EP 58: Non-Death Losses Associated with Mental Illness with Craig Keefe (Mental Health Providers Series, Re-Broadcast)
Release Date: 05/29/2024
EP 86: What’s Your Grief? with Litsa Williams
Grief in Brief
Litsa is the Program Director and Co-founder of What’s Your Grief?. WYG is an online support and resource for all things grief. WYG has an emphasis on the unique experience and relationship we all have with loss. By sharing, exploring, and expressing we find that what is most personal applies to all. Further, they accentuate the benefit of community and the need for psychoeducation to compliment the compassion we all need for healing. Whether you are a griever, professional or someone supporting a griever WYG can be a home base. In this episode, Ken and Litsa discuss how What’s Your Grief?...
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EP 85: Sibling Loss and the Forgotten Grievers with Annie Sklaver Orensteinn (A re-broadcast)
Grief in Brief
The grief market may have a number of resources, guides and/or supports for the death of a spouse or parent. What about when your sibling dies? There are scant if any resources available. Annie discovered this after her brother was killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan. In fact, much of what is available is how siblings can care for their grieving parent. Feedback, that can be minimizing, is what siblings need to do, not how they feel. The lack of understanding and attention to sibling loss inspired Annie to write her book; Always A Sibling; the Forgotten Mourners Guide to Grief. For...
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EP 84: A reluctant father and navigating intense loss with Charles Bock (A re-broadcast)
Grief in Brief
Charles’ new book is titled I Will Do Better; a Father’s memoir of heartbreak, parenting and love. This unflinching memoir comes from the heart and goes right to the heart as six months into parenting his daughter (Lily) his wife and life partner Diana was diagnosed with cancer. Cancer took Diana’s life three days before Lily turned 3. Finding himself a widower his process begins of learning to parent while grieving. With a delicate, yet forceful blend of acknowledging pain and inserting humor Charles discusses this undertaking, and the book, with Ken. Enjoy this episode? Please...
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EP 83: Us, After; A Memoir of Love and Suicide with Rachel Zimmerman
Grief in Brief
This is the title of Rachel’s book in which she writes of the life with her husband and family before and after his death by suicide. She called upon her skills as a journalist to see where there is a story, dig deep and write it. Rachel has done just that in this poignant memoir. How does she take the first steps after the sudden and traumatic death of her husband while raising two young children? In this episode Rachel talks of the benefits of community, asking for help and using her available resources to move forward. She further discusses the beneficial need to keep her children in...
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EP 82: A Discussion of Historical and Intergenerational Trauma and Healing with Serena Cardoso, PhD, LMHC
Grief in Brief
These terms and concepts are part of our vernacular but what do they mean and what do they look like? Further, we know that things like identity, language, and stories can get lost from generation to generation. However, they may also hold some of the roots to healing. We can learn and heal from our past and how our ancestors lived. How do we navigate and shift from post traumatic stress to post traumatic growth? In this lively discussion, Ken and Serena discuss these critical concepts.
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EP 81: A Lifetime of Bereavement Education with Deborah Rivlin
Grief in Brief
In this episode Ken sits with one of his first grief educators to discuss her remarkable career working in the field of grief and bereavement. Deborah’s work spans decades and venues – hospitals, cancer units, the Good Grief program, 911 consultations, independent bereavement programs. What has stayed consistent through the years and locations is this: How do we talk about it? How do we help children and adults feel empowered and confident that they can manage? How do we educate communities, organizations, and the culture at large to use language that engages, acknowledges, and affirms...
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EP 80: Turning Grief into Action, The Building of Zach’s Bridge with Jon and Jenn Wall
Grief in Brief
Zach was 16 when he died of Osteosarcoma. Zach loved life, lived it to its fullest and the diagnosis left the Walls facing “pre-bereavement”. Pre-bereavement encompasses three things; 1. Anticipatory grief, these are feelings of grief and loss we may come to experience. 2. We change in relation to the loss. How we look at all things will be different now. 3. Using our limited time between diagnosis and death in ways that matter. As a way to honor their son and carry his loss forward with them, the Wall’s developed Zach’s Bridge. Zach’s Bridge helps ease the journey by providing 1:1...
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EP 79: Friends Missing Friends: A Declaration for Disenfranchised Grievers with Hannah Rumsey
Grief in Brief
When Hannah’s best friend died unexpectedly, she looked for help. Friends, family, mental health professionals could only go so far. She started an exhaustive search for friend loss support and found……nothing. Friend grief, like all grief, is a lifelong process yet there are scant resources for those who truly understand the impact of losing a trusted friend. Friend loss is neither family or romantic loss and thus isn’t always given the same level of attention and understanding that blood or partner loss does. After getting repeated messages (from herself) to do something and raise...
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EP 78: Life Books: Storytelling and the Preservation of Memories with Matt Jacobson
Grief in Brief
When Matt’s father died his world turned upside down. He was thrust into taking over the family business while grieving the loss. He was also concerned about preserving the memory of his father and learning from others through their experience of his father. All the while trying to keep him present through the story telling. What was launched from this desire was Life Books. Everyone’s story is worth telling and worth sharing. The fear of not sharing is that over time the memories will fade. Matt discusses his passion and purpose behind starting Life Books. Enjoy this episode? Please give...
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EP 77: Companion Animal End of Life Doula with Niki Vettel
Grief in Brief
Our respect, appreciation and understanding that pets are part of our family, life and social network has always been known. However, our actions did not always show this. Many of us have heard some version of, “Sorry, your dog died…. are you going to get another one?” as if pets are merely commodities. Niki brings grace, dignity and respect to end of life care for animals - just as we would humans. The vital role of an end of life doula is something to become aware of. Niki highlights the valuable position doulas play at such a difficult time for pet owners. Enjoy this episode?...
info_outlineChronic mental health and mental illness impact not only those who suffer from them but also their extended families and support systems. There are associated losses around expectations and hopes for those connected to the person. A diagnosis and a hospitalization can be traumatic and have a feeling of grief for the “patient” as well as their networks. The corresponding feelings are often thought of as behavioral responses but might have their roots in grief reactions. Similarly, the stigma of mental illness parallels stigmatized deaths. Craig Keefe is a social worker who has been the Executive Director of Clinical Services for an inpatient psychiatric hospital. He and Ken discuss these non-death losses in this episode.
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Download Ken’s free PDF, “What to say when you don’t know what to say” HERE