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About The Center for Grief Recovery

What we do
We are a full service Counseling Center helping persons who are dealing with emotionally intense experiences such as Grief, Loss, Trauma, Depression or Abuse. Additionally, we develop more creative methods for serving individuals and groups.

Our business history
Dr. Jerry Rothman and Tom Cole founded the Center in July, 1985 as a part of a larger Social Service Agency. In 1991 the Center became independent as a 501c3 nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation. Starting out with a specialization in Sibling Loss, the Center slowly expanded its mission, until we offered a full range of therapeutic services. Because of our uniqueness as one of the first organizations specializing in Grief and Loss, we received national publicity with features distributed by People Magazine, Associated Press, CBS-TV, The Chicago Tribune and many other news agencies.

STAFF TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE

Staff Biographies

David Fireman, MSW, LCSW: In addition to directing the Center, David holds a practice grounded in Self and depth psychologies. His extensive background helping others grows out of a sincere respect for inherent individual differences, social learning, the interplay of Love and Loss throughout the life span, finding purpose and meaning, and placing value in the power of the therapeutic relationship. He is an active and involved therapist who believes that the rare combination of honesty and courage bring about lasting change. He is a proponent of pragmatic empathy, which entails working in partnership with the therapist, to understand and explain core organizing beliefs about self and others, and practicing realistic ways to both manage and transform non-productive habit patterns into compassionate and useful actions. In tandem with his client work, he also provides professional consultation services to therapists in private or agency settings. Finally, to round out his traditional training in social work and psychotherapy, David draws from his experience as a practitioner of Iyengar Yoga, Tibetan forms of meditation, and Jewish spirituality.

David is an active and sought-after workshop presenter and blogger. His work has been published in various sources. He is a graduate of Matrix Leadership Institute, Victories of the Heart, and The Center's Guided Imagery Training.  He was social work lecturer at The University of Chicago and Jane Adams College of Social Work, UIC.  As past president of the Transpersonal Psychology Network Chicago, David is committed to values and practices that nurture creativity, compassion, and pragmatic action.

Kathryn Conway"KC" received her Masters in Social work at Loyola University of Chicago after a 20 year career in business and a brief career in the arts. She graduated with highest honors and was inducted into the international Jesuit honor society, Alpha Sigma Nu. In addition to 8 years in private practice at The Center for Grief recovery, KC's clinical experience includes 3-1/2 years of work with homeless families at he former Dehon House, a second stage shelter; 3 years of part-time work with individuals, groups and families at St. Francis Hospital/Resurrection Health Care Adult and Child Guidance Center; 2 years of consultation and work with children of the Gold Star Families through the Chicago Police Department including  completion of the public art project and film, A Special Grief. 

KC has provided clinical supervision to professionals at Travelers and Immigrant's Aid and has provided clinical supervision and coordinated field study to masters level students as adjunct faculty at the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois Circle Campus. 

She is an active lay minister at St. Gertrude's Parish and has a particular interest in women's liturgy and sacred music.  She has retained her ties to the creative community through musical performance and writing.  Her most recent work, Our Lady of Guadalupe: A Miracle Play, was performed at St. Gertrude's on December 12th, 2003.  Other publications include: Rethinking the Needs of Homeless Families, with the Partnership to End Homelessness; Nothing More, Nothing Less: A Proposal Toward the Establishment of a Code of Professional Ethics and Conduct for Priests with the Association of Chicago Priests; The Phenomenon of Burnout Among School Social Workers and the Importance of Co-Worker Relationships; The Secular Origins of Marianism. 

KC has developed specialties in traumatic loss and posttraumatic dissociative phenomena.  She is the most interested in the intersection of art, science and spirituality in understanding people.  She has post-graduate training in Jungian psychology and is currently enrolled in advanced trauma training through The National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children.


Allan Schnarr is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist with training in spirituality. He has been a psychotherapist since 1983. Allan has been the Co-ordinator of the counseling internship at Claret Center since 1985. He has also taught courses on relational awareness at Loyola's Institute of Pastoral Studies (IPS) since 1983. Allan's life purpose and teaching are focused on embodied spirituality. His devotion to the sacredness of the body comes out of his own journey. Allan has been a faithful student of Yoga and Tai Chi. He has also spent fifteen years invested in a personal healing journey through Reichian bodywork. Allan thoroughly enjoys working with students and clients who have a dedication to the embodied truth of their lives. He offers workshops to help others clarify awareness, deepen understanding, and make conscious choices to claim the uniqueness and appreciate the commonality of their path. His approach to therapy is psychodynamic and experiential: he helps clients to feel and understand in the present what has been disallowed in their experience due to past trauma. Allan works with individuals and couples. He has a wealth of experience working with anxiety, depression, post traumatic stress, relationship difficulties, life purpose, and spiritual struggle.

Allan is currently looking for a publisher for a book entitled Emotional Discipline; Complete Your Life Purpose, an integraed understanding of emotion, relationships, and spirituality, along with exercises to support the use of feelings as vital information for making wise choices.



Mary C. Schneider is a licensed clinical psychologist with a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology. She has maintained a private practice since 1991.

Mary specialized in work with incest survivors and domestic violence victims. She worked ten years with homeless women and children in the Englewood area of Chicago; was consultant for the Lawyers Assistance Program for distressed lawyers; co-authored, “Family Violence: Effective Judicial Intervention,” a curriculum for the education of judges on domestic violence issues published by the National Association of Women Judges; counseled a man on death row in Texas the last four years of his life (cf. A Saint on Death Row, Thomas Cahill, 2009); and has conducted numerous training workshops for medical and legal groups on mental health issues. She was the recipient of the 1997 Illinois Psychological Association Humanitarian Award.

Mary’s approach is person-centered and focused on the needs and goals of the individual client. She has a background in the arts and is interested in the intersection of the emotional, physical, and spiritual to help people achieve their greatest potential and sense of well-being. Mary works with individuals and couples.



Catherine Boyce, PhD, LCSW has a passion for helping others and an academic interest in human resilience and healing. Catherine began her career in social work in 1991 and her training includes a Doctorate Degree from the University of Chicago and a Masters Degree with High Honors in Social Work from Loyola University of Chicago. She has had clinical training at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Loyola Medical Center, and the Fillmore Center for Human Services. Catherine has been a member of several local youth services agencies and has served as a consultant to public schools in the community and private schools for severely disabled children. Since 1997, she has maintained a private practice caring for adults, adolescents, children, and families.

Using psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral models, Catherine treats individuals and couples who are experiencing relationship difficulties, family conflict, parenting dilemmas, depression, grief, and problems arising from blended families, divorce, illness, and aging. Her academic research focuses on parenting, child-development, cultural diversity, and clinical treatment. She brings warmth, candor, enthusiasm, and a wealth of clinical and life experience to her work.


Tom Undine, MSW, LCSW:  A practicing clinical social worker who is passionate about what he does. His special interests are group and individual psychotherapy. Currently, he is spearheading the Center’s effort to build a grief recovery therapy group program. He sees his work as an ongoing opportunity to nurture creative space for the flowering of Truth and Transformation in the Here and Now.

While he works with all age groups, one of Tom’s passions is to work with young adults to help them find and develop a sense of Self. He is also experienced working with parenting issues, grief and loss, anxiety, depression, trauma, personality disorders, and alcohol and drug abuse.

Well-versed in traditional methods of psychotherapy, Tom’s approach draws from Self-Psychology, Object Relations, as well as the wisdom and teachings of Jungian, and Depth Psychology. He finds incredible healing wisdom in teachings of Indigenous, Tribal Peoples (especially Native American), Zen, and Taoism.

His practice is enhanced by his love of music, poetry, art, yoga, myths and storytelling, martial arts, and environmental/ Nature studies to help others in the process, path, and journey toward wholeness and healing. He has over eight years clinical experience working with individuals and groups in a variety of settings including psychiatric hospitals, mental health clinics, charter schools, social service organizations, residential facilities, and currently in private practice.

Tom is an active and sought-after workshop presenter, retreat leader, and group facilitator. He is also a guest lecturer, presenter, consultant, and trainer, and has the joy of working with a number of organizations, schools, and foundations.


Tracie Pape, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, holds a Masters Degree from The University of Chicago. Tracie has ten years experience in the mental health field. She strongly believes in the possibility of healing from pain and loss and the resiliency of the human spirit. She practiced psychotherapy for five years in the field of trauma and violence, helping to build upon the strengths of children and families facing multiple and complex problems. She discovered by identifying resiliencies and strengths, clients were better able to handle adversity. While working towards her Master’s Degree, Tracie worked with families in Chicago’s foster care system. The complexity of the situation of foster children taught her patience and compassion, and gave her hope for children growing up in difficult situations. She helped parents learn skills to better meet the needs of their children. Tracie was a Peace Corps Volunteer in West Africa for three and a half years. She deeply values the lessons she learned by being immersed in a rural African village. She enjoys working with people from all cultural backgrounds and believes each culture holds its own strengths from which to draw. Tracie has studied Raja Yoga meditation for fifteen years and had studied and trained in India with a meditation teacher. This helps her bring a mindfulness approach to therapy, allows clients pay attention to what is happening in the here and now, and find practical ways to center themselves.

Chris Lucia Rothman, Psy.D., Director, Emeritus; Clinical and Administrative Consultant and Board President. Chris continues her presence at The Center with quarterly on-site visits as well as regular telecommunications with Center staff and clinical consultations with clients. Chris is presently anchored in West Palm Beach, FL, where she offers clinical services to clients, and consultations to professionals and agencies. Steeped in depth psychotherapy from a Self Psychology perspective, Chris brings with her a wealth of experience from an eclectic history in the creative arts, higher education, and Buddhist philosophy and practice. With foundational beliefs in compassionate action, empathic attunement, and appreciation of differences, Chris specializes in work to relieve grief and traumatic loss, to enhance relational development in couples and individuals, to engage creative and spiritual skill development across the lifespan, and to alleviate emotional and psychological distress. Chris holds great respect for the courage of introspection and the challenge of change. She has companioned a village of women and men in their healing journeys. You may reach Chris through The Center and in Florida at 561/586-8947.


Jerry Rothman (1939-2002) was a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with his Doctorate in Educational Administration from Northwestern University. He earned his Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of Missouri. Jerry co-founded The Center in 1985 and served as President and Director of The Center until his unexpected death in March, 2002. He was Past Executive Director of Comprehensive Mental Health Service for Children and Adolescents. Also past Executive Director of a Residential Treatment Center for Teenagers. He had extensive experience in Community Organizing, and Business Consulting and also extensive training in Hypnosis, Imagery and Meditation. Jerry was Past President of the Transpersonal Psychology Network. Past member of many Boards of Directors including the Chicago Metro Goodwill Industries, International Aikido Association, White Crane Wellness Center. Jerry also authored a workbook and audiotape series on Guided Imagery and many pamphlets and articles on Grief and Loss. He is listed in Who's Who in the Midwest and Nation as well as International Biographies.

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