The Raw Reality of Grief
Healing Starts with the Heart
Episode Summary: Welcome to Healing Starts With the Heart, the podcast where grief meets resilience. In this episode, grief specialist Sharon Brubaker gets raw and real about the unspoken chaos of grief—what it feels like in your body, why your mind can’t stop replaying the moment it all changed, and how society leaves us completely unprepared to deal with it. From the hospital diagnosis to the late-night phone call that split life into “before and after,” Sharon lays out what really happens when grief hits—and why it’s not weakness, madness, or something you just “get over.”...
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9 Lies About Grief That Are Keeping You Stuck
Healing Starts with the Heart
Episode Summary: Welcome to Healing Starts With the Heart, where grief gets real and healing gets honest. In this episode, grief specialist Sharon Brubaker pulls back the curtain on the 9 biggest lies we’ve been told about grief—and how they’ve shaped generations of silent suffering. From pretending you're okay to being told “just stay busy,” this episode is a deep and raw dive into the ways our society teaches us to perform instead of process our pain. If you’ve ever felt like you’re grieving “wrong,” this is your invitation to unlearn the myths and finally make space for...
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Why Pain Is The Missing Piece
Healing Starts with the Heart
Episode Summary: In this powerful and raw episode of Healing Starts With the Heart, grief specialist Sharon Brubaker asks a deeply uncomfortable—but necessary—question: What if the pain isn’t the problem… but the key to your healing? Sharon breaks down why so many of us are still stuck in our grief—not because we’re doing it wrong, but because no one ever taught us how to feel the pain instead of managing it. From performative grief to inherited patterns, she shares how unprocessed pain keeps us in a holding pattern of burnout, resentment, and silence. You’ll learn how to stop...
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When the Whole Community Is Hurting
Healing Starts with the Heart
Episode Description: In this powerful episode of Healing Starts with the Heart, grief specialist Sharon Brubaker takes us into the often-unspoken world of collective grief—the grief that doesn’t belong to just one person, one family, or one household. It belongs to all of us. When tragedy strikes a community—whether it’s a school shooting, a local accident, a sudden death, or a public loss—every face reflects the sorrow. And every heart carries a piece of it. Sharon unpacks what it means to grieve together, how public mourning impacts private pain, and why it’s so hard to know what...
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What Grief Steals from You
Healing Starts with the Heart
Episode Description: In this raw, heart-opening episode of Healing Starts with the Heart, grief specialist Sharon Brubaker walks you through one of the deepest truths about loss—grief doesn't just take your person. It takes everything. And no one prepares you for that part. With her own story and the stories of thousands of grievers she’s supported, Sharon names the unspoken: how grief sneaks in like a thief in the night and strips away your energy, your motivation, your peace, and even your sense of time. This isn’t just emotional pain. It’s physical, spiritual, mental—and it...
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Grief Is Not Just Sadness
Healing Starts with the Heart
Episode Description: In this deep and unfiltered episode of Healing Starts with the Heart, grief specialist Sharon Brubaker unpacks one of the most misunderstood truths about grief—that it’s not just sadness. So many grievers are led to believe that they’re supposed to carry this endless, heavy sadness for the rest of their lives—that sadness is the whole story of grief. But in this powerful conversation, Sharon reveals what most people don’t talk about: that grief affects your entire body, your mind, your spirit, and your entire world. With honesty, compassion, and her...
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Your Grief Story
Healing Starts with the Heart
Episode Summary: In this heartfelt episode of Healing Starts with the Heart, Sharon Brubaker opens the door to a topic many avoid—your grief story. Not the polite, watered-down version, but the real, raw, unfiltered story of what happened, what you felt, and what you still carry. Sharon explains why telling this story—first to yourself and then to others—is a necessary part of healing. She shares how the truth of our pain holds the key to transformation, connection, and true emotional release. Whether you’ve lost a person, a dream, a relationship, or a piece of yourself—this episode...
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You Knew How to Grieve
Healing Starts with the Heart
In this empowering episode of Healing Starts with the Heart, Sharon Brubaker pulls back the curtain on one of the greatest grief misconceptions: that we need to learn how to grieve. Sharon reveals a deeper truth—we were all born knowing how to grieve. From your first cry to your instinct to reach out when in pain, grief is not something to be taught but something we’ve been taught to forget. Through raw, compassionate storytelling and the powerful example of a client who found her way back to healing, Sharon reminds us that grief is not a flaw—it’s our body and spirit doing exactly...
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Lean Into the Pain, Don’t Run From It
Healing Starts with the Heart
In this raw and deeply honest episode of Healing Starts with the Heart, Sharon Brubaker invites listeners into the messy, painful, and necessary truth of what it means to lean in to grief. Instead of hiding, numbing, or pretending you’re okay, Sharon challenges you to stop running from the pain and start facing it head-on. This is not about suffering for suffering’s sake—it’s about healing the only way that works: by feeling it all. If you’ve ever told yourself, “If I let this out, I’ll never stop crying,” this episode is for you. Sharon unpacks the myths we’re told about...
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The Day Everything Fell Apart
Healing Starts with the Heart
🎙️ Episode Summary: In this unforgettable episode of Healing Starts with the Heart, grief specialist Sharon Brubaker shares the story of the exact moment her life split into “before” and “after.” Through a searingly honest account of the phone call that changed everything—the loss of her nephew Austin—Sharon takes listeners inside the collapse that grief can cause. This isn’t a conversation about “moving on” or checking boxes—it’s a journey through the mess, the silence, and the search for truth. If you’ve had that day—the one where it all fell apart—this...
info_outlineIn this raw and deeply honest episode of Healing Starts with the Heart, Sharon Brubaker invites listeners into the messy, painful, and necessary truth of what it means to lean in to grief. Instead of hiding, numbing, or pretending you’re okay, Sharon challenges you to stop running from the pain and start facing it head-on. This is not about suffering for suffering’s sake—it’s about healing the only way that works: by feeling it all. If you’ve ever told yourself, “If I let this out, I’ll never stop crying,” this episode is for you. Sharon unpacks the myths we’re told about grief, the lies we believe to stay strong, and what it truly means to begin moving pain through you—not around you.
Key Points Discussed:
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Why avoidance only deepens and prolongs grief
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The dangerous myth that time alone heals grief
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What “leaning into the pain” actually looks like in real life
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How grief lives in the body—and what happens when we suppress it
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The truth about emotional numbness and false strength
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Why staying “composed” is not the same as healing
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The power of sitting with your grief, naming your pain, and giving it space
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The importance of breaking free from performative grieving and moving into true processing
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How leaning in, little by little, helps you reclaim pieces of yourself
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Real-life stories of clients who finally allowed themselves to cry—and what happened next
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Why grief is not a lifetime sentence, unless you choose it to be
Journal Questions for Reflection:
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What pain have you been avoiding in your grief?
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Where in your body do you feel the heaviness of your loss?
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What lies have you been told (or believed) about being strong?
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What might shift if you gave yourself permission to fall apart today?
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Can you name a moment when you chose numbness over feeling? What did that cost you?
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What part of your grief needs to be witnessed right now—by you?
Conclusion:
Grief demands to be felt. Not hidden, not ignored, not scheduled. And the truth is, real healing only begins when you choose to lean in. You don’t have to be strong. You don’t have to pretend. You just have to show up—to your own pain—with honesty and compassion. You’ll find that in the leaning, there’s light. There’s breath. There’s a path forward.
Contact Us:
Have a question, story, or want to connect with Sharon?
📧 Email: [email protected]
📱 Follow Sharon on TikTok: @thegriefschool
🌐 Join our healing spaces: www.thegriefschool.com
✨ Be part of our community: clickhereforhope.com
💬 Join us for Grief Study Hall (Tuesdays 1–3 PM CST) or Processing the Pain of Grief (Thursdays 7 PM CST)