Grief Is My Side Hustle

Amy's work went viral.  Learn the story of how and why in this episode where Amy discusses her how her viral list, was really a reaction to compound grief and loss. In her own words: I’m a psychotherapist turned “accidental” author I started my career as a psychotherapist intending to help others build mental strength. I never imagined how much I was going to need mental muscle in my own life. My...

What happens when someone whose job is supporting other people’s mental health is rocked by their own traumatic loss? In this episode, Juliet Haas LPC, LMHC, shares her story, including the personal and professional impacts of her loss. Juliet is an embodied trauma-informed counselor, registered dance-movement therapist, and owner of Mindful Counseling and Wellness LLC. Licensed in both Wisconsin...

Is there room for humor in the world of grief and loss? According to Kathleen Wallace, creator of Grief: A Comedy, laughter can serve as a tool for connection as we navigate the losses in our lives.   Kathleen is an actress, writer, producer, and facilitator whose work spans both the entertainment and corporate worlds. Her short film GRIEF: A COMEDY was recently selected for the Stowe Story Labs -...

What is the cost of framing motherhood only in terms of its potential gains, without acknowledging its inevitable losses?   That’s one of the questions that Molly Milllwood addresses in her brilliant book, To Have and To Hold: Motherhood, Marriage, and the Modern Dilemma. A mix of research, client stories, and Molly’s personal experience, the book tells the truth about the realities of motherhood...

Laurel Braitman PhD, is a writer, teacher and secular, clinical chaplain-in-training. She is the author of the memoir What Looks Like Bravery: An epic journey through loss to love (March 13th, Simon & Schuster) and the NYT bestselling book Animal Madness: Inside Their Minds.   She received her doctorate in History and Anthropology of Science from MIT and is the director of Writing and Storytel...

Julianne Manske Rollefson is a therapist, grief educator, and host of the new podcast, The Art of Losing.    After the deaths of her parents, she left her career in corporate coaching and leadership development to pursue a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology, with the goal of becoming a therapist specializing in grief and loss. She quickly realized that counseling graduate programs don't incl...

In 2018, along with his friend Jack, Ben founded The New Normal Charity, after the death of their dads. A simple, free to access, group space where adults could speak openly about their grief, and about the people they’d lost.    Having spent over two decades working in the hair industry, Ben finds connection where he is most comfortable, and as TNN developed, so has their work. Ben is spending mo...

Rightsizing expert Jeannine Bryant is the owner and CEO of Changing Spaces SRS, a senior move management company in Lincoln, NE.  She has helped provide rightsizing and relocation services to seniors since 2010.  During that time, she has been actively involved in the downsizing and moving processes of thousands of older adults.  Learn more about their services (and shop their online auctions!) at...

Pamela D. Blair, Ph. D., ( pamblairbooks.com ) was a psychotherapist for thirty years. She is the co-author of I Wasn’t Ready to Say Goodbye now considered a classic in bereavement literature. She is also the author of The Next Fifty Years: A Guide for Women at Midlife and Beyond and Getting Older, Better. She has appeared on national television, been a guest on dozens of radio shows, and has spok...

Kelly Cervantes is an award-winning writer, speaker, and advocate best known for her blog Inchstones, where she shared the stress, love, and joy that came with parenting her medically complex daughter, Adelaide. Since Adelaide’s passing, Kelly has continued to write candidly about her arduous and, at times, contradictory grief journey.   She has been published in the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago S...

Alexandra Wyman is an advocate and public speaker for resources in the aftermath of suicide. After she lost her husband to suicide in August of 2020, Alexandra found a need to change the language around suicide, and decided to write about it. Her memoir, The Suicide Club: What To Do When Someone You Love Chooses Death is an Amazon best seller. She has spoken at a variety of conferences including B...

Dina Gachman is an award-winning journalist, a Pulitzer Center grantee, and a frequent contributor to the New York Times, Texas Monthly, Vox, Teen Vogue and more. Her second book, So Sorry For Your Loss: How I Learned To Live With Grief, and Other Grave Concerns was published in the US and the UK this year. She's a bestselling ghostwriter, and she writes a monthly movie column for the New York Tim...

Ashley Jones is the founder and executive director of Love Not Lost, a nonprofit on a mission to revolutionize the way we heal in grief. From losing her daughter to a terminal illness to growing Love Not Lost to a national level (soon to be Momento Foundation), Ashley has a lot of experience in death and grief; something she never thought would be in her bio. Yet, she's learned how to process, hea...

*episode discusses suicide    ASA MERRITT : A former international reporter for NPR, VICE Sports, The Guardian, and ESPN’s “30 for 30” podcast, Asa brings a compassionate documentary eye to ambitious fictional projects. His one-woman play about mass movements, True Believer, had a sold-out run in New York City. To research that piece, Asa traveled to Cairo to meet with underground performers who h...

Amber Jeffrey was just 19 when her mother died suddenly of a heart attack.  Confused and heartsick Amber found herself consumed with anger which further separated her from her old friendships. In this episode Amber talks about becoming the trusted voice she needed at her most painful time, why talk therapy didn't work for her, and how she created her own community amongst the world of grievers. Am...

Laura Cathcart Robbins is the best-selling author of the Atria/Simon & Schuster memoir, Stash, My Life In Hiding, and host of the popular podcast, The Only One In The Room. She has been active for many years as a speaker and school trustee and is credited for creating The Buckley School’s nationally recognized committee on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice. Her recent articles on the s...

In January, 1958, a renowned sailing family was lost in a storm in the Bermuda Triangle. The youngest of two daughters, Sarah, suddenly an orphan, grew up never knowing her parents and grandparents. As an adult, she began to pursue the mystery of her family and their disappearance, and discovered that their stories were far different from the versions she was told. Sarah Conover’s memoir follows t...

Katie Joy Duke is an author, attorney turned life coach, mom, and stage IV breast cancer survivor. Her memoir Still Breathing: My Journey with Love, Loss, and Reinvention was a #1 Amazon best seller in Family Health and Pregnancy and Childbirth. Read her blogs, sign up for her not-so-regular newsletter, and order a personalized signed paperback of her book at  www.katiejoyduke.com . Her audiobook,...

Amy Green Smith is a certified and credentialed life coach and hypnotherapist, masterful speaker, and personal empowerment expert. Amy uses her roles as coach, writer, podcaster, and speaker to move individuals beyond limiting beliefs and sabotaging mindsets to a place of radical personal empowerment and self-worth.  With acute focus on helping people “find their voice”, Amy uses her popular weekl...

Kelly S. Thompson writer, educator, and retired veteran from the Canadian Armed Forces. She has an MFA and PhD in Creative Writing and works as a mentor at the King's MFA Nonfiction program. She has won several awards for her writing, and was longlisted for the 2021 CBC Nonfiction prize and a 2021 National Magazine Award. Her essays, fiction and poetry have appeared in Chatelaine, the Globe and Ma...

Julia Samuel is a leading UK psychotherapist. At St Mary’s Hospital Paddington, she established the post of psychotherapist for Paediatrics, where her role for 25 years involved seeing families who have children or babies who die, and where she trained and supported the staff. In 1994 she worked to help launch and establish  Child Bereavement UK  and as the Founder Patron was involved and in many...

  Julie McFadden, BSN, RN is a passionate educator, who uses her social media following, which reaches 1.3M on tiktok alone, to normalizing death and dying.    Found under the name Hospice Nurse Julie, she spent years working in the  experienced ICU, and serves as a well respected, sought after now Hospice/Palliative expert who has been featured in Newsweek, USA today, The Atlantic, The Business I...

“Look for me there,” news legend Tim Russert would tell his son, Luke, when confirming a pickup spot at an airport, sporting event, or rock concert. After Tim died unexpectedly, Luke kept looking for his father, following in his footsteps and carving out a successful career at NBC News. After eight years covering politics and winning an Emmy Award, Luke realized he had no good answer as to why he...

In this episode Meghan Sits down with Humaninty Huve creator Candin Phillips. Candin is a licensed therapist and supervisor in South Carolina who also has ADHD. She has studied and worked in the mental health field for nearly 15 years with focuses in trauma work and ADHD.   She shifted to primarily ADHD education and coaching through her business, Humanity Hive, in the last few years. As her under...

TW: This episode includes in depth conversation about suicide. Meghan sat down with Addison Brasil to discuss his compound loss of losing his brother to a brain tumor, his father to suicide and a friend in a tragic car accident that left him deeply physically and emotionally injured. Addison talks about the communities of friends, family and health care practioners that helped him survive and the...