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Jared Becknell, PhD, is a 2025 graduate of the PhD program in Counselor Education & Supervision at Antioch University, Seattle.

Dissertation Committee:

Shawn Patrick, PhD, Committee Chair

Najla Hrustanovic,PhD, Committee Member

John Beckenback, PhD, Committee Member

Keywords

narrative inquiry, grief, grief counseling, death and dying, bereavement, photo-elicitation, narrative therapy, psychodynamic, potential space, magical realism, grief intervention

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Date

2025

Abstract

Training and education about grief counseling has been stagnant, stalling the creativity and novel practice when working with bereaved individuals. Counselors in Training often receive minimal education and training in grief, even though clients will ultimately experience this phenomenon. Qualitative research findings provide insights into how individuals actively engage in the grieving process, while promoting their own versions of healing and acceptance through the artifacts kept from deceased loved ones. These findings explore the lived experience of individuals who keep artifacts from a deceased loved one. Results show an active participation in reconnecting to the deceased versus addressing grief symptoms and stages. Furthermore, these findings create a direction to pursue when creating novel ways within grief counseling through a theoretical framework. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (http://aura.antioch.edu/) and Ohio Link ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu/etd).

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Jared Becknell, PhD, 2025

ORCID Scholar ID# 0009-0005-6907-1514

Jared Becknell is a high school dropout turned doctorate. Their passion has been educating students while co-authoring their counselor identity. During the pandemic, he moved and worked in Alaska with children and families that struggle with a wide range of concerns and challenges. Additionally, he has been working with adolescents all the way up to adults regarding trauma, substance use, sexual abuse survivors/offenders, severe mental health disorders, anxiety, and depression.

His theoretical approach is post-modernism, with a foundation in narrative therapy. I hope to challenge the ways in which the problems have storied individuals and create alternatives or new identities that assist in living a more preferred way of living. Post-modernism moves away from traditional therapy modalities and advocates for new, creative and person-centered mediums to improve therapeutic conversations.

CITATIONS:

Becknell, J. (2017). Building Blocks: A Multi-Theoretical Model to Promote Post-Traumatic Growth. Wisdom in Education. Vol. 7(2). November 2017.

Richmond A., S. Bacca, J. Becknell, R. Coyle (2017). Teaching Metacognition Experientially: A focus on Higher Versus Lower Level Learning. Teaching of Psychology, Vol. 44(4). Sept. 2017, 298-305. Doi: 10.1177/0098628317727633

Richmond A., N. Mitchell, J. Slattery, R. Morgan, J. Becknell (2016). Can a Learner-Centered Syllabus Change Student's Perceptions of Student-Professor Rapport and Master Teacher Behaviors? Scholarship of Teaching in Psychology Counseling, Vol.2(3), Sept. 2016, 159-168. Doi: http:// dx.doi.org/10.1037/stl0000066

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