Grief in Brief

Litsa is the Program Director and Co-founder of What's Your Grief?. WYG is an online support and resource for all things grief. WYG has an emphasis on the unique experience and relationship we all have with loss. By sharing, exploring, and expressing we find that what is most personal applies to all. Further, they accentuate the benefit of community and the need for psychoeducation to compliment t...

The grief market may have a number of resources, guides and/or supports for the death of a spouse or parent. What about when your sibling dies? There are scant if any resources available. Annie discovered this after her brother was killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan. In fact, much of what is available is how siblings can care for their grieving parent. Feedback, that can be minimizing, is w...

Charles' new book is titled I Will Do Better; a Father's memoir of heartbreak, parenting and love. This unflinching memoir comes from the heart and goes right to the heart as six months into parenting his daughter (Lily) his wife and life partner Diana was diagnosed with cancer. Cancer took Diana's life three days before Lily turned 3. Finding himself a widower his process begins of learning to pa...

This is the title of Rachel's book in which she writes of the life with her husband and family before and after his death by suicide. She called upon her skills as a journalist to see where there is a story, dig deep and write it. Rachel has done just that in this poignant memoir. How does she take the first steps after the sudden and traumatic death of her husband while raising two young children...

These terms and concepts are part of our vernacular but what do they mean and what do they look like? Further, we know that things like identity, language, and stories can get lost from generation to generation. However, they may also hold some of the roots to healing. We can learn and heal from our past and how our ancestors lived. How do we navigate and shift from post traumatic stress to post t...

In this episode Ken sits with one of his first grief educators to discuss her remarkable career working in the field of grief and bereavement. Deborah's work spans decades and venues – hospitals, cancer units, the Good Grief program, 911 consultations, independent bereavement programs. What has stayed consistent through the years and locations is this: How do we talk about it? How do we help child...

Zach was 16 when he died of Osteosarcoma. Zach loved life, lived it to its fullest and the diagnosis left the Walls facing "pre-bereavement". Pre-bereavement encompasses three things; 1. Anticipatory grief, these are feelings of grief and loss we may come to experience. 2. We change in relation to the loss. How we look at all things will be different now. 3. Using our limited time between diagnosi...

When Hannah's best friend died unexpectedly, she looked for help. Friends, family, mental health professionals could only go so far. She started an exhaustive search for friend loss support and found……nothing. Friend grief, like all grief, is a lifelong process yet there are scant resources for those who truly understand the impact of losing a trusted friend. Friend loss is neither family or roman...

When Matt's father died his world turned upside down. He was thrust into taking over the family business while grieving the loss. He was also concerned about preserving the memory of his father and learning from others through their experience of his father. All the while trying to keep him present through the story telling. What was launched from this desire was Life Books. Everyone's story is wo...

Our respect, appreciation and understanding that pets are part of our family, life and social network has always been known. However, our actions did not always show this.  Many of us have heard some version of, "Sorry, your dog died…. are you going to get another one?" as if pets are merely commodities. Niki brings grace, dignity and respect to end of life care for animals - just as we would huma...

What is a parent to do when they are parenting a child with a serious or life limiting illness? The range of supports cross over medical, mental health, palliative care and embracing anticipatory grief. Then there is advocacy for your child and managing the needs of the other members of your family. This is overwhelming. Blyth was faced with this when her daughter, and also her nephew, was diagnos...

Maureen is a holistic psychiatrist and soul mentor for people trying to manage their stress, anxiety, depression or whatever else is in the way of their finding the best versions of themselves. Trained in the medical model of care it wasn't until the sudden death of her sister did Maureen start to think about the management of grief and loss in ways other than with medication. What she found among...

In 2013, Donna was a mother of three children and hadn't worked professionally in a few years when her husband died suddenly. Donna was faced with an unimaginable loss and the finances started to dwindle. Not having a road map for either, she sought a financial planner and found one who really "got her" and understood the complexity that was her life. Getting the support she needed Donna was motiv...

How do we find hope and joy again after a devastating loss? Will I ever be happy again? Yes you will just not quickly and not necessarily from resources outside of yourself. Conventional wisdom and feedback to grievers can center around people telling us what we should be doing/feeling, not how to attain this. The answers often lie within us. We know that trauma and grief force us to change but we...

The grief market may have a number of resources, guides and/or supports for the death of a spouse or parent. What about when your sibling dies? There are scant if any resources available. Annie discovered this after her brother was killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan. In fact, much of what is available is how siblings can care for their grieving parent. Feedback, that can be minimizing, is w...

In this episode Ken shares some ideas of things to consider as we are in holiday season. Included is evaluating our "do lists". Do the holidays feel special because of this? Do I try doing this differently" Do I do this out of habit, ritual, or obligation? Do I need help with this? Do I even like doing this?  Enjoy this episode? Please give us a 5-star rating and share with someone who could benef...

Judy has been an empathic healer for longer than she probably knew she was. Practicing for over 35 years, her understanding of healing went to another level when her son Ben died by suicide. Resulting from Ben's death has been Ben Speaks a program brought to schools based on foundational principles of empowerment, wellness, community and collaboration and accountability. Further, Judy works with m...

When faced with a medical condition our first instinct may be to find a solution to the problem. How do we fix this? What is the treatment plan? When a disease is rare there may not be a solution. When this happens, we need to shift gears. Jessica's daughter Dalia was diagnosed with a rare degenerative disease at age 5 and lived another 12 years before dying. With her book Breath Taking; A Memoir...

October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. Katie is a nurse practioner who has been leading a perinatal loss group since before the pandemic. Sara is a member of the group whose daughter Jane died after 1 day of life. In this episode they discuss with Ken the process of telling your story, the sadness and hope that comes from it, and how the group continues to provide meaning and suppor...

Charles' new book is titled I Will Do Better; a Father's memoir of heartbreak, parenting and love. This unflinching memoir comes from the heart and goes right to the heart as six months into parenting his daughter (Lily) his wife and life partner Diana was diagnosed with cancer. Cancer took Diana's life three days before Lily turned 3. Finding himself a widower his process begins of learning to pa...

Ken has been working with grievers for close to 30 years and what he has consistently heard from them, be they children or elderly, are things people say that are just not helpful. Granted as a society we are "grief averse" which often makes conversations around supporting grievers an awkward one. It doesn't have to be this way. In this episode Ken lays out words and phrases that are conversations...

This is the title of Colin Campbell's highly impactful book chronicling his grief process in the aftermath of the death of his two teenage children. Ruby and Hart were killed by a drunk and high driver in 2019. A week after their death Colin began writing an acclaimed play titled Grief: A One Man Shitshow. With rawness, rage, and humor we walk the painful steps with him. When the pandemic began th...

The concept of mindfulness is discussed liberally in our culture. We may have a notion that mindfulness can help us feel calm, relaxed and at peace. While this all can be true, mindfulness is really centered on sitting with whatever arises in the present moment. Here is where mindfulness is such a helpful practice for grievers. What arises is not always pleasant, we may have upsetting thoughts. Ho...

We often ascribe a higher status to performers and athletes. We can see them as somehow impervious to grief, loss, and pain. We may recognize their physical pain and resilience to get back to where they were. However, with grief we are never the same after a loss, thus the concept of resilience and returning to "normal" falls to the side. Performers and athletes grieve the loss of a season or show...

It's the summer and if you're a child it can and should be a time of play! This episode is part 2 of 2, and is dedicated to the fine art of play. When Ken got together with Steve and Jon their cumulative years of experience using play as a therapeutic tool was close to 100 years. Steve is the Chief Playmaker for the Life is Good Playmakers and Jon is the Executive Director at the Children's Room....