Grief is a Sneaky Bitch

Known as Hospice Nurse Julie on TikTok and Instagram, today’s guest, Julie McFadden, with 16 years of experience as an ICU and Hospice/Palliative nurse, is passionate about normalizing discussions around death through education. She has garnered a significant TikTok following, covering end-of-life topics that have earned her recognition in Newsweek, USA Today, The Atlantic, and several other global articles. Julie actively engages with her audience across various social platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, fostering a more open conversation about death. Just like her videos, and in her forthcoming book, Nothing to Fear, in our conversation today she is kind and direct, helping to make clear what’s fact and what’s myth when it comes to hospice care. About the Guest & ResourcesYou can learn more about Julie McFadden, her forthcoming book, Nothing to Fear: Demystifying Death to Live More Fully, and more by visiting hospicenursejulie.com or following her @hospicenursejulie on TikTok or Instagram. Over the past five seasons of this podcast, I’ve invited various guests on to talk about the role of both palliative care and hospice care with you. From Palliative Drs. BJ Miller and Sunita Puri, to Palliative Social Workers Rachel Rusch and Rachel Carnahan-Metzger and others, this topic is profoundly important. Why? Well because so many of us will find ourselves in a position where someone we love will likely qualify for hospice someday. Perhaps we will too.About the HostHost Lisa Keefauver’s forthcoming book Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or Bookshop.org. Drop her a DM on Instagram @lisakeefauvermsw to let her know you did and she’ll send you a party invite to her Book Launch Celebration. You can also meet her in person at one of the stops on her book tour which begins June 4th and includes cities like L.A., San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Baltimore, Boston, New York City, and more.Visit www.lisakeefauver.com and sign up for her Not-So-Regular Newsletter, to learn about her book tour, individual grief support openings, upcoming online and in-person grief workshops or to watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less. Oh, and this season, if you want to WATCH the show, you can now watch it on YouTube @lisakeefauvermsw Recorded April 5, 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, Ronit plank is a successful writer of fiction and non-fiction, an editor, a podcast host of not 1 but 2 shows, and a teacher. But long before she became all those things, she was a young girl born on a Kibbutz in Israel, shuffled across the globe to Seattle by 2 unhappily married parents. Soon after, her father left to start a new family on the east coast. And then the following year, her mother dropped her and her younger sister on his doorstep - announcing she was headed to India. Her mother was sad and lost and was given cassette tapes by a guru called Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh – the man we now know as the leader of the cult featured in the Netflix Documentary Series Wild Wild Country. But back then Ronit didn’t know any of that, she just knew that she and her sister were abandoned repeatedly, leaving her with a deep well of grief that no one was naming as loss. In her extraordinary memoir, When She Comes Back, she shares revelations and insights about the nature of loss when the person is very much alive. In our conversation today, we’re both deeply moved and reflective about the adultification that happens when we grow up in disorganized and chaotic households, and the importance of honoring with care the versions of us that never got what we deserved, a safe and loving home. I can’t wait for you to spend time with Ronit today. I know for sure you will be both touched and inspired by her story. About the Guest & Resources Ronit Plank is an award-winning writer, teacher, and podcaster who hosts Let's Talk Memoir featuring interviews with memoir writers and teachers. Her writing has earned Pushcart Prize, Best Microfiction, and Best of the Net nominations and has appeared or is forthcoming in The Atlantic, Writer’s Digest, The Washington Post, Hippocampus, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets and Writers, andelsewhere. WHEN SHE COMES BACK, her memoir about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation, was named Finalist in the 2021 Housatonic Awards,the 2021 Indie Excellence Awards, and was a 2021 Book Riot Best True Crime Book. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023Page Turner Awards for Short Stories. She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and lives in Seattle with her family where she editsmemoir manuscripts and teaches workshops. You can learn more at RonitPlank.com, follow her on Instagram, and subscribe to her Memoir Moments newsletter here. Host Lisa Keefauver’s forthcoming book Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or Bookshop.org. Drop her a DM on Instagram @lisakeefauvermsw to let her know you did and she’ll send you a party invite to her Book Launch Celebration Visit www.lisakeefauver.com to learn more about Lisa, sign up for her Not-So-Regular Newsletter, register for an upcoming online grief workshop or watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less. Oh, and this season, if you want to WATCH the show, you can now watch it on YouTube @lisakeefauvermsw Recorded April 5, 2024.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re all just briefly perfectly human. That’s the profound reminder from our guest today, Alua Arthur. If we are brave enough to allow this truth be at the center of awareness in our day-to-day lives, Alua argues we could live a fuller, more compassionate, and even magic-filled existence. In our conversation today, and in her adventure-filled and beautifully honest memoir, Briefly Perfectly Human, she helps us see how we can make an authentic life by getting real about the end. Alua Arthur is a death doula, recovering attorney, and the founder of Going with Grace, a death doula training and end-of-life planning organization that exists to support people as they answer the question, “What must I do to be at peace with myself so that I may live presently and die gracefully?” Going with Grace works to improve and redefine the end-of-life experience for people rooted in every community using the individual lived experience as the foundation. Alua’s warmth, wisdom, wit, and passion for living - even while keeping the end in mind - is an inspiration to me and I know you will feel the same way after today’s episode.  About the Guest & ResourcesAuthor of BRIEFLY PERFECTLY HUMAN: Making an Authentic Life by Getting Real About the End, Alua Arthur is the most visible and active death doula working in America today. She is a recovering attorney and the founder of Going with Grace, a death doula training and end-of-life planning organization. Her TED Talk titled, “Why Thinking About Death Helps You Live a Better Life,” went online in July 2023 and has already received nearly 1.4 million views. A frequent guest on TV and radio, Arthur has been featured on CBS’s The Doctors and in Disney's Limitless docu-series with Chris Hemsworth, as well as other national media outlets, such as Vogue, InStyle, the Los Angeles Times, The Cut, The New Yorker, New York Times, Marie Claire, and CNN. She has appeared on dozens of podcasts, and a Refinery29 video feature on Arthur and her work received ten million views across social platforms. In non-pandemic times, she travels the country and world as a keynote speaker, addressing audiences of several hundred to several thousand people at medical and end-of-life conferences, universities, seminaries, senior citizens’ communities, and more. Host Lisa Keefauver’s forthcoming book Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or Bookshop.org. Drop her a DM on Instagram @lisakeefauvermsw to let her know you did and she’ll send you a party invite to her Book Launch Celebration. Visit www.lisakeefauver.com to learn more about Lisa, sign up for her Not-So-Regular Newsletter, register for an upcoming online grief workshop or watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less. Oh, and this season, if you want to WATCH the show, you can now watch it on YouTube @lisakeefauvermsw Recorded March 22nd, 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

5 years ago, while today’s guest, Nikki Mark, was driving her 12-year-old son, Tommy, to a soccer game, he turned to her and asked, “Mom, is it possible to go to sleep and not wake up?” Nikki told him that’s how one of his grandmothers passed away: “it’s the best way to go-no pain, no drama.” He surprised Nikki further by stating, “It must be hard for a parent to lose a child.” Something told her in that car ride to tell him all the things she loved about him. Three days later, Tommy passed away in his sleep. There's still no medical explanation. Since that day, Nikki says she surrendered and that act has taken her on a healing path unlike many others – one that has included psychics, mediums, psychadelics, astrologists, and more. Even more profoundly, she has brought her strength and sheer determination to fulfill the dreams of not just Tommy, but so many families, by fundraising and then donating public fields to create Tommy’s Field – an open-to-the-public athletic fields that keep Tommy’s love of soccer and community alive and well.  About the Guest & ResourcesNikki’s “inspirational debut memoir” (as lauded by Publisher’s Weekly) is entitled Tommy’s Field: Love, Loss and the Goal of a Lifetime. Prior to losing Tommy, Nikki released a children's book series - The MightyMom Series- which includes Mommy Brings Home the Bacon; Mommy's Got a Bun in the Oven; and MightyMom. All author’s profits from all book sales are being donated to the TM23 Foundation to build more athletic fields where they are most needed, and to brighten our world with the #powerofplay. Access Nikki’s free weekly articles, popular alternative healing toolkit, and other valuable resources at Nikkimark.com. Host Lisa Keefauver’s forthcoming book Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or Bookshop.org. Drop her a DM on Instagram @lisakeefauvermsw to let her know you did and she’ll send you a party invite to her Book Launch Celebration Visit www.lisakeefauver.com to learn more about Lisa, sign up for her Not-So-Regular Newsletter, register for an upcoming online grief workshop or watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less. Oh, and this season, if you want to WATCH the show, you can now watch it on YouTube @lisakeefauvermsw Recorded March 16th, 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m thrilled to share my conversation with Peter A. Levine, the renowned developer of Somatic Experiencing - a naturalistic and neurobiological approach to healing trauma, which he has developed over the past 50 years. He holds a Medical and Biological Physics doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley and a doctorate in Psychology from International University. He is the recipient of four lifetime achievement awards and is the author of several books, including Waking the Tiger, which has now been printed in 33 countries and has sold over a million copies. His memoir, An Autobiography of Trauma: A Healing Journey will be published on April 9th,2024.  ResourcesOrder An Autobiography of Trauma at https://books.innertraditions.com/autobiography-of-trauma/Dr. Levine is the author of several best-selling books on trauma, including Waking the Tiger, Healing Trauma (published in over 29 languages); In an Unspoken Voice,How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness; and Trauma and Memory,Brain and Body in a Search for the Living Past. Check out Peter Levine’s incredible resources on trauma and somatic experiencing (including videos, online courses, and his best-selling books) by visiting https://www.somaticexperiencing.com Host Lisa Keefauver’s forthcoming book Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or Bookshop.org. Drop her a DM on Instagram @lisakeefauvermsw to let her know you did and she’ll send you a party invite to her Book Launch Celebration Visit www.lisakeefauver.com to learn more about Lisa, sign up for her Not-So-Regular Newsletter, register for an upcoming online grief workshop or watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less. Oh, and this season, if you want to WATCH the show, you can now watch it on YouTube @lisakeefauvermsw Recorded March 8th, 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I bring you my conversation with the wise and warm grief therapist and author, Claire Bidwell Smith.There are some common themes most grievers experience, regardless of the source of their loss. These include things like a loss of self-identity, heightened feelings of guilt, time spent ruminating on the what ifs, and increased anxiety and fear. What makes these typical experiences even more challenging is that they are so rarely named by others, or shown in media, and so we often feel even further isolated from the world and uncertain how to get ourselves unstuck. That’s why I’m so grateful for Claire’s words and wisdom. In her recent book Conscious Grieving, and in our conversation, Claire opens up about her personal experiences with these themes in the wake of the death of both of her parents in her 20’s. Over the course of her career as a grief therapist both in private practice and hospice, she has gained such deep insight on how we move through various phases in grief, or orientations as she calls them. She helps us unpack what we might face in each and the roadblocks that can get in our way. From the insights she shares to her soft and warm voice, you are going to feel guided with care through today’s conversation. ResourcesCheck out Claire’s body of work, including Conscious Grieving (her 5th book), hitting bookstores March 12th. If you’re listening before then, you don’t have to wait, you can pre-order it today on your favorite online bookseller. Also, Claire offers a wide array of workshops, retreats, and more, so head over to clairebidwellsmith.com to learn more. Host Lisa Keefauver’s forthcoming book Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or Bookshop.org. Drop her a DM on Instagram @lisakeefauvermsw to let her know you did and she’ll send you a party invite to her Book Launch Celebration Visit www.lisakeefauver.com to learn more about Lisa, sign up for her Not-So-Regular Newsletter, register for an upcoming online grief workshop or watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less. Oh, and this season, if you want to WATCH the show, you can now watch it on YouTube @lisakeefauvermsw Recorded December 1, 2023 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My conversation with guest Devin Moss was so rich and expansive, from our shared passion for the big existential questions to his rich and complex podcast series, Momento Mori (that dives deep into mortality), to his unexpected journey to becoming a Humanist Chaplain. He shares one of the most unique experiences of a bedside death I’ve ever heard. Soon after becoming certified Devin said yes to a request from an inmate on death row to have a non-theist chaplain accompany him in his final months on earth. Devin Sean Moss is a Humanist (nontheist) Chaplain unwavering in his pursuit to relate stories that connect us to our humanity. A natural explorer, he uses playful inquisition to examine the complexity of the human condition and the intrinsic meaning of life. Moss maintains an interdisciplinary practice of storytelling, street philosophy, and practical altruism. In 2015, Moss created The Adventures of Memento Mori podcast.. The consequence of this deep meditation on impermanence was life-changing. Uncertain of what happens after we die, Moss has dedicated his life to the positive changes that can happen while we’re still alive. ResourcesYou can learn more about Devin’s podcast, Momento Mori, and his work by visiting dsmoss.com or following him on Instagram at ds_moss Host Lisa Keefauver’s forthcoming book Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or Bookshop.org. Drop her a DM on Instagram @lisakeefauvermsw to let her know you did and she’ll send you a party invite to her Book Launch Celebration Visit www.lisakeefauver.com to learn more about Lisa, sign up for her Not-So-Regular Newsletter, register for an upcoming online grief workshop or watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less. Oh, and this season, if you want to WATCH the show, you can now watch it on YouTube @lisakeefauvermsw Recorded January 26,2024 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Darnell Lamont Walker joined me for an expansive conversation in this episode - from the questions you might want to ask yourself and others in life instead of waiting until death’s door, to the complex and layered experiences of grief and loss in the Black community, to the power of creativity and play as a tool of healing. Darnell is an Emmy-Nominated children's television writer who understands the power of representation and joy, creating content in hopes that all children get the opportunity to not only see themselves, but see how incredible they are and can be. Darnell has written for outstanding shows, including PBS Kids’ Work It Out Wombats!, Netflix’s Karma’s World, and Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues & You. He’s a death doula, helping individuals and communities move through grief and toward healing and happiness. Darnell’s goal with his is to continue to support children, adults, and whole communities around the world through the building of safe and happy spaces. ResourcesYou can learn more about the work Darnell offers from his courses at the Esalen Insitute, to writing projects, his work as a Death Doula and so much more by visiting www.darnellwalker.com or following him on Instagram at hello.darnell Host Lisa Keefauver’s forthcoming book Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or Bookshop.org. Drop her a DM on Instagram @lisakeefauvermsw to let her know you did and she’ll send you a party invite to her Book Launch Celebration Visit www.lisakeefauver.com to learn more about Lisa, sign up for her Not-So-Regular Newsletter, register for an upcoming online grief workshop or watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less. Oh, and this season, if you want to WATCH the show, you can now watch it on YouTube @lisakeefauvermsw Recorded January 26,2024  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As my guest, Asa Merritt knows, it's important that we see, hear, experience a wider expanse of grief stories that show the messy, beautiful, dynamic experience of a wide variety of losses. That’s why I’m thrilled to share my recent conversation with him. In his most recent project, Six Sermons, a new Audible Original series starring Stephanie Hsu from Everything Everywhere All At Once, Asa spent a month embedded with a team of pastors at a Lutheran church in Cincinnati, OH. Six Sermons is dedicated to the actor and musician Caz Liske, who died by suicide in Moscow in 2017. He weaves his own personal process of grappling with anger, frustration, sorrow, and confusion he experienced after the death of his friend into a powerful narrative that models for all of us the messy, vulnerable, and important conversations we need to have to move forward in our grief, particularly in the wake of a loss by suicide. Asa is a former international reporter for NPR, VICE Sports, The Guardian and ESPN’s 30 for 30 podcast. Asa brings a compassionate documentary eye to ambitious fictional projects. Resources You can download Six Sermon’s, an audible original by visiting www.audible.com. If you’d like to learn more about the principles and practices of exploring your story in a healing way, I encourage you to check out my conversation with Dr. Annie Brewster entitled The Healing Power of Storytelling in Season 3 – 2022. I also HIGHLY recommend her book of the same title. You can find a link to her book and all those featured on this podcast at my Grief is a Sneaky Bitch podcast at lisakeefauver.com Host Lisa Keefauver’s forthcoming book Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or Bookshop.org. Drop her a DM on Instagram @lisakeefauvermsw to let her know you did and she’ll send you a party invite to her Book Launch Celebration Visit www.lisakeefauver.com to learn more about Lisa, sign up for her Not-So-Regular Newsletter, register for an upcoming online grief workshop or watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less. Oh, and this season, if you want to WATCH the show, you can now watch it on YouTube @lisakeefauvermsw Recorded January 19, 2024  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this interactive bonus episode, host Lisa Keefauver invites listeners to reflect on the importance of honoring or creating ritual for the anniversaries of the day their lives changed - even when they're “not all better yet.” This episode emerged after the overwhelming feedback she received from an essay she recently shared called “Honoring the ‘Not All Better Yet’ Anniversaries” about the one-year anniversary of her Breast Cancer Diagnosis. In this episode, listeners are:Guided through a compassion meditation,Invited to hold space for Lisa’s story of honoring the anniversary of her Breast Cancer diagnosis,Given a series of questions that will help them create their own ritual for honoring their "not all better yet" anniversaries,Read a short excerpt on the topic of starting close in from her forthcoming book, Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss.  “But what struck me last month is the lack of acknowledgment or ritual for those before/after days where we’re not in the “after” yet. How do we honor the time that’s passed since our lives shifted when we’re still in the middle of that change? When there is still a force in motion, and we haven’t arrived at the other side. For me, that day was last month on the one-year anniversary of the day I got my Breast Cancer diagnosis. One year later and I’m not all better yet, I’m not on the other side.” - Lisa Keefauver Resources: You can find all the books featured on the show by visiting the Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Wishlist on Bookshop.org Host Lisa Keefauver’s forthcoming book Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or Bookshop.org. Drop her a DM on Instagram @lisakeefauvermsw to let her know you did, and she’ll send you a party invite to her Book Launch Celebration Visit www.lisakeefauver.com to learn more about Lisa, sign up for her Not-So-Regular Newsletter, register for an upcoming online grief workshop or watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less. Recorded February 6, 2024 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest, J.J. Duncan, knows firsthand both professionally and personally how powerful storytelling is and the openings they create. She is an award-winning television producer, writer, advocate, and co-founder of the nonprofit, “Not Today Cancer,” which raises funds for childhood cancer research. J.J. is widely known in the entertainment industry as an Executive Producer and Showrunner of such hits as Project Runway, and The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, among others. After losing her eleven-year-old son Mason to leukemia, J.J. also became known as a childhood cancer advocate, using her influence as a top television producer to open up the very real human discussions of grief, mental health, and end-of-life care through storytelling. J.J. was a speaker at the EndWell conference in November of 2023, where she spoke about healing through personal storytelling. On multiple visits to Capitol Hill, J.J. has told her story to Congress in order to advocate for childhood cancer laws, and she has multiple projects in the works to continue the conversation for anyone looking to explore their own stories of loss. With all her focus on loss, it may be surprising to learn that J.J. risks delight at every turn, always looking for the funny and striving to take the story to an unexpected place of joy. You can learn about J.J. Duncan by checking out her Endwell interview here.  Resources and Support:In honor of our conversation about childhood cancer, I want to share links to 2 non-profits who are working to find the cure for childhood cancer while also supporting children and families enduring it now. Learn more and consider supporting, Not Today Cancer at www.nottodaycancer.careLearn more about and support the Phoenix Stone Foundation at https://phoenixstonefoundation.org You can find all the books featured on the show by visiting the Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Wishlist on Bookshop.org Host Lisa Keefauver’s forthcoming book Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or Bookshop.org. Drop her a DM on Instagram @lisakeefauvermsw to let her know you did and she’ll send you a party invite to her Book Launch Celebration Visit www.lisakeefauver.com to learn more about Lisa, sign up for her Not-So-Regular Newsletter, register for an upcoming online grief workshop or watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less. Oh, and this season, if you want to WATCH the show, you can now watch it on YouTube @lisakeefauvermsw Recorded January 5, 2023   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest, Gina Moffa, author of Moving On Doesn't Mean Letting Go: A Modern Guide to Navigating Loss, is a licensed grief and trauma psychotherapist and mental health educator in New York City. In practice for two decades, Gina helps people seeking treatment for trauma, grief, as well as challenging life experiences and transitions.Whether we’re grieving a death loss, the end of a friendship, a breakup or an ambiguous loss, 100% of us experience grief. Yet so many of us feel stuck because the old ways of thinking of grief don’t align with what we know we need deep down – to find a way to move forward, not on – and do be able to keep our person with us when we do.Gina invites us to take an honest look at how grief affects our lives and offers a heartfelt and practical map through the dark terrain of loss. She is full of warmth and wisdom, and you are going to love the topics we explore in this episode.ResourcesVisit www.ginamoffa.com to learn more about Gina, her work as a psychotherapist and of course this wonderful book, Moving On Doesn’t Mean Letting GoYou can find all the books featured on the show, including Moving On Doesn’t Mean Letting Go by Gina Moffa by visiting the Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Wishlist on Bookshop.org Host Lisa Keefauver’s forthcoming book Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or Bookshop.org. Drop her a DM on Instagram @lisakeefauvermsw to let her know you did and she’ll send you a party invite to her Book Launch Celebration Visit www.lisakeefauver.com to learn more about Lisa, sign up for her Not-So-Regular Newsletter, register for an upcoming online grief workshop or watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less. Oh, and this season, if you want to WATCH the show, you can now watch it on YouTube @lisakeefauvermsw Recorded November 3, 2023 – Host Lisa Keefauver had just completed Radiation for Breast Cancer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest, Stephanie Sarazin, is a writer, researcher, and ambiguous grief guide. In this episode, as in her award-winning book Soulbroken: A Guidebook for Your Journey Through Ambiguous Grief, she shares how her work began. After experiencing her own mid-life trauma, she embarked on an ambitious journey - spiritually and around the world—to understand, name, and heal the grief she found within her.   Her efforts revealed a first-of-its-kind definition for “ambiguous grief,” whereby grief is onset by the loss of a loved one who is still living and wherein the experience of hope presents as a stage of the grieving process.  Stephanie’s work brings new resources to reframe disruptive, activating events as a gateway to discovering your highest self, in turn championing ambiguous grief as nuanced, natural, and navigable.Visit www.stephaniesarazin.com to learn more about Steph, her research, her work as an ambiguous grief guide and her book, Soulbroken.You can find all the books featured on the show, including Soulbroken by Stephanie Sarazin by visiting the Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Wishlist on Bookshop.org Host Lisa Keefauver’s forthcoming book Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or Bookshop.org. Drop her a DM on Instagram @lisakeefauvermsw to let her know you did and she’ll send you a party invite to her Book Launch Celebration Visit www.lisakeefauver.com to learn more about Lisa, sign up for her Not-So-Regular Newsletter, register for an upcoming online grief workshop or watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less. Oh, and this season, if you want to WATCH the show, you can now watch it on YouTube @lisakeefauvermsw Recorded October 27, 2023 – Host Lisa Keefauver had just completed Radiation for Breast Cancer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In her extraordinarily honest and beautiful memoir, End of the Hour, and in our conversation in this episode, Meghan Riordan Jarvis lays bare her experience of PTSD following the deaths of both of her parents within two years of each other. Meghan’s story and perspective is unique as she has spent the past 20+ years as a psychotherapist specializing in trauma, grief, and loss. She opens about her unraveling and the necessary courage it took to check herself into the same inpatient trauma center she had sent clients to over her career. You are going to love Meghan’s honesty, humor and insight.Visit www.meghanriordanjarvis to learn more about Meghan, her podcast, TEDx talk, book, End of the Hour, the consulting work she does with companies and more.You can find all the books featured on the show, including End of the Hour by Meghan Riordan Jarvis by visiting the Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Wishlist on Bookshop.org Host Lisa Keefauver’s forthcoming book Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss is now available for PRE-ORDER on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or Bookshop.org. Drop her a DM on Instagram @lisakeefauvermsw to let her know you did and she’ll send you a party invite to her Book Launch Celebration Visit www.lisakeefauver.com to learn more about Lisa, sign up for her Not-So-Regular Newsletter, register for an upcoming online grief workshop or watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less. Oh, and this season, if you want to WATCH the show, you can now watch it on YouTube @lisakeefauvermsw Recorded November 3, 2023 – Host Lisa Keefauver had just completed Radiation for Breast Cancer.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sally Douglas and Imogen Carn met during the saddest time in both their lives, after the sudden deaths of both of their mothers. That’s when they had the lightbulb moment to start the Good Mourning podcast, and the rest is history. From their first recording on Sal’s sofa to 100 episodes, a top podcast and a global community that reaches over 100 thousand people each month, it’s been an incredible journey. They’ve helped each other to higher, happier ground, becoming soul sisters, pod-wives and co-authors in the process. Hosts of the successful podcast Good Mourning and their popular book of the same name, these two Aussie women bring their accents, charm, and the wisdom they’ve learned along their grief journey to our conversation. You’re going to love these two! You can find all the books featured on the show, including Good Mourning by Sal and Im  by visiting the Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Wishlist on Bookshop.orgVisit goodmourning.com.au to learn more about Sal and Im, their podcast, book, and how to get involved in their support community. Host Lisa Keefauver’s forthcoming book Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or Bookshop.org. Visit www.lisakeefauver.com to learn more about Lisa, sign up for her Not-So-Regular Newsletter, register for an upcoming online grief workshop or watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less. Oh, and this season, if you want to WATCH the show, you can now watch it on YouTube @lisakeefauvermswRecorded September 3, 2023 – Host Lisa Keefauver had just completed chemotherapy for Breast Cancer.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As artist-in-residence at the Zen Hospice Project Guest House in San Francisco, Wendy MacNaughton witnessed firsthand how difficult it is to know what to do when we’re sharing final moments with a loved one. In this tenderly illustrated guide to saying goodbye, MacNaughton shows how to make sure those moments are meaningful. Using a framework of “the five things” taught to her by a professional caregiver, How to Say Goodbye provides a model for having conversations of love, respect, and closure: with the words “I forgive you,” “Please forgive me,” “Thank you,” “I love you,” and “Goodbye,” each oriented toward finding mutual peace and understanding when it matters most. In her book, and in our conversation in this episode, Wendy offers us a beautiful, poetic, masterful meditation on the art of presence as love.If you liked this episode, you might also like my conversation with our mutual connection palliative Dr. BJ Miller. His episode, Unnecessary Suffering, aired in Season 3. You can find all the books featured on the show, including How to Say Goodbye by Wendy MacNaughton by visiting the Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Wishlist on Bookshop.orgVisit www.wendymacnaughton.com to learn more about Wendy, and if you want weekly drawing lessons and assignments from Wendy delivered directly to your inbox, you can join the Grown-Ups Table.Watch her TEDx Talk The Art of Paying Attention here: https://www.ted.com/talks/wendy_macnaughton_the_art_of_paying_attention?language=en Host Lisa Keefauver’s forthcoming book Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or Bookshop.org. Visit www.lisakeefauver.com to learn more about Lisa, sign up for her Not-So-Regular Newsletter, register for an upcoming online grief workshop or watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYtwSU-qaWc Oh, and this season, if you want to WATCH the show, you can now watch it on YouTube @lisakeefauvermsw Recorded September 16, 2023 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

About this episode Why are we talking about stress and burnout on a podcast about grief? Well, as you’ve likely experienced, grief is essentially a chronic stressor. This is particularly true in a culture that is grief avoidant, and where toxic positivity is rampant. Where we no longer live in tribes or communities that can help us discharge it. In essence, we’re left to our own devices to figure out how to be with our grief. The good news is that today’s guest, Emily Nagoski, co-author of the phenomenal book Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle will help us unpack the myths of stress and help us understand the strategies we need to discharge the stress we experience in grief and in life. Get ready! She is full of wisdom, stories, humor, energy and so much more. You are going to learn so much from her. About the guest Emily Nagoski is the award-winning author of the New York Times bestselling Come As You Are and The Come As You Are Workbook, and coauthor, with her sister, Amelia, of New York Times bestseller Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle. Her next book, Come Together: The Science (and Art!) of Creating Lasting Sexual Connections will be out in January 2024.Emily earned an M.S. in counseling and a Ph.D. in health behavior, both from Indiana University, with clinical and research training at the Kinsey Institute. Now she combines sex education and stress education to teach women to live with confidence and joy inside their bodies. She lives in Massachusetts with two dogs, a cat, and a cartoonist.Books and resources You can find all the books featured on the show by visiting the Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Wishlist on Bookshop.org You can learn more about all of Emily’s work and pick up a copy of her incredible book, Burnout, and the corresponding workbook by visiting www.emilynagoski.com. Stay tuned for her forthcoming book, Come Together, which drops January 2024. You can learn more about Lisa’s work and pre-order a copy of her forthcoming book, Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss by visiting www.lisakeefauver.com. While you’re there, you can sign up for her Not-So-Regular Newsletter, register for an upcoming online grief workshop or watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less. Oh, and this season, if you want to WATCH the show, you can now watch it on YouTube @lisakeefauvermsw Recorded August 25, 2023 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this final episode of the season, host Lisa Keefauver takes listeners behind-the-scenes. But instead of recapping the incredible conversations she had with 17 guests this season - from Sunita Puri to Colin Campbell to Cyndie Spiegel and so many more, she's offering you a behind-the-scenes peek into her life off the air. Lisa opens up about this season of her life - living with Breast Cancer. Lisa gets deeply personal in the hopes that we can learn, grow, and navigate grief, together. In response to the aloneness and disconnection grievers often feel, Lisa guides listeners through a guided mediation on love for grievers, one she developed years ago in response to her own need for connection. In true end of season style, she also offers listeners a sneak preview of some of the incredible line-up of guests joining her in Season 5 of the podcast (launching in November 2023).Episode Resources Watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less to learn more about grief. Watch the Media Maker Profile of Lisa recently released by Medicinal Media to understand how and why she became a grief activist and the host of this podcast, Join her intimate workshop space, Reimagining Grief, Together – A Learning Circle Series, by visiting her website at www.lisakeefauver.com/workshopsandevents Jump Straight Into 13:45 In the wake of her cancer diagnosis, Lisa shares what she learned after months of saying “yes” to offers of support. 22: 02        Lisa guides listeners in a meditation on love for grievers she created year ago in a time when her own grief made the notion of love feel out of reach.  Stay ConnectedFollow her on socials @lisakeefauvermswOh and if you love the show, don’t forget to leave a 5-star rating and write a review hereLisa’s book, Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss published by UT Press, will be available for pre-order soon and in bookstores June 4, 2024. Sign up for her Not-So-Regular Newsletter here to get notified when you can order your copy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some words become excruciating in the wake of loss. For my guest today, Katie Joy Duke, that word is expecting. After a whirlwind romance and engagement, Katie and her fiancé were over the moon with the discovery that they were expecting their first child together. A beautiful wedding ceremony and a fairy tale pregnancy, as Katie describes it, left them both shocked when after going into labor, they were told that their daughter Poppy, whose beautiful home had been Katie’s womb for the past 9 months, was dead. Katie’s relationship to her daughter, herself, to life, to the very notion of expectations is forever changed. In this episode, and in her beautiful memoir, Still Breathing, Katie brings vulnerability, wisdom, heart, and insight to the much-needed conversation around grieving stillbirth, something that affects 1 in 175 pregnancies in the U.S. EPISODE RESOURCES:Katie Joy Duke is an attorney turned life coach who published her debut memoir, Still Breathing: My Journey with Love, Loss, and Reinvention in May 2022. Still Breathing is a heart-breaking love story that captures Katie’s experience birthing Poppy, her first daughter, who was stillborn at full-term in 2015. You can learn more about Katie and the work she is doing as a speaker and life coach at www.katiejoyduke.comPick up your copy of Still Breathing here along with many of the books featured on this podcast.STRAIGHT INTO:(33:00) Katie shares how and why she had developed a forever changed relationship with the words expecting and expectations. This shift comes not only because of the stillbirth of her daughter poppy, but more recently her diagnosis and treatment for stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. (47:00) Katie shares her hard-worn wisdom about the grief support she had (and wanted) in the wake of the stillbirth of her daughter, Poppy.                                                                          STAY CONNECTED1)     SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST on your favorite platform so you don’t miss an episode. If you love the show, I’d love to invite you to leave a rating and write a review. 2)    INVITE ME TO YOUR INBOX to get behind-the-scenes on the podcast and all the grief support offered by our host, Lisa Keefauver, by signing up for her Not-So-Regular Newsletter at lisakeefauver.com/newsletter. 3)    IF YOU’RE FEELING SOCIAL, you can find her on all your favorite social channels too.@lisakeefauvermsw on Instagram, Threads, Facebook, LinkedIn,YouTube and TikTok. Check out her tweets @lisakeefauver Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bethany Harvey, author of the beautiful memoir Dipped In It, shares the experiences and lessons she’s learned from several losses. Some we’ve explored in past episodes, such as the loss of a parent and other losses we haven’t touched on much over the seasons, the grief that results from divorce. At the end of Bethany’s marriage, her now ex-spouse came out as gay and trans-gender. And while Bethany shares that she initially grieved the loss of the “he” she was married too, she quickly realized that this person who now uses the “she” pronoun was the same exact person that made her laugh like crazy in her marriage and drove her nuts too. Bethany brings humor, metaphor, and deep wisdom to our conversation about things like secondary losses, grieve waves, grief expression and so much more.  EPISODE RESOURCES:Bethany Harvey is an award winning author whose debut memoir shot to the bestseller list at Barnes & Noble on the day of its release in 2021. “Dipped In It, a Memoir” is a deep dive into grief as Bethany explores her emotional well after the death of her father and the dissolution of her marriage. With heart and humor Bethany explores the question, “Can grief and gratitude co-exist?” Sharing so openly about her life, loves and losses has further deepened Bethany’s understanding that grief—in all its forms—changes us in ways we never imagined. New paths appear and we may need help illuminating the way forward. To that end, Bethany has recently completed training as a personal coach with renown coach, author and speaker, Martha Beck. Bethany is currently accepting coaching clients on her website www.dippedinit.com.Pick up a copy of Dipped In It at your favorite local bookstore or online here or wherever books are sold.JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:(30:00) Bethany explains how differently she and her now ex-spouse communicated and processed the divorce, a decision they came to in a therapy session at the end of their marriage. Bethany explains that though their verbal communication styles are very different, they shared some tender moments of grief expression in the month following the decision that didn’t rely on words. (44:00) Bethany shares how the overwhelmingly personal and thoughtful response from readers to her memoir got her thinking about how she wants to show up in the world, both for herself and for others.                                                                                               STAY CONNECTED 1)     SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST on your favorite platform so you don’t miss an episode. If you love the show, I’d love to invite you to leave a rating and write a review. 2)    INVITE ME TO YOUR INBOX to get behind-the-scenes on the podcast and all the grief support offered by our host, Lisa Keefauver, by signing up for her Not-So-Regular Newsletter at lisakeefauver.com/newsletter. 3)    IF YOU’RE FEELING SOCIAL, you can find her on all your favorite social channels too.@lisakeefauvermsw on Instagram, Threads, Facebook, LinkedIn,YouTube and TikTok. Check out her tweets @lisakeefauver Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.