Understanding Grief and Loss with Meghan Riordan Jarvis

What if we started seeing grief as a form of trauma—could it help us make sense of the confusing ways our mind and body react to loss?

In this conversation, Debbie sits down with Meghan Riordan Jarvis, a psychotherapist who’s spent her life helping people navigate the heartbreak of loss. She’s here to talk about her new book, Can Anyone Tell Me? Essential Questions About Grief and Loss, and to share her personal and research-based wisdom on this tender subject.

We look into the messy, complicated emotions that grief can bring—like anger, guilt, regret, and anxiety—and Megan offers simple, meaningful ways to cope. We also tackle the bigger picture: why we need more honest conversations about death and how we can show up better for each other in times of loss.

We hope you’ll join us for this meaningful conversation that might just give you a little clarity, hope, and comfort wherever you, or even the loved ones you are supporting, are on your grief journey. 

Listen and Learn: 

• Why grief education is key to feeling less alone, less afraid, and truly understood
• How we can reconnect in the face of profound loss
• Loss, grief, and mourning: uncovering the nuanced definitions and how they shape our healing journeys
• How Meghan’s two very contrasting losses shaped her approach to grief and healing
• The varying emotions of grief and why anger and anxiety might be more common than expected
• The shifting waves of loss, unexpected triggers, and lasting connections
• The idea of signs from loved ones
• Could the signs we receive from loved ones beyond death be more than just coincidence?

Resources: 

• Can Anyone Tell Me?: Essential Questions about Grief and Loss: https://bookshop.org/a/30734/9781649632593
• Meghan’s Website: https://meghanriordanjarvis.com/
• Connect with Meghan on: 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meghan-riordan-jarvis-ma-licsw-071051142

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/griefismysidehustle/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meghan.riordan.jarvis/?hl=en

Books Meghan mentioned in the episode: 

• The Grieving Brain: The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss by Mary-Frances O’Connor: https://bookshop.org/a/30734/9780062946249
• How Emotions Are Made, by Lisa Feldman Barrett: https://bookshop.org/a/30734/9781328915436
• Permission to Feel by Marc Brackett: https://bookshop.org/a/30734/9781250212832
• Anxiety: The Missing Stage of Grief: A Revolutionary Approach to Understanding and Healing the Impact of Loss by Claire Bidwell Smith: https://bookshop.org/a/30734/9780738234786
• Grief Works: Stories of Life, Death, and Surviving (A Practical Guide to Grief and Loss) by Julia Samuel: https://bookshop.org/a/30734/9781501181542 

About Meghan Riordan Jarvis

Meghan Riordan Jarvis, MA, LCSW, is a podcast host, TEDx speaker, and trauma-trained psychotherapist specializing in grief and loss. With 20 years of experience, she speaks on the importance of understanding grief and supporting grievers. Meghan hosts the popular blog and podcast Grief Is My Side Hustle and offers a free writing workshop, Grief Mates. She is founder of the Grief Mentor Method: Six Core Concepts to Creating a Personalized Grief Process and is the author of End of the Hour, a memoir on trauma, loss, and healing. Her new book is called Can Anyone Tell Me? Essential Questions about Grief and Loss. 

Related episodes: 

• 117. Bearing Unbearable Loss: A conversation About Grief with Joanne Cacciatore
• 356. Navigating the Challenges of Caregiving with Allison Applebaum
• 354. A Family Guide to Dementia with Brent Forester
• 183. Permission to Feel: Emotional Intelligence with Marc Brackett
• 309. The Language of Emotions with Karla McLaren
• 216. Managing Anger and Irritability, Featuring Russell Kolts
• 320. Anger and Forgiveness with Robyn Walser
• 341. Self-Forgiveness with Grant Dewar
• 291. Finding Freedom From Regret with Robert Leahy 
• 118. Moral Injury and Shame with Lauren Borges and Jacob Farnsworth

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices