HEAL Lab attends SEPA Annual Meeting in New Orleans

Sierra Wickline presenting her research at the SEPA Annual Meeting, standing at a podium with her title slide displayed behind her.
Sierra Wickline presenting at SEPA on Friday, March 27, marking her first conference talk as a graduate researcher.

In late March, the HEAL Lab traveled to New Orleans for the Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA) 72nd Annual Meeting, held at the Sheraton New Orleans.

Representing the lab, Dr. Angie LeRoy and Sierra Wickline, graduate researcher, attended the conference, with Research Assistant Delaney Sawicki-Lake traveling from Baton Rouge to join them. Delaney joined the HEAL Lab while completing her undergraduate studies at LSU and continues to work with the lab remotely.

At the conference, Sierra’s talk, “Role of Attachment to God in Research on Spousal Bereavement and Health,” called on researchers to think more expansively about the role of attachment in understanding loss. The presentation was co-authored with HEAL Lab alumni Samantha Weiss and Grant Shrable, along with Lab collaborator Daniel Lee Hill.

“Many researchers know about the widowhood effect and how it can lead to early mortality, how religion can be a significant influence in people’s lives, and how our relationships shape so many outcomes,” Sierra said. “But I urged researchers to think about how attachment to God may help explain differences in how people experience spousal loss, and to consider moving toward a mind, body, and spirit model when treating patients and designing research protocols.”

Sierra fielded several questions, but one of the most common focused on what an attachment hierarchy might look like with and without God.

“We have ideas about what those hierarchies might look like, but it’s still very theoretical. That’s the point of this work, to give researchers the information they need to start asking these big questions and to expand the concept of attachment to God.”

Cheers! Celebrating with beignets at Café Du Monde.

Dr. Angie LeRoy and Delaney Sawicki-Lake taking a selfie in Jackson Square in New Orleans after Sierra’s talk at SEPA.

Dr. LeRoy and Delaney meeting up in Jackson Square after Sierra’s talk at SEPA.

For graduate students, giving a talk at a conference like SEPA marks an important step, offering a chance to share new work publicly, contribute to ongoing conversations, and begin to build recognition within the field.

For Sierra, the moment was especially affirming. “About halfway through, I realized these incredible scientists were listening to me talk about something I’m passionate about, and they were genuinely interested.”

According to Dr. Angie LeRoy, being in New Orleans added something special to the experience.

“The city’s connection to spirituality and the afterlife made the conversations around grief and healing feel especially relevant,” said Dr. LeRoy. “Some scientists are reluctant to engage with spiritual beliefs in research, but those beliefs play a central role in how people make sense of loss.”

Sierra added, “New Orleans shows so much respect for death while simultaneously celebrating life. I think that really reflects the HEAL Lab and the work we do.”