About
R. Abby Spilka, MA, LMHC, FT is a grief therapist and thanatologist in private practice in Brooklyn, NY and serves as adjunct faculty at NYU Steinhardt, teaching Grief and Bereavement among other courses in the Graduate Applied Psychology program. Abby is a frequent guest speaker on topics such as demystifying grief and how we are shaped by loss.
Abby was a bereavement counselor at Calvary Hospital from 2018-2023, and led several bereavement support groups for the community, including Young Adult Bereavement, Death of a Child, and Death of a Parent Due to COVID. She also facilitated professional development offerings for mental health professionals and helped coordinate Camp Compass, Calvary’s camp for grieving children. Prior to her work at Calvary, Abby worked at the Soho Center for Mental Health and Wellness from 2016-2018, and taught in the Applied Psychology undergraduate program (2016-2018).
She holds an MA in Applied Psychology from NYU and a BA in Classical Civilizations from UCLA. She is a Fellow of Thanatology through the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC). An active member of ADEC and a recurring presenter at their annual conference, her research interests include therapist self-disclosure around loss and how family members grieve the same loss differently.
Publications
Georgopoulos, M. and Spilka, R. A. (at press). Wonder Woman: Chosen migration and a liminal space in J. A. Harrington and D. L. Harris, (Eds.), Superhero grief and the multiverse of loss: Considerations and case studies in non-death loss. Routledge.
Spilka, R. A. (2002). Remembrance and renewal: One museum’s account of 9/11. Museum News, 81(5), 40-45, 61.
