Patricia Obst, MSW, LCSW

I began my practice more than twenty years ago as a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) and life coach. But earlier in my career. I was a case worker who managed clients’ mental health care and facilitated group classes for those with chronic mental illness. I also coordinated in-home care and services for older adults so they could age in place. Then, as a hospice social worker, I facilitated care and support for hospice patients and their families.

In my private practice, I have counseled adults as a therapist and life coach, but my specialization in grief came about after the loss of my infant son, Ricky. I also have been through the divorce of my parents, my mother’s death to cancer, personal divorce, breast cancer and double mastectomies, and most recently the loss of my father to Parkinson’s disease, along with many other life challenges.

I developed my specialization in grief and loss through many years of additional training, and I co-created and co-facilitated a program called Afterwards, LLC., which was dedicated to helping people one-to-five years past a major loss to step forward into the next chapter of their lives.

Motivated by the loss of my own child, I have special expertise within grief therapy working with parents who have lost children — from pregnancy loss to the loss of adult children. I’ve worked with parents who have lost children due to medical conditions, homicide, accident, suicide, and drug-related causes, among other things. Loss of a child is an extremely complicated grieving experience that calls for unconditional compassion and empathetic understanding. I’m very passionate about providing this for parents. I help them heal while helping them discover ways to bring the spirit of their child with them, as they rediscover the purpose and meaning of their child’s life, and open themselves up to find joy in their lives once again.

To help my clients move forward, I utilize my expertise in life coaching. As clients move through their Afterwards Journey, coaching encourages them to find ways to honor their story and to emerge from their losses having grown through their resilience.

In addition to being a seasoned therapist and life coach, I have led grief and loss lectures, workshops, and done podcasts for The Starting Point, Inc. of New Jersey. I have also presented at the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) annual conference.