Grief Out Loud

The Dougy Center
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Remember the last time you tried to talk about grief and suddenly everyone left the room? Grief Out Loud is opening up this often avoided conversation because grief is hard enough without having to go through it alone. We bring you a mix of personal stories, tips for supporting children, teens, and yourself, and interviews with bereavement professionals. Platitude and cliché-free, we promise! Grief Out Loud is hosted by Jana DeCristofaro and produced by The Dougy Center for Grieving Children & Families in Portland, Oregon.

  1. What If Grief Care Is Preventative Care? Dr. Kailey Bradley

    21 HR AGO

    What If Grief Care Is Preventative Care? Dr. Kailey Bradley

    In this episode, we talk with Dr. Kailey Bradley about support for grieving a death loss, but also the more overlooked non-death losses, including chronic illness, infertility, shifting identities, and the futures we imagined but don't get to live.  Dr. Bradley is a clinician and educator who specializes in working with children and families navigating grief and illness. Kailey shares her experiences growing up with chronic illness and being diagnosed with premature ovarian failure at age 12, and how those layered losses affected her at different life stages. We explore what it means to "process" grief, why anger and big questions deserve space, and how grief can show up in ways we don't always recognize. We also discuss how being diagnosed later in life with autism spectrum disorder shifted how Kailey understands grief – hers and those she supports.   We discuss: Why grief care can be seen as preventative mental health care   What Kailey learned working with teens in juvenile detention about unprocessed loss   How children express grief through play, behavior, and the body   Supporting neurodivergent kids and teens, including those with autism   The importance of choice and autonomy in grief support   What makes a grief-informed community and why we need more of them   The collective grief of the pandemic and how little space we've made to process it   This conversation is both practical and expansive, offering ideas for parents, caregivers, educators, clinicians, and anyone who wants to better understand grief in all its forms.  Connect with Dr. Kailey Bradley Refuge Counseling: https://allrefuge.com/ The Death & Sex Podcast: https://pod.co/the-death-and-sex-podcast The Ohio Bereavement Collaborative: https://ohiobc.com/  Want to learn more about supporting children and teens who are grieving? Sign up for our online courses here: https://classes.dougy.org/

    42 min
  2. Throughlines: Keeping A Connection With My Mom

    9 APR

    Throughlines: Keeping A Connection With My Mom

    Jeremy's mom was a protector, an optimist, and someone who held onto a sense of lightness - even after a cancer diagnosis that led to her death just a few months later. In this episode, Jeremy shares what it was like to navigate such a short window between his mom's diagnosis and death, and how her outlook continues to shape him and his grief. From visiting her just before her death to to time spent in the woods bow hunting, he describes the ways he still feels connected to her. After her death, Jeremy's connection to nature and hunting became a foundation for staying close with his mom. From finding a deer skull to a particularly challenging hunt, he felt her presence and support come through. Jeremy also turned to reconnecting with his Filipino heritage, joining a grief group, and moving to be closer to family as ways to cope with the loss.   At the heart of this conversation is the idea of ongoing connection - how relationships with people who have died can continue and evolve over time. Note for listeners: This episode includes non-graphic references to bow hunting and the death of an animal. Please take care while listening. In this episode, we talk about: Grief after a rapid illness and loss Staying connected to someone who has died The role of nature and ritual in grief Finding support, even when you're unsure Honoring family, culture, and heritage Read transcript. Want to learn more about supporting children and teens who are grieving? Sign up for our online courses here: https://classes.dougy.org/

    37 min
  3. Waiting for Dawn: Marisa Renee Lee on Living with Grief, Illness, and Uncertainty

    2 APR

    Waiting for Dawn: Marisa Renee Lee on Living with Grief, Illness, and Uncertainty

    What does it mean to live with uncertainty - especially when your body, your capacity, and your sense of self are all changing at once? In this episode, Jana is joined again by author and advocate Marisa Renee Lee. You may know Marisa from her first book, Grief Is Love, or from her work helping people tell the truth about grief. In this conversation, she returns to share about her new book, Waiting for Dawn, and the realities of living with long COVID - an experience that has reshaped her daily life, her work, and her understanding of grief. Marisa reflects on the many losses she's navigated over the years: the death of her mother when she was 25, a pregnancy loss, the recent death of her beloved dog, and the ongoing grief of living with chronic illness. We explore how grief shows up not only after someone dies, but also in the loss of health, identity, and certainty. Marisa shares how she's learning to live within that uncertainty, from asking for (and accepting) help, to finding small, sustaining moments of joy, to letting go of who she used to be. The conversation also touches on parenting through grief and illness, including how Marisa talks with her young son about death, and what it's been like to watch him develop his own relationship with grief. We discuss: The difference between grieving a person and grieving your own health How long COVID has reshaped Marisa's identity, work, and daily life The loneliness of illness and the challenge of asking for help Parenting through grief and talking with children about death The impact of cumulative loss and how different losses intersect Letting go of who you were before loss or illness Finding "micro joys" and small footholds in hard seasons The role of faith, hope, and rest in navigating uncertainty Find Marisa: marisareneelee.com Get the book: Waiting for Dawn — available April 7, 2026 Read transcript Want to learn more about supporting children and teens who are grieving? Sign up for our online courses here: https://classes.dougy.org/

    46 min
  4. Words Matter: What To Say When Someone Is Grieving - Shelby Forsythia

    13 MAR

    Words Matter: What To Say When Someone Is Grieving - Shelby Forsythia

    Shelby Forsythia is well acquainted with grief. After a series of losses that started in her late teens and culminated in the death of her mother from cancer, Shelby became an expert in avoiding and outrunning her grief. Then, an incident with a stolen wallet broke through that avoidance; in the aftermath of letting those feelings out, she realized she needed to give herself permission to grieve. Since then, Shelby's done so much in the realm of grief support—as a coach, author, and host of the Grief Grower podcast. Shelby's newest book, Of Course, I'm Here, Right Now, written for friends, family, and community members, provides answers to the ubiquitous question: "What do I say to someone who is grieving?" We discuss: The "four years of hell" when Shelby experienced multiple losses. The stolen wallet incident and the loud, messy grief eruption that followed. Why people fear falling into the abyss of grief if they start crying. Three stories people who are grieving tell themselves. The three phrases that help dismantle those unhelpful stories. What people said after Shelby's mom died vs. what they said after her best friend Tami died. How to start the conversation with someone who is grieving. Connect with Shelby Forsythia: https://www.shelbyforsythia.com/ Her latest book, Of Course, I'm Here, Right Now, is out on 3.31.26. Read transcript Want to learn more about supporting children and teens who are grieving? Sign up for our online courses here: https://classes.dougy.org/

    51 min
  5. The Million Stages Of Grief - Michael Reed On Finding His Way After Catastrophic Loss

    5 MAR

    The Million Stages Of Grief - Michael Reed On Finding His Way After Catastrophic Loss

    What does grief look like when you lose your wife, two daughters, your home, and nearly everything you own - all in a single night? In this episode we talk with Michael Reed, a husband, father, and author whose life was forever changed when a wildfire swept through his community, taking the lives of his wife Constance, his older daughter Chloe, his youngest, Lily, their pets, and reducing their home to ashes. Nearly a decade later, Michael shares about the darkness he fell into, who was there to hold him and his son up, the ways he stays connected to his wife and daughters, and how he's re-engaged with life through writing and helping others.   Michael Reed is the author of The Million Stages of Grief, a self-published book born from years of middle-of-the-night writing as he tried to make sense of catastrophic loss. He also became an unexpected public face of his community's tragedy - a role he has since transformed into a mission of talking openly about grief, faith, and learning to live again.  In this episode: Michael shares vivid memories of his daughters: Chloe's extraordinary compassion and Lily's unforgettable sass and spirit.  What it's like to lose not only the people you love but every physical trace of them - and how Michael keeps their memory close without tangible reminders.  How his son Nicholas became a teacher for Michael in how to grieve.   His experience with EMDR therapy and what acceptance means to him.   The origin of The Million Stages of Grief: how raw, unedited Facebook posts led to a blog, then to a self-published book.  Why the five stages of grief didn't work for Michael - and how he came to understand that grief can move through a million stages in a single day.  A raw, honest account of his anger at God after the fire.  What it was like to become the unwilling public spokesperson for a community's tragedy, and how he has reclaimed that platform on his own terms.  His core message: loss is loss, no matter who or what you've lost — and using your own hurt to help others is how we change the world.  Connect with Michael:  Website - https://themillionstages.com/  Books - https://themillionstages.com/books  IG - https://www.instagram.com/reedstrong2020  Transcript Want to learn more about supporting children and teens who are grieving? Sign up for our online courses here: https://classes.dougy.org/

    41 min
  6. Tending To The Roots Of Ritual With Joél Simone, The Grave Woman

    20 FEB

    Tending To The Roots Of Ritual With Joél Simone, The Grave Woman

    In this episode of Grief Out Loud, we talk with death & grief care professional, educator, and cultural advocate Joél Simone, also known as The Grave Woman.  Joél shares the story behind a childhood drawing that declared her future as "the grave woman," and how that early curiosity about death grew into a lifelong vocation in funeral service, grief education, and cultural competency. Drawing from decades of experience, Joél reflects on the spiritual, cultural, and embodied dimensions of grief, including what she's learned by listening closely to families, children, and traditions that are too often overlooked.   Joél also talks about her work as founder of the Multicultural Death & Grief Care Academy, including immersive learning experiences that center history, ritual, land, and lineage. Throughout the conversation, she invites us to rethink what ritual looks like and how tending to culture can provide grounding and support for grief.  We discuss: How rituals - inherited and improvised - can be a form of medicine  What the funeral industry still needs to understand about serving Black and African American families  The importance of cultural humility, proactive learning, and not treating communities as monoliths  How children experience death and mourning from their literal, physical perspective and what adults often miss  The role of land, ancestry, and cultural preservation in grief, particularly within Gullah Geechee communities  Why culture itself can be a powerful container for grief and remembrance  Connect with Joél Simone: Website: www.thegravewoman.com The Multicultural Death & Grief Care Academy Workshops & Classes The Death & Grief Talk Podcast IG: https://www.instagram.com/thegravewoman Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thegravewoman/

    42 min
  7. Restrung: Music, Grief, And Fatherhood With Matt Fogelson

    13 FEB

    Restrung: Music, Grief, And Fatherhood With Matt Fogelson

    When Matt Fogelson's father died of lung cancer during his senior year of college, he turned to music to express what words couldn't - rage, self-loathing, and grief so profound he didn't know where to put it.  In this conversation, Matt - author of the new memoir Restrung - talks about the silence that surrounded his father's terminal illness, the vacuum left by an absent but beloved parent, and how grunge music (especially Soundgarden and Pearl Jam) created space for him to feel what was hard to put into words.  Matt shares how his Aunt Wendy became his unlikely guide, why he wore his father's suits to work for years trying to feel close to him, and the breakthrough moment when Pearl Jam's "Release" helped him shift his relationship with his father's memory and his grief.  We also discuss how grief shaped his approach to parenting, why he sang a Grateful Dead song to his son every night for 14 years, and the three songs he wishes he could share with his father now.  Resources Matt's memoir Restrung (released February 3, 2026)  Matt's Substack and music blog (Fine Tuning)  More at dougy.org  Grief Out Loud is a production of Dougy Center, the National Grief Center for Children and Families.

    44 min
  8. When Grief and Trauma Collide – Christina Babich, MA

    3 FEB

    When Grief and Trauma Collide – Christina Babich, MA

    When Christina Babich's partner, Alex, died suddenly from a brain aneurysm while they were visiting his family in Italy, her world shattered in more ways than one. In addition to the grief of losing the person she loved and the future they were building together, Christina was also left to navigate the aftermath of a deeply traumatic event - one that profoundly impacted her nervous system, sense of safety, and identity.  In this episode, Christina shares what it was like to grieve a sudden, "out-of-order" death while also navigating the derealization, hypervigilance, and other ways the trauma of his death affected her. She talks about how being a "quasi widow" shaped the care and recognition she received and why platitudes about resilience and post-traumatic growth can sometimes feel alienating rather than supportive.  Christina also reflects on how her personal experience shaped her work as a psychologist specializing in grief and trauma, including the role of Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), the pressure placed on people who are grieving to "transform" their pain, and the importance of being witnessed by someone who truly understands.  We discuss The difference between grief and trauma - and how they often coexist Derealization, PTSD, and nervous system responses after a sudden death What Christina means by "quasi-widow"  Why platitudes about strength and growth can feel harmful How Cognitive Processing Therapy was helpful for her Grieving lost identities, futures, and imagined lives  Finding connection with others who can relate  Living day-to-day when the future feels overwhelming  Connect with Christina  Website: https://www.christinababich.com/  Substack: christinababich.substack.com

    51 min
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About

Remember the last time you tried to talk about grief and suddenly everyone left the room? Grief Out Loud is opening up this often avoided conversation because grief is hard enough without having to go through it alone. We bring you a mix of personal stories, tips for supporting children, teens, and yourself, and interviews with bereavement professionals. Platitude and cliché-free, we promise! Grief Out Loud is hosted by Jana DeCristofaro and produced by The Dougy Center for Grieving Children & Families in Portland, Oregon.

Information

  • Creator
    The Dougy Center
  • Years Active
    2015 - 2026
  • Episodes
    354
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Show Website
    Grief Out Loud

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