Cara Grosset, MSW, PhD, RSW, CT/FT, is an Assistant Professor in the Thanatology Program. Dr. Grosset is a practicing social worker who has worked in dying, death, and grief care for over 30 years. She has developed and facilitated community-based bereavement groups for children, teens, and young adults, and through her private practice has worked with folks who have experienced the traumatic deaths of people important to them. Dr. Grosset’s area of research interest includes the grief and support experiences of people living with intellectual disabilities.
Awards
King Charles III Coronation Medal, January 2025. This award is in recognition of long-term contributions to support of youth victims of impaired driving for MADD Canada.
Laurier University Student Teaching Award of Excellence, Doctoral Category, 2021.
Dr. Bruce McCreary Memorial Scholarship from the Ontario Association on Developmental Disabilities and Ongwanada, 2021, in support of research about the grief experiences of people living with intellectual disabilities.
MADD Canada, 2017 Citizen of Distinction Award, for professional excellence and commitment to working with youth victims of impaired driving.
Hamilton Bay Area Community Bereavement Achievement Award, 2012.
Education
- PhD, Social Work, Wilfrid Laurier University
- Master of Social Work, University of Toronto
- Bachelor of Education in Adult Education, Brock University
- Bachelor of Social Work, Toronto Metropolitan University
- CT/FT, Association for Death Education and Counselling
Teaching
- Thanatology 1025: Introduction to Thanatology
- Thanatology 2225: Topical Issues in Thanatology
- Thanatology 2230: Principles of Palliative Care
- Thanatology/CYS 2232: Children & Death: Theory & Intervention
- Thanatology/Disability Studies 2283: Grief Support for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
- Thanatology 3324: Extraordinary Experiences
Research
Dr. Grosset is an experienced qualitative researcher who has conducted research related to the experiences of people on Community Treatment Orders (CTOs) alongside the Guelph ACT Team. As well, having noted the absence of people with both physical and intellectual disabilities in her clinical work, Cara committed to research exploring the lived experiences of loss and grief of people living with intellectual disabilities. The knowledge translation from this work led to the development of Module 21, Supporting Someone with Intellectual Disabilities, on the Canadian Virtual Hospice website mygrief.ca. Cara is currently collaborating to develop a peer model where grief advocates who live with an intellectual disability are trained and supported to offer grief support to their grieving peers (Alberta).
Selected Publications
Book Chapters
Grosset, C. (2026). “I’m open to facing the fear as well as the good”: Enfranchised grief and intellectual disability. In. D.L. Harris, T.C. Bordere, & L. McLean (Eds.), Handbook of social justice in loss and grief: Exploring diversity, equity, and inclusion (2nd ed., ch. 10). Routledge.
Journal Articles
Mfoafo M’Carthy, M., Grosset, C., Stalker, C., Dullart, I., & McColl, L. (2018). An Exploratory Study of the Use of Community Treatment Orders with Clients of the Guelph ACT Team. Social Work in Mental Health, 16(6), 644-661.
Grosset, C., Frensch, K., Cameron, G., & Preyde, M. (2018). Perceptions of Long-Term Community Adaptation of Delinquent Young Adults Who Graduated from Children’s Residential Mental Health Treatment. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 35 (3), 231-241.
Karki, K., Chi, M., Gokani, R., Grosset, C., Vasik, J., & Kumsa, M.K. (2018). Entering Precarious Job Markets in the Era of Austerity Measures: The Perceptions of Graduating MSW Students. Critical and Radical Social Work Journal, 6(3), 291-310.
Dissertation
Grosset, Cara, "Deep in the shadows of loss: An exploration of grief, mourning, and intellectual disability" (2023). Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive). 2516. https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/2516