President / Clinical Consultant

Dr. Abigail Nathanson, LCSW, APHSW-C, ACS

Abby (she/hers) is an experienced trauma therapist with nearly 20 years of experience working in healthcare with people who are seriously ill or dying and with their caregivers, with healthcare professionals and with those in mourning. Her work has been in hospice, palliative care, skilled nursing facilities, major acute care hospitals and community non-profits, both on the front lines and in management and program development roles.

She holds national board certification in Palliative Care and is a Level III AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy) provider. Abby has written, taught and researched in areas such as bereavement, caregiving, death anxiety and coping with serious illness. She received both her master’s and doctorate in social work from New York University, where she is still on faculty part-time and teaches Grief, Loss and Bereavement in the MSW program. She is the co-editor of the recently released textbook, The Practice of Clinical Social Work in Healthcare from Springer Press, and consults and trains nationally.

Specialist / Psychotherapist

Jill Farabelli, LCSW, APHSW-C

Jill Farabelli (she/hers), LCSW (NJ/NY/PA), APHSW-C, has 17 years of experience working in healthcare to address the psychosocial needs of patients affected by serious or life limiting illness as well as the needs of their caregivers.

Her background in pediatrics, hospice and palliative care has been the foundation for her passion in working with those facing serious illness or death. She is board certified in hospice and palliative care. She is the lead palliative care social worker at the Hospital of University of Pennsylvania and Abramson Cancer Center. She received her Masters of Social Work at San Diego State University and has completed a Social Work Leadership Fellowship in Palliative and End of Life Care at New York University.

Jill is skilled in various treatment modalities including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Strengths-based therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, mindfulness, breath-work and grief therapy. Her approach with each client is to start from a place that is warm, compassionate and free from judgment. She believes each person should have the opportunity to be seen, heard and validated and that by focusing on one's strength, healing can be possible.