Ep. 168: Giving Forward - Grief & The Foster Care System (Derrick Kirk)
Grief Out Loud
When Derrick Kirk was six years old, he and his two sisters were removed from their home and placed in the foster care system. For Derrick, growing up in the orphanage gave him a window into a different way of life. Now a successful entrepreneur, Derrick started the Derrick Kirk Foundation and his podcast, My Thoughts With Derrick Kirk, to help other youth growing up in the foster care system.
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Ep. 167: (Trying To) Understand Suicide - Paula Fontenelle
Grief Out Loud
Paula Fontenelle is a journalist turned therapist who specializes in suicide prevention and supporting those who have had someone die of suicide. Paula's professional interest in this work is rooted in personal experience. Her father died of suicide just over 15 years ago and his death set her on two parallel trajectories: studying everything she could about suicide and spending hours interviewing friends and family, uncovering stories and details about her father's life and the pain he carried.
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Ep. 166: Emotions Aren't Problems - Krista St-Germain
Grief Out Loud
Many of us grew up believing that some emotions are good, some emotions are better, and some (most) emotions are bad. When it comes to grief the list of emotions we'd like to not have can be long: guilt, anger, shame, regret, etc. What would happen though if we stopped thinking of them as problems that need to be fixed? It was this shift that changed things for Krista St. Germain after her husband was killed by a drunk driver. Krista is a life coach who hosts the Widowed Mom Podcast.
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Ep. 165: As The Shock Wore Off - Grief's Second Year (Mira Simone)
Grief Out Loud
Mira Simone is a writer, mother, and grieving wife. Her husband Brian died of cancer in the winter of 2019, just seven weeks after a diagnosis of stage IV melanoma. When Brian died, their daughter Davida was about to turn three. Brian's death created a huge crater in their lives - leaving Mira to figure out how to live without Brian, who was the biggest love she'd ever known, while also supporting Davida in her grief.
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Ep. 164: Supporting Children & Teens In Grief - Kevin R. Carter, LCSW
Grief Out Loud
For the past three decades, Kevin Carter, LCSW, has worked as a clinician, administrator, and educator. He currently serves as the Clinical Director at the Uplift Center for Grieving Children in Philadelphia, PA. Kevin's work focuses on how grief and trauma affect youth, and particularly the African American children and families he works with.
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Ep. 163: Capital L Love - Caring For A Parent With Alzheimer's (Brianne Grebil)
Grief Out Loud
When Brianne Grebil’s mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at the age of 62, Brianne packed up and moved from LA back to northern Idaho to help care for her. Many of the moments Brianne dreaded the most ended up shifting her understanding of love and what remains when we lose everything. We talk about Brianne’s book, Love Doesn’t Care if You Forget: Lessons of Love From Alzheimer’s and Dementia and the complexities of planning a memorial during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Ep. 162: When The Professional Becomes Personal - Alesia Alexander, LCSW
Grief Out Loud
For the past two decades, Alesia Alexander, LCSW, has worked with grieving children, teens, and families. The original inspiration for doing this work was very personal. Alesia's father died of cancer in 1994 and before he died, he asked her to find a way to give back to the community that gave so much to them throughout his illness. Her daughter's father recently died of brain cancer and Alesia stepped into a new role of supporting her daughter, while attending to her own grief.
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Ep. 161: Preserving Memories -Love Not Lost With Ashley Jones
Grief Out Loud
When Ashley Jones’s infant daughter Skylar was diagnosed with SMA (spinal muscular atrophy), she wasn’t unfamiliar with grief, but she had no idea how Skylar’s illness and death would propel her into supporting others. What started as a photo session for a family grieving the death of their baby, has grown into Love Not Lost, a non-profit that provides free portrait sessions to families facing a terminal illness. Love Not Lost also offers tools and training for family, friends, and employers.
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Ep. 160: The Shared Room - Kao Kalia Yang
Grief Out Loud
Children’s books transport us – sometimes to places of imagination and sometimes to places rooted in place and culture. Kao Kalia Yang is a Hmong American writer and grieving mother who recently published The Shared Room, a brave and tender book for children (and adults) about a family grieving the death of their daughter. The Shared Room is at once a book about memories, sorrow, joy, and the ways grief is carried individually and collectively.
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Ep. 159: Back To School With Grief & The COVID-19 Pandemic - A Tip Sheet
Grief Out Loud
This episode is a little different. Rather than an interview, we are sharing information from the Dougy Center's most recent Tip Sheet - Back to School with Grief and the COVID-19 Pandemic. With how tough it can be to focus long enough to take in a lot of text when you're grieving, we wanted to offer the information in this format. We'll be bringing you more Tip Sheet episodes over the next few months, so stay tuned!
info_outlineGrief is intensely personal and sometimes it’s intensely private. When Anne Moss Roger's son Charles died of suicide, she decided to go public with her grief and the story of his life. Inspired by her son’s innate skill for connecting with others, she’s now dedicated to helping people who are struggling with grief, suicidal thoughts, and substance use.
To learn more, visit Emotionally Naked, Anne Moss's blog. Her website includes links to her new book, Diary of a Broken Mind, and her TEDx Talk - Can A Blog Save Lives?
If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out. National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-8255 (TALK)
Crisis Text Line: Text Hello to 741741