Groove with Portia

Why do we expect someone to return to normal after three or five days of bereavement leave? What happens to our minds, bodies, and identities when someone we love is no longer physically here? In this episode of Groove with Portia, I'm joined by Denise Ackerman, author of Broken Hearts Keep Beating, for a heartfelt conversation about grief, losing a parent, the effects of grief on the brain and bo...

Can you be grateful for the life you've created and still want something more? What happens when the career, marriage, family, or future you once dreamed about no longer feels like the life you're meant to live? In this episode of Groove with Portia, I'm joined by Áine Rock, author of Blow Up Your Life: The Wild Art of Wanting More, for an honest conversation about identity, personal transformatio...

What if hospice care isn't what you've always imagined? What if the final months of someone's life could still include laughter, meaningful conversations, celebrations, and even a trip they've always dreamed of taking? In this episode of Groove with Portia, I'm joined by Paula Wrenn and Jo Gustely, co-authors of Dying Well with Hospice: A Compassionate Guide to End-of-Life Care, for a conversation...

Can you grieve a childhood you never had? What happens when you realize your parents were carrying pain they never learned how to heal? In this episode of Groove with Portia, I sit down with Juliana Bermesch, author of Life with Less of Me, for an honest conversation about childhood trauma, complicated family relationships, generational patterns, and the many forms of grief we experience beyond de...

What if resilience isn't about staying strong, pushing through and pretending nothing hurts? Kat Konkoli once believed resilience meant developing a tough exterior and refusing to let life's losses affect her. After losing her father as a child, her first love at 18 and, more recently, her mother, that definition of strength eventually stopped working. In this episode of Groove with Portia, Kat an...

What happens when the life you thought you were supposed to live no longer fits the person you're becoming? Kirsten Rudberg earned her Master of Divinity believing she was following a calling. But her path didn't lead to a traditional pulpit. After graduating during the pandemic, facing uncertainty about what came next and reconnecting with a creative side she had pushed down for decades, Kirsten...

What if the things we do with the best intentions at the end of someone's life aren't actually what they want? Lisa Pahl has spent years working in hospice and helping families navigate death, dying and difficult end-of-life conversations. She is also the co-founder and current owner of The Death Deck, a tool designed to make conversations about mortality a little easier. But professional experien...

What happens when grief doesn't give you enough time to grieve? Kellye Thunder Davis spent decades teaching meditation, mindfulness and stress management. But after experiencing the deaths of four people close to her, including her mother and her sweetheart Chris, the teacher suddenly became the student. On this episode of Groove with Portia, Kellye joins me to talk about the experiences behind he...

What happens when everything you know professionally about grief suddenly becomes personal? Dr. Patricia Timerman had worked in suicide prevention, intervention and postvention. She had studied suicide grief and facilitated groups for people who had lost someone to suicide. Then her dear friend Scott died by suicide. Suddenly, Patricia wasn’t simply the clinician facilitating the conversation. She...

What happens when you stop using drugs, but the pain that led you there is still waiting for you? On this episode of Groove with Portia, I sit down with Nikki Mammano, author of Breaking Good: A Memoir, for an honest conversation about addiction, childhood trauma, homelessness, recovery, shame, identity and learning to love the person you used to be. Nikki's life has included identities most peopl...

Leaving an abusive relationship doesn't always mean you immediately feel free. On this episode of Groove with Portia, I sit down with Lori Carter, domestic violence survivor, advocate and founder of The Beautiful Movement, for an honest conversation about a part of survival we don't discuss enough: the aftermath. Lori shares that healing from domestic violence has been a lifelong journey. Years af...

What happens when someone you love suddenly needs long-term care and you realize you weren't prepared for what comes next? On this special episode of Groove with Portia, I'm joined by Jacklyn Ryan, Lindsay Friedman and Nicole Lennon for an important panel discussion about long-term care, family advocacy, caregiver grief, protecting our loved ones and the warning signs families need to know. We'll...

What happens when the person who is used to fixing everything is suddenly faced with something she can't control? On this episode of Groove with Portia, I sit down with author and cancer survivor Farla Efros for an honest conversation about cancer, grief, self-advocacy and what it means to take ownership of your healthcare when life suddenly changes. Farla shares how hearing the words “you have ca...

What if moving on was never the goal? On this episode of Groove with Portia, I sit down with Kelly Edmondson, founder of Timely Presence and mother of Darius, for an intimate conversation about child loss, continuing bonds and what it really means to keep living when someone you love is no longer physically here. Darius was Kelly's oldest child, born on Christmas Day, and someone she describes as...

What happens when the life you built suddenly changes direction? On this episode of Groove with Portia, I sit down with entrepreneur and Podcast Connections co-founder Noémi Beres for a conversation about grief, resilience, entrepreneurship, reinvention and learning how to embrace the season you're in. Noémi shares the lasting lessons she carries from her father, who continued planning for the fut...

Can you find gratitude for what an experience taught you without being grateful that it happened? On this episode of Groove with Portia, I sit down with author Nicole Kranz for a candid conversation about toxic relationships, psychological abuse, self-respect and what it takes to rediscover yourself after leaving a relationship that changed you. Nicole shares why she doesn't believe healing requir...

What happens when you're trained to tell everyone else's story but never given the space to process what those stories are doing to you? Before becoming the CEO of Healium, Sarah Hill spent years working in television news. She covered homicides, domestic violence, grieving parents, court cases and some of the worst days of people's lives. Like many journalists, there wasn't always an opportunity...

Imagine being told your child might not live past 18. For Richard Williams, that wasn't a hypothetical. After losing Trevor's twin brother, Nigel, before birth, Richard nearly lost Trevor as well because of severe Hemophilia A. Years later, Trevor's mother died from cancer when Trevor was only five. On this episode of Groove with Portia, Richard sits down with me in person to share what it meant t...

In this powerful episode of Groove with Portia, host Portia Booker welcomes Ellen Lubensky, a patient advocate and founder of the Mental Health Choice Project, for a vulnerable and important conversation about mental health treatment, misdiagnosis, psychiatric medication, medication withdrawal, informed consent, and patient rights. Ellen shares her personal experience of being diagnosed after a br...

We have more ways to communicate than ever before. We can text, chat, connect through social media and even turn to artificial intelligence when we need someone—or something—to talk to. So why are so many people still feeling alone? On this episode of Groove with Portia, I sit down with Dena Trujillo, CEO of Crisis Text Line, to explore how the mental health conversation is changing and what we ma...

We’re finally talking about menopause. But are we really listening to what women are experiencing? On this episode of Groove with Portia, I welcome back my longtime friend and menopause expert Carleeka Basnight Menendez for a conversation about where the menopause conversation is today—and the work that still needs to be done. We’ll talk about the symptoms women still aren't prepared for, advocati...

On this episode of Groove with Portia, I sit down with Erica Baccus, author of A Promise Kept, to talk about her love story with her husband, John, his Alzheimer's diagnosis, and their deeply personal decision to travel outside the United States so John could choose how his life ended. We discuss grief, faith, love, Alzheimer's, dying with dignity, and why conversations about our end-of-life wishe...

What happens when the life you envisioned for yourself doesn’t happen according to plan? On this live episode of Groove with Portia, I sit down with Dr. Marline C. Duroseau, affectionately known as “Dr. Mar,” for a deeply personal conversation about infertility, pregnancy loss, grief, motherhood, and the hidden struggles women can carry behind professional success. Dr. Mar opens up about navigatin...

Leaving an abusive relationship is often described as the end of the story. For many survivors, it's only the beginning of another journey—healing from what happened, rebuilding an identity, supporting children who experienced the trauma, and grieving the life they once imagined. On this episode of Groove with Portia, I sit down with domestic violence survivor and author Yolanda Cope for an honest...

Grief and healing don't discriminate. Even the people we call during our darkest moments experience heartbreaking loss, mental health struggles, and the challenge of rebuilding after tragedy. In this episode of Groove with Portia, I sit down with Larry "LP" Penton Sr.—former firefighter, paramedic, mental health advocate, consultant, and podcast host—to discuss the heartbreaking loss of his son, t...