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Susan R Coale, LCSW-C

Director of Chesapeake Life Center at Hospice of the Chesapeake

Chesapeake Life Center at Hospice of the Chesapeake


Susan Coale, LCSW-C is the Director of Chesapeake Life Center at Hospice of the Chesapeake. Prior to assuming the leadership of Chesapeake Life Center, she worked for 12 years as a bereavement counselor and manager, providing individual and group counseling for grieving adults, children and families, clinical supervision for graduate students from local universities and training for professionals in the area of grief and traumatic loss. A licensed clinical social worker with over forty years’ experience, Susan received her Masters’ degree from the University of Maryland School of Social Work and has worked in a variety of settings, including hospitals, child welfare and private practice before joining Chesapeake Life Center. Susan’s particular area of focus is working with those have experienced a traumatic loss, such as a death by suicide or a drug-related death and co-authored, with Sarah Montgomery, LCSW-C Supporting Children after Suicide Loss: A guide for parents and caregivers. She is also very interested in the impact of ambiguous loss on children and families, such as those impacted by addiction, incarceration, foster care, dementia and other uncertain circumstances.