basic
research and clinical implications. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 27(2), 127-139. PDF
Wortman, C. B. Pearlman, L. (2016). Traumatic bereavement. In R. A. Neimeyer
(Ed.), Techniques of grief therapy: Assessment and intervention (pp. 25-29). New York:
Routledge/Taylor Francis.
Wortman, C. B. (2016). Coping with death and dying. In J. C. Norcross, G. R.
VandenBos, D. K. Freedheim, N. Pole (Eds.), APA handbooks in psychology. APA
handbook of clinical psychology: Psychopathology and health (p. 567–581). American
Psychological Association. PDF
Prigerson, H. G., Horowitz, M. J., Jacobs, S. C., Parkes, C. M., Asian, M., Goodkin,
K.,
Raphael, B., Marwitt, S. J., Wortman, C., Neimeyer, R. A., Bonanno, G., Block, S.
D.,
Kissane, D., Boelen, P., Maercker, A., Litz, B. T., Johnson, J. G., First, M. B.,
Maciejewski, P. K. (2009). Prolonged grief disorder: Psychometric validation of criteria
proposed for DSM-V and ICD-11, PLoS Med, 6(8), e100021. PDF
Wortman, C. B., Boerner, K. (2007). Beyond the myths of coping with loss: Prevailing
assumptions versus scientific evidence. In H.S. Friedman R.C. Silver (Eds.),
Foundations of health psychology (pp. 285-324). New York: Oxford University Press. PDF
Carnelley, K. B., Wortman, C. B., Bolger, N., Burke, C. T. (2006). The time course
of
grief reactions to spousal loss: Evidence from a national probability sample. Journal
of
Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 476-492. PDF
Boerner, K., Wortman, C. B., & Bonanno, G. (2005). Resilient or at risk? A four-year
study of older adults who initially showed high or low distress following conjugal
loss.
Journals of Gerontology: Series B: Psychological Sciences Social Sciences, 60B (2),
P67-P73. PDF
Wortman, C. B. (2004). Post-traumatic growth: Progress and problems. Psychological
Inquiry, 15, 81-90.
Bonanno, G. A., Wortman, C. B., Nesse, R. M. (2004). Prospective patterns of
resilience and maladjustment during widowhood. Psychology and Aging, 19, 260-271.
PDF
Bonanno, G. A., Wortman, C. B., Lehman, D., Tweed, R., Sonnega, J., Carr, D.,
Nesse, R. (2002). Resilience to loss and chronic grief: A prospective study from preloss
to 18-months postloss. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 1150-1164.
Davis, C. G., Wortman, C. B., Lehman, D. R., Silver, R. C. (2000). Searching for
meaning in loss: Are clinical assumptions correct? Death Studies, 24, 497-540. PDF
De Vries B., Davis, C. G., Wortman, C. B., Lehman, D. R. (1997). Long-term
psychological and somatic consequences of later life parental bereavement. Omega,
35(1), 97-117. PDF
Wortman, C. B. Smyth, J. (1997). Using one's own passion and undergraduate TA’s
to transform the large-lecture introductory psychology course. In Sternberg, R. J.
(Ed.),
Teaching introductory psychology: Survival tips from the experts (pp. 163-180).
Washington, D.C.: APA Books. PDF
Lepore, S. J., Silver, R. C., Wortman, C. B., & Wayment, H. A. (1996). Social
constraints, intrusive thoughts, and depressive symptoms among bereaved mothers.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70(2), 271-282. PDF
Wortman, C. B., Silver, R. C. (1989). The myths of coping with loss. Journal of
Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 57, 349-357. PDF
Lehman, D. R., Wortman, C. B., Williams, A. F. (1987). Long-term effects of losing
a
spouse or child in a motor vehicle crash. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
52, 218-231. Excerpted in MADDvocate (1990), 3, 13. PDF