When the Pain is in the Brain: Emotional Turmoil, Stress and Grief

Presented by: Kimberly Harms, DDS

Original Lecture/ Publication Date: September 23, 2026 (Webinar Series)

Course Description:

Anxiety and stress are rampant in today's society. As life expectancies rise, so do grief expectancies. Whether it be the patient or team member who is struggling, many dental professionals are unaware of how to help.

Repressed grief and emotional pain cause depression, sleeplessness, alcohol/substance abuse as well as cardiovascular disease. Grappling with grief and managing its side effects are skills dental professionals need to understand. Although we can’t control when bad things happen to us, we can control how we work to recover.

Dr. Harms draws from her experience in grief counseling and mediation to help participants recognize others' emotional needs and understand the physical and psychological effects of grief and the task of mourning. Learn proven grief and stress management methods that assisted her in her own emotional healing after the catastrophic losses of her mother and son to suicide. Explore the effects of grief, pain, and suffering as well as the power of resilience, humor, and joy. Increase your understanding of the emotional needs of patients, team members, families, and even yourself, and promote greater harmony in your personal and professional life.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the connection between emotional pain and dentistry
• Understand how to effectively manage office bullying and passive-aggressive behavior, and how to minimize the damage
• Recognize the difference between mourning and grief
• Differentiate the specific features of the four tasks of mourning
• Define the various emotional illnesses that may affect our patients and team, and understand how to adjust treatment or manage behavior
• Recognize the dental repercussions of emotional illness, stress, and grief
• Update your knowledge on the latest information regarding preventing and surviving suicide

Participants will learn how to:

• Learn to identify signs of stress, grief, anxiety, and emotional illness in patients and team members, and respond with empathy and appropriate support.
• Understand how emotional and psychological distress can influence behavior, pain perception, treatment tolerance, sleep, and oral health, so care can be adjusted accordingly.
• Apply practical strategies to manage workplace conflict, bullying, passive-aggressive behavior, stress, and grief while promoting a healthier, more supportive practice environment.
  

Speaker Bio:

Major life events (such as death, divorce, and job loss) and even conflict can create feelings of shock, grief and leave us struggling to cope. These events have a significant effect on the dental team and our patients.

With 30-years in clinical dentistry and 21 years as a National Spokesperson for the American Dental Association, Kimberly Harms D.D.S. has seen the importance of positive communication, management of conflict and relationship building firsthand. Her goal is to help untangle problems and support those with grief issues by sharing that accumulated knowledge with seminar attendees.

Dr. Harms practiced dentistry as an enlisted officer in the U.S. Public Health Service, as a dental associate, and for most of her career as co-owner of a private practice in Farmington, MN. She developed a pilot project for the State of Minnesota to deliver care to developmentally disabled patients living in group homes which is still going strong 28 years later. Dr. Harms was honored to serve as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the areas of operative and hospital dentistry at Loyola University Medical Center and School of Dentistry.

Dr. Harms was the first woman president of the Minnesota Dental Association and served on the American Dental Association's Council on Governmental Affairs representing the 10th District. She was also Chair of the American Dental Association's Council on Communications. Dr. Harms has lectured internationally and has worked with dental schools in Mongoliaand Rwanda and women's groups in Georgia and Armenia.

As National Spokesperson and Consumer Advisor for the American Dental Association, Dr Harms has appeared on their behalf on the Today Show, CNN, Fox News, National Public Radio and network affiliates such as CBS, NBC, and ABC. In addition, she has been quoted in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Consumer's Digest, Buzz Feed, Shape Magazine, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan and numerous other print and internet publications. Her article Keeping out of Harms’ Way: Pearls, Pitfalls and Lurking Perils of a Life in Dentistry received the International College of Dentists Leadership in Journalism Award for 2016.