Restorative Grief with Mandy Capehart

“I don’t want to stay in my grief. I know I’m going to carry it with me, but I don’t want to stay in the sadness.” What does it look like to stay connected to someone you love after they die? And how do we make space for grief without losing ourselves inside it? Today’s conversation is with children’s author Jenny Robinson Clark, whose book Are You Here? was born from the loss of her mother, the e...

“You are not responsible for removing your child’s grief. You are responsible for the environment you help create.” What if parenting through divorce didn’t require you to make everything okay, but instead invited you to understand what is actually yours to carry? This conversation holds space for the quiet, often unspoken grief that comes with the end of a relationship, especially when you are st...

What does grief need from us - time, understanding, or something else entirely? In this episode, I’m joined by Kyle Kittleson, host at MedCircle, to explore what it means to live alongside grief rather than trying to fix or outpace it. We talk about how loss shapes the way we listen, why grief resists timelines, and what thousands of conversations with mental health experts have revealed about wha...

Have you ever sat with someone who is grieving and felt completely unsure what to say? If so, you're in good company! This week, let's talk about how the awkward silences you fear are an offering of solace and care for your beloved grievers. Get comfortable with the uncomfortable; that's where the magic is! Links + Resources from this episode: Learn more about Stanier's work Listen...

“Becoming a grief ally isn’t about having the perfect words—it’s about cultivating the humility, courage, and self-awareness to show up with compassion when someone you love is living through loss.” When grief enters the life of someone we care about, many of us freeze. We worry about saying the wrong thing, doing too much, or not doing enough. In this conversation, Aly Bird—life coach and author...

"What will you do when all your self-awareness isn't making a difference?" This is more common than you suspect, because learning alone doesn't move the needle in our search for the path toward wholeness. This week, we're talking about how the Enneagram is a helpful tool for language of what we're experiencing, and then we'll learn how to start integrating that langua...

“Sometimes grief isn’t just about losing a person. It’s about losing the story we thought our life would follow.” The stories we inherit shape who we are, but they aren’t always meant to stay. In this conversation, Kaitlin B. Curtice, author of Everything Is a Story: Reclaiming the Power of Stories to Heal and Shape Our Lives , invites us to notice the narratives we carry, grieve the ones that no...

“Grief is not something to get over. It is something to carry with awareness, intention, and openness to transformation.” In this episode, we explore what it means to live with grief rather than move past it. Through a restorative framework of sight, insight, action, and healing, we consider how grief becomes a guide for self-awareness, intentional living, and deeper connection. We also reflect on...

“There’s a moment in grief when you realize the story didn’t end… it just changed shape.” In this episode of Restorative Grief, Mandy is joined by filmmaker and Emmy-winning producer Jon Hill, whose feature film Above the Clouds was born from the loss of his father and shaped over thirteen years of quiet persistence. What began as heartbreak slowly became a creative path toward meaning, connection...

“Much of what we experience while scrolling the news is actually grief trying to move through the body.” How do we stay present to the world’s suffering without being swallowed by it? In this episode, we explore the very real tension of living everyday life while absorbing constant global distress. From doomscrolling and body tension to the quiet pressure to stay informed, this conversation names...

"I was in survival mode, and I needed to be really honest about it." What if the reason your spiritual life feels impossible right now is because you’ve been handed tools that were never designed for your grief? Today’s conversation is a tender one. I’m joined by my friend Becky McCoy - writer, spiritual director, and someone who understands firsthand what it means to live inside deep lo...

Our safety doesn't come from certainty. When grief breaks the story we thought we were living in, our minds naturally go looking for explanations. In this episode, we explore why we reach for certainty when life stops making sense—and how that instinct can lead us into stories that promise safety but don’t always deliver it. Together, we’ll look at narrative fallacy, the human tendency to crea...

“There is something sacred about being with someone at the end of their life. It’s like standing at the edge of the ocean, being pulled in and out by the tide, knowing that something larger than yourself is at work.” In this episode of Restorative Grief , we’re joined by death doula and storyteller Darnell Lamont Walker for a deeply human conversation about presence, love, and what it means to sho...

What if grief isn’t breaking you but interrupting a strategy that can no longer protect you? Grief can make us feel unrecognizable, but what if it’s not breaking you? Maybe it's just interrupting the strategies your nervous system has relied on to feel safe, secure, or connected. In this episode, we explore how the Enneagram can help name these survival patterns and introduce the grief-adaptiv...

What if the moments that trigger us in grief are not setbacks, but invitations to notice the themes shaping our responses? This week on Restorative Grief , Mandy sits down with clinical psychologist Dr. Tony Iezzi, co-author of Reenactments , to explore how grief often shows up through repeated emotional and behavioral patterns. Dr. Iezzi shares how the themes beneath our triggers can quietly guid...

What’s really holding you back from reaching out for grief support? In this episode we explore common worries about online support, from cost and trust to vulnerability and access. We talk about how leaning into fear can reveal what your grief truly needs and how small steps toward support can be transformative. If you’ve ever hesitated to reach out, this conversation offers clarity, reassurance,...

"The work of grief is to necessarily walk the walk of sorrow." What if your grief isn’t something to get over—but something your body is trying to make sense of? Adam Young, therapist and author of Make Sense of Your Story , joins us to explore how our stories live in the nervous system, why kindness and connection matter in healing, and why grief was never meant to be carried alone. Lin...

What if journaling isn’t the right doorway for you, but your body still needs a way to release what it’s holding? In this episode, we explore a simple 90-second voice memo practice that lets emotions move without needing to be written down, analyzed, or saved. We talk about how speaking engages the nervous system, supports emotional discharge, and creates safety through impermanence. Together, we’...

“Even if we don’t usually think of anxiety as a guide, we can start noticing it, sitting with it, and building simple practices that help us navigate life’s tender moments.” Anxiety isn’t something to conquer—it’s a companion that shapes our bodies, spirits, and communities. In this conversation, Sara Billups, author of Nervous Systems , invites us to sit with the tender spaces of our lives, notic...

What are we really asking for in our relationships, even when we say we just want love or respect? In this episode, we explore how care, intention, and reciprocity shape the way connection actually feels in our bodies and in our day to day lives. We talk about how to notice when these qualities are present, when they are missing, and why their absence can leave relationships feeling hollow even wh...

"What does it mean to carry someone’s life forward when they are no longer here?" Musician Will Anderson reflects on love, grief, and the art that carries a life forward. He shares the process of bringing his late wife Courtney Kampa’s final poetry collection, A Bright and Borrowed Light , to life, and creating a surprising companion album, How Little Love Is / How Worth Everything , tha...

What would it mean to become a safe place for yourself in the midst of grief, overwhelm, and uncertainty? This week, we explore how often safety is sought outside of ourselves and what begins to change when internal steadiness is cultivated instead. It reflects on limits, rest, and the quiet wisdom of noticing when too much is being carried. Setting something down is framed as an act of strength,...

Have you ever found yourself in a season that feels like “the low” — where everything familiar slips away, and you’re unsure whether to climb out or simply sit still for a while? This month, we're exploring that tender space with authors Justin McRoberts and Scott Erickson , co-creators of In the Low: Honest Prayers for Dark Seasons . Together, we talk about how prayer, art, and intention can...

This work is not about resignation. It is about presence. Deconstructing faith brings losses that go far beyond belief changes. In this episode, we explore the grief of losing certainty, community, roles, and a sense of belonging, and how these losses live not just in our thoughts, but in our bodies. This conversation names faith deconstruction as embodied and identity grief, and invites listeners...

"In silence, I can unmatch from all of the noise that isn't mine." After starting a dream career as a touring musician in her teens, Greta Morgan faced a threat she never saw coming - the loss of her voice. In 2020, Greta's high fever from Covid caused a diagnosis of spasmodic dysphonia - limiting her ability to use her voice at all. Over the last five years, she has learned how...