Joanne Cacciatore
Joanne Cacciatore is a professor, grief researcher, author, and activist whose life’s work has been shaped by personal tragedy and a profound commitment to transforming how society understands and supports those who grieve. She is widely regarded as one of the foremost authorities on traumatic loss, particularly the death of a child, and her scholarship has helped legitimize grief as a subject worthy of serious academic and clinical attention.
Cacciatore’s journey into grief work began with the stillbirth of her daughter, Cheyenne, in 1994. Devastated and finding little meaningful support in available resources, she channeled her grief into founding the MISS Foundation — Mothers in Sympathy and Support — a nonprofit organization that provides advocacy, counseling, and education for families experiencing the death of a child. The organization now operates internationally and has served tens of thousands of bereaved families.
Her academic career has been equally distinguished. A Fulbright Scholar, Cacciatore holds a doctoral degree in family studies and has served as an associate professor at Arizona State University, where she has directed the MISS Institute and trained clinicians in compassionate bereavement care. Her research has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals across social work, psychiatry, and family therapy, and she has been instrumental in shaping clinical protocols for supporting bereaved parents.
Her book Bearing the Unbearable: Love, Loss, and the Heartbreaking Path of Grief (2017) is considered essential reading for anyone walking alongside the grieving or experiencing profound loss themselves. The book challenges the medicalization of grief and argues for a more humane, patient, and spiritually attuned approach — one that honors grief as an expression of love rather than treating it as a problem to be solved. It has been widely praised by clinicians, spiritual directors, hospice workers, and bereaved individuals alike.
Cacciatore also operates the Selah Carefarm in Cornville, Arizona, a sanctuary where bereaved individuals can find healing through connection with animals and nature. Her integrated approach — blending rigorous research with deep compassion and somatic healing practices — reflects her belief that grief touches every dimension of the human person and must be met with equal wholeness.
