Grief Out Loud

In this episode, we delve into the grief experiences of children and teens with autism. Our guest, Jennifer Wiles, M.A., LMHC, BC-DMT, FT - Director of the HEART play Program and a dance movement therapist with decades of experience - joins us to discuss how children with autism process grief and how parents and others in their lives can support them. Drawing on her background in both nonverbal fo...

Grief often arrives without warning and changes everything we thought we knew about ourselves, our families, and the world around us. In this episode, we talk with Erin Nelson and Colleen Montague about their new book,  When Grief Comes Home , a resource created from years of both personal loss and professional experience supporting families who are grieving. Erin, founding Executive Director of J...

What does it mean to lose your anchor people? In a short period of time, Renée Watson experienced the death of her mother, her mentor Nikki Giovanni, and her childhood friend, Charnetta. Renée shares how these experiences influenced her latest novel for young readers, All the Blues in the Sky , which follows 13-year-old Sage as she navigates grief after the death of her best friend. Renée Watson i...

In this deeply moving episode we talked with Myra Sack about the love, loss, and legacy of her daughter, Havi. Diagnosed with Tay-Sachs disease at just 15 months old, Havi's life was brief but profoundly impactful. Myra shares how she and her family navigated the unbearable reality of their daughter's illness and death, including transforming their Shabbat ritual into "S habbirthdays"  held every...

What does it mean to live with an incurable illness while navigating grief, time, and the complexity of human connection? In this episode of Grief Out Loud , we sit down with Caroline Catlin —writer, artist, and grief care worker —to explore her experience of living with an incurable brain cancer diagnosis.   Caroline shares how her relationship with cancer has evolved over the past six years, fro...

In this episode of Grief Out Loud , we welcome back Carla Fernandez , co-founder of The Dinner Party , to talk about her new book, Renegade Grief , in which she explores the question: "Now what? What are we supposed to  do after someone dies?" Carla reflects on the death of her father, the unconventional paths she's taken to process her grief, and how  The Dinner Party  came together from a desire...

In this episode Bryan Jung talks about the experience of being only nine years old when his father, a prominent lawyer in the Korean community, was  tragically shot by a nother lawyer.  Fifteen  months later and just nine days before Bryan's 11 th birthday, his father died. Bryan reflects on the impact of his father's death, the strength of his family, and how he continues to honor his dad's legac...

In this episode, we talk with Judy Lipson, author of A Celebration of Sisters . Judy shares her journey of sibling loss, reflecting on the deaths of her sisters—Margie, who died of anorexia, and Jane, who died in a car crash—and how their absence shaped her identity. She opens up about the complexities of sibling grief, the impact of Margie's long battle with an eating disorder, and the moment whe...

When Jessica Waite's husband, Sean, died suddenly, she knew him as a dedicated father to their young son and a loving, engaged spouse. In her book, The Widow's Guide to Dead Bastards, Jessica reveals the shock and heartbreak of discovering Sean's double life. What began as a devastating loss quickly became even more complex as she uncovered the many secrets he had kept—hidden debt, drug use, and i...

In this episode we talk with Annie Sklaver Orenstein , author of Always A Sibling: The Forgotten Mourners . Annie talks about her older brother, Ben, who died when he was deployed in Afghanistan, and how his sudden death reshaped her understanding of grief and loss. They discuss the unique challenges of sibling loss and how Annie ultimately decided to write the book she wished she had when Ben die...

In this episode, we talk with  Ru Callender , author of What Remains: Life, Death, and the Human Art of Undertaking . Ru shares his personal experience with profound childhood loss to becoming a self-proclaimed radical undertaker. We also discuss the impact of grief at different life stages, how participation in funerals can be helpful for children, and reimagining rituals to accurately reflect th...

Grief can be shattering - and it can also reveal unexpected strength and resilience. In this episode, we're joined by Lauren Sisler , award -winning sports broadcaster, ESPN Sideline reporter,  and author of Shatterproof: How I Overcame the Shame of Losing My Parents to Opioid Addiction (and Found my Sideline Shimmy) . Lauren shares her powerful story of losing her parents, who died within hours o...

[This episode originally aired December, 2023] This time of year can be grueling for anyone, but particularly for those who are grieving. So, each year we put out an episode to help you feel less alone and hopefully more equipped to traverse the next few weeks. Today's guest, Melissa Peede Thompson, M.S., is a Grief Services Coordinator at Dougy Center. While she has lots of professional knowledge...

It's our annual holidays and grief episode! In the past we've focused on more tangible tips and suggestions for supporting kids, teens, and adults during this time of year. This year we decided to focus on one person's lived experience with how the holidays can get really awkward when grief is involved. Ana Salazar-Walsh was just nineteen when her father died in a mountain climbing accident. A few...

When Reshma Kearney's husband Sean died of suicide, her immediate concern was their three young children. She needed to figure out how to talk to them about his death - and his life - all while meeting their emotional and physical needs. Pretty quickly she realized her needs also had to be met so she could keep showing up for them. Reshma and her kids had an established mindfulness practice before...

In May of 2024, Christine Passo's beloved dog, Maya Ray, took her last breath in Christine's arms. This wasn't the first time Christine experienced loss or trauma, but the grief she felt and continues to feel for Maya Ray caught her off guard with its intensity and depth. We talk about Maya Ray's last day, how Christine's other dog, Zoe, grieved, and how Christine and her partner are finding ways...

In honor of Children's Grief Awareness month, we asked kids and teens to talk about grief in their own words. This compilation episode includes clips from children and teens reflecting on their people who died, their varied responses to loss, and what they hope grief will feel like in future.  Thank you to all the children and teens who contributed to this episode - and to their parents and caregi...

No one is perfect and no one is just one story, but how do you grieve when the person who died was so different than the person you fell in love with? When Jenn met and fell in love with Jesse, she never imagined their relationship would unravel due to his struggles with mental health and alcohol use disorder. Jesse died in 2020 and Jenn's been left to reconcile the man she loved with the one she...

Susan Lieu , is a Vietnamese-American author, playwright, and performer. When Susan was 11 years old, her mother died from a routine plastic surgery. After she died, Susan's family stopped talking about her mother, leaving Susan on her own to figure out what happened and how to feel. Susan's debut memoir, The Manicurist's Daughter , recounts her quest to get to know her mother, avenge her death, a...

It's our 300th episode and this conversation with Maegan Parker Brooks, PhD, is the perfect one to honor that milestone. Maegan is an Associate Professor at Willamette University and a volunteer at Dougy Center where she facilitates a peer grief support group for adult caregivers of teens who are grieving. Maegan is also a daughter and sister, grieving the deaths of her father, her sister Emily, a...

Kendra Rinaldi knows a lot about grief. When she was just 21, her sister died in a car accident. Ten years later she had a miscarriage. Ten years after that, her mother died of cancer. Professionally, she is a grief guide and host of the Grief, Gratitude, and the Gray In Between podcast. But she didn't always get grief. When she was 21, she didn't realize that everything she was thinking, feeling,...

It might be better to ask Canada Taylor what she doesn't do in the realm of suicide prevention, postvention, and grief support rather than what she does because she seems to do just about everything and anything. This is part two of our conversation with her, so if you missed the first, Ep. 297: Honoring A Great Love , be sure to listen. In this episode, we talk about the holistic  approach she ta...

Twelve years ago today - August 30th - Canada Taylor was having an amazing night. She and her husband Rick were sitting outside, talking about life and work and dreams for the future - their future. Then everything changed. Rick had a medical event, and Canada became his first responder . H ours later, she became his widow. In the twelve years since, things continued to change. Canada's two sons g...

When Barri Leiner Grant was 28, her mother Ellen died suddenly. Barri was hit with intense  grief, but back then the expectation was to hurry up and get back to work and life. She didn't have the time, space, or tools to acknowledge and attend to grief. Over the past 31 years, Barri and her grief have gotten to know each other on a deep level. I n this long-term relationship, she's learned that he...

In May of 2023, Sweta Vikram was overwhelmed with grief.  In the span of three days, her father died, her father-in-law died, and it was the  9-year ann iversary of her mother's death. When she looked for information on how to survive the maelstrom of emotions, she found reassurances that she would eventually get to the other side, but nothing that showed her how to do that. So, Sweta set out to c...