Explore every episode of the podcast Grief is a Sneaky Bitch

Death doula and storyteller Darnell Lamont Walker joins host Lisa Keefauver for the second time on the show. Since their last conversation, Darnell has reflected on the stories of his work and his life, offering them up in his poignant and powerful new book, Never Can Say Goodbye. They explore how curiosity, storytelling, and deep compassion are at the core of what it takes to accompany someone at the end of life; and to help those left behind find a meaningful way forward. From grieving complex relationships to the often misunderstood expressions of grief and the gift of stories, Darnell brings his heart, his humor, and his wisdom to this very special conversation.

Darnell Lamont Walker is a death doula, Emmy-nominated writer, and cultural anthropologist whose work lives at the intersection of grief, culture, and storytelling. His voice shows up in children’s television, writing for Karma’s World, Work It Out Wombats!, Blue’s Clues & You, and more, as well as in books and in the quiet, sacred rooms where people take their last breaths. Across the world, from Johannesburg and Saigon to London, Amsterdam, Ghana, and beyond, Darnell has helped individuals and communities find spaces where their stories could be shared safely and held with care. In his legacy work with dying clients, this often looks like preserving favorite recipes, ensuring that long after someone is gone, families can still gather, cook, eat, and remember the love that once lived at the table. His book, Never Can Say Goodbye (HarperOne), reflects on his journey as a death doula and the lessons learned from walking alongside the dying. At the heart of all his work is a simple mission: to help people tell the truth of their lives, tend to one another through transition, and leave behind something nourishing, whether that’s a story, a ritual, or a meal that keeps them close.

LEARN MORE ABOUT DARNELL: https://darnellwalker.com/

READ BOOK: Never Can Say Goodbye: https://bookshop.org/p/books/never-can-say-goodbye-the-life-of-a-death-doula-and-the-art-of-a-peaceful-end-darnell-lamont-walker/c3eec4285f0215dd

FOLLOW DARNELL ON SOCIALS: @hello.darnell on IG

Lisa Keefauver is an author, keynote speaker, social worker, widow, assault & cancer survivor turned grief activist on a mission to help us center aliveness in a world full of loss by reimagining the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

LEARN MORE ABOUT LISA: at https://lisakeefauver.com/

ACCESS GRIEF SUPPORT: https://lisakeefauver.com/support

READ BOOK: Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. https://bookshop.org/p/books/grief-is-a-sneaky-bitch-an-uncensored-guide-to-navigating-loss-lisa-keefauver/ffd73d6b6921e6b5?ean=9781477329306&next=t&

READ ESSAYS: AFGO with Lisa Keefauver on Substack - https://afgowithlisakeefauver.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips

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Naila Francis joins host Lisa Keefauver for a tender and magical conversation on the sacred nature of grief. Naila begins by acknowledging an experience of grief too often ignored—the anger that arises when the person who died was someone with whom you had a complicated or problematic relationship. For Naila, that was her dad. Together they explore their shared interest in centering aliveness in a world full of loss, the power of nature as a container for grief, and the way writing, poetry, and creativity allow us to metabolize and move our grief. Naila shares how nature, singing, and even animals have the power to hold our grief and help us see the beauty that exists alongside it. They touch on loss when the relationship was complicated, how new loss opens us back up to teachings still waiting to be learned from old grief, and so much more.

Naila Francis is a certified grief coach and death midwife, an ordained interfaith minister, a poet, and an accomplished writer. As the founder of This Hallowed Wilderness, she helps people transform their relationship to grief and loss through one-on-one coaching, workshops, presentations, rituals and community grief tending. Naila is also a co-founder of Salt Trails, a Philadelphia collective normalizing grief through community rituals, and was on the steering committee that launched the four-day inaugural Philadelphia Death & Arts Festival in 2024. For many years, she worked as a journalist, interviewing artists from all backgrounds, before finding her way to the vocations of companioning others through grief and dying after suffering several personal losses in her own life, including the death of her father. An ardent joy enthusiast, Naila believes in grieving well as a fundamental human skill that ultimately deepens our capacity for pleasure, connection and compassion.

LEARN MORE ABOUT NAILA: www.thishallowedwilderness.com

FOLLOW NAILA ON SOCIALS: @thishallowedwilderness on IG and FB.

Lisa Keefauver is an author, keynote speaker, social worker, widow, assault & cancer survivor turned grief activist on a mission to help us center aliveness in a world full of loss by reimagining the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

LEARN MORE ABOUT LISA: at https://lisakeefauver.com/

ACCESS GRIEF SUPPORT: https://lisakeefauver.com/support

READ BOOK: Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. https://bookshop.org/p/books/grief-is-a-sneaky-bitch-an-uncensored-guide-to-navigating-loss-lisa-keefauver/ffd73d6b6921e6b5?ean=9781477329306&next=t&

READ ESSAYS: AFGO with Lisa Keefauver on Substack - https://afgowithlisakeefauver.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips

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Charlene Lam joins host Lisa Keefauver for an in-depth and intimate conversation about the aspects of grief we long to explore but so rarely do in our daily life. Just as she does in her gorgeous book, Curating Grief: A Creative Guide to Choosing What to Keep After a Loved One Dies, Charlene explores what it means to curate the tangible and intangible left behind in the wake of loss. Sometimes we're working through the objects that help us access memories. She explains how decision-making about belongings often involves emotional processing and that the act of letting go can be as meaningful as holding on. Themes of bringing intention to what you’re paying attention to, the cultural context of naming and remembering, and the deep self-compassion necessary in the grieving process emerge throughout our time together. Charlene offers so much wisdom, care, and curiosity in this episode.

Charlene is a grief coach, curator, and speaker who helps grieving people engage with and curate the things that hold meaning — the belongings, stories, and symbols that connect us to those they’ve lost. Through creativity and reflection, she guides people to work tenderly with what remains, turning the stuff of loss into the stuff of meaning. Charlene is a proud Chinese-American New Yorker now based in Lisbon, helping people worldwide to make space for connection, healing, and meaning through creativity and curation.

LEARN MORE ABOUT CHARLENE: https://curatinggrief.com/

READ CURATING GRIEF: https://bookshop.org/p/books/curating-grief-a-creative-guide-to-choosing-what-to-keep-after-a-loved-one-dies-charlene-lam/dd45350a514f1c37?ean=9798991986212&next=t

FOLLOW CHARLENE ON SOCIALS: Instagram https://www.instagram.com/curating_grief/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@thegriefgallery LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/charclam/

Lisa Keefauver is an author, keynote speaker, social worker, widow, assault & cancer survivor turned grief activist on a mission to help us center aliveness in a world full of loss by reimagining the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

LEARN MORE ABOUT LISA: at https://lisakeefauver.com/

ACCESS GRIEF SUPPORT: https://lisakeefauver.com/support

READ BOOK: Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. https://bookshop.org/p/books/grief-is-a-sneaky-bitch-an-uncensored-guide-to-navigating-loss-lisa-keefauver/ffd73d6b6921e6b5?ean=9781477329306&next=t&

READ ESSAYS: AFGO with Lisa Keefauver on Substack - https://afgowithlisakeefauver.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips

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Nina Rodriguez joins host Lisa Keefauver to explore aspects of grief too often ignored, particularly focusing on sibling loss and the the societal stigmas surrounding addiction-related deaths. Nina shares the impact of unexpected loss, the importance of savoring life's little pleasures, her journey of reclaiming narratives and the ongoing process of living with wonderment. One of the things you won’t hear in her bio, though you will get to know about her in our conversation today, is the way she carries her grief with such care. Honoring the love she still holds for her brother Yosef, even in a world that often dismisses or diminishes deaths that result from addiction.

Nina Rodriguez is a grief-informed guide, indie podcaster, host and founder of Grief and Light, a platform and podcast dedicated to fostering a more grief-informed, hopeful world through honest conversations about life after loss. Following the sudden passing of her only sibling in 2019, Nina launched the Grief and Light podcast to shine a truthful light on grief as a lived experience to honor, tend, and integrate, rather than something to 'fix'. Now in its fourth season, the show has earned a 2025 Women Who Podcast Magazine award and ranks #18 of 100 on Goodpods in the Grief category.

Nina speaks nationally on grief, grief literacy, and post-traumatic growth, with recent engagements at the University of Miami, the 2025 Latinas in Podcasting Summit, and multiple Reimagine events. She writes the Substack 'Resting Grief Face', contributes to Get Griefy Magazine, co-authored Resilient A.F.: Stories of Resilience, Vol. 2, and completed a Grief Care Professional Certificate Program.

Based in South Florida, Nina welcomes aligned collaborations, speaking engagements, and opportunities to create spaces where grief, resilience, and humanity can be met with honesty and care. Follow her work at Grief and Light on all platforms.

LEARN MORE ABOUT NINA: https://www.griefandlight.com/

LISTEN TO HER PODCAST: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/grief-and-light/id1680003901

Lisa Keefauver is an author, keynote speaker, social worker, widow, assault & cancer survivor turned grief activist on a mission to help us center aliveness in a world full of loss by reimagining the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

LEARN MORE ABOUT LISA: at https://lisakeefauver.com/

ACCESS GRIEF SUPPORT: https://lisakeefauver.com/support

READ BOOK: Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. https://bookshop.org/p/books/grief-is-a-sneaky-bitch-an-uncensored-guide-to-navigating-loss-lisa-keefauver/ffd73d6b6921e6b5?ean=9781477329306&next=t&

READ ESSAYS: AFGO with Lisa Keefauver on Substack - https://afgowithlisakeefauver.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer joins host Lisa Keefauver for a heartfelt conversation exploring the complexities of grief, the power of poetry, and the importance of self-compassion in the grieving process. They dive deep into the role of metaphor as a way to metabolize grief, and how writing can serve as a vehicle for self-compassion. Rosemerry is in a deep and expansive relationship with grief after the death of her son Finn by suicide in 2021 followed shortly afterwards by the death of her dad. In her work, just as she does in this conversation, she offers a tender voice, big heart, appetite for play, willingness to plum the depths of love and loss, and an insistence to be honest in her use of words. She emphasizes the duality of love and loss, and the significance of community in navigating grief. The conversation culminates in a powerful reading of Rosemerry's poetry, highlighting the beauty and pain intertwined in the human experience of love and loss.

Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer has been writing and sharing a poem a day since 2006—a practice that especially nourished her after the death of her teenage son in 2021. Her daily poems can be found on her blog, A Hundred Falling Veils, or a curated version (with optional prompts) on her daily audio series, The Poetic Path, available with the Ritual app. She is the author of Exploring Poetry of Presence II: Prompts to Deepen Your Writing Practice. Her spoken-word albums include Dark Praise, which explores “endarkenment,” and Risking Love, which explores loving even when it seems impossible. Both are available anywhere you listen to music.

LEARN MORE ABOUT ROSEMERRY at www.wordwoman.com

READ HER BOOKS: Unfolding, All The Honey, and more at https://bookshop.org/beta-search?keywords=rosemerry+wahtola+trommer

SIGN UP FOR HER POETRY WORKSHOPS: at www.wordoman.com

Lisa Keefauver is an author, keynote speaker, social worker, widow, assault & cancer survivor turned grief activist on a mission to help us center aliveness in a world full of loss by reimagining the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

LEARN MORE ABOUT LISA: at https://lisakeefauver.com/

ACCESS GRIEF SUPPORT: https://lisakeefauver.com/support

READ BOOK: Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. https://bookshop.org/p/books/grief-is-a-sneaky-bitch-an-uncensored-guide-to-navigating-loss-lisa-keefauver/ffd73d6b6921e6b5?ean=9781477329306&next=t&

READ ESSAYS: AFGO with Lisa Keefauver on Substack - https://afgowithlisakeefauver.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips

grief, grief support, child loss, suicide, grieving, grieving parent, community, poet, poetry, writing, healing, unfolding, podcast

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Lisa Pahl joins host Lisa Keefauver to explore themes they're both passionate about—the sacred thresholds of life: dying, dementia, death, and grief. As a deeply experienced hospice social worker, she shares her wisdom on creating lasting memories with loved ones facing end-of-life, the role of hospice in grief support, and the dynamics that influence decision-making around hospice care. She discusses the importance of centering the wishes of the dying and offers tools to help us have the meaningful conversations we're often too afraid to start.

06:29 Understanding Grief Through Family Stories 11:56 Cultural Beliefs About Grief 14:33 Professional Insights on Grief and Loss 17:00 The Role of Hospice in Grief Support 20:01 Navigating Myths About Hospice Care 23:49 Personal Stories of Caregiving and Loss 34:51 Navigating End-of-Life Conversations 37:48 The Importance of Being Present 40:13 The Delicate Dance of Grief 44:43 Tools for Meaningful Conversations 53:47 Introducing the Dementia Deck 01:00:53 Right-Sizing Our Relationship with Death 01:05:55 Introduction to Grief Conversations 01:06:49 Exploring the Death Deck and Conversation Starters

Lisa Pahl is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Advanced Practice Hospice and Palliative Social Worker, with over eighteen years in hospice and seven in emergency medicine. She’s passionate about increasing death literacy and helping people face illness, dying, and grief with courage and clarity. Whether it’s hosting a Death Deck Game Night or speaking to a community or professional group, she guides individuals and families to engage in meaningful conversations about end-of-life preferences—so that when the time comes, they are prepared and empowered.

LEARN MORE ABOUT LISA: https://thedeathdeck.com/

FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/thedeathdeck/?hl=en

GET DECKS AT A DISCOUNT: Lisa is offering our listeners a special discount code, so visit thedeathdeck.com and enter GSB20 at checkout to get 20% off your order. That's GSB20 when you visit thedeathdeck.com.

Lisa Keefauver is an author, keynote speaker, social worker, widow, assault & cancer survivor turned grief activist on a mission to help us center aliveness in a world full of loss by reimagining the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

LEARN MORE ABOUT LISA: at https://lisakeefauver.com/

ACCESS GRIEF SUPPORT: https://lisakeefauver.com/support

READ BOOK: Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. https://bookshop.org/p/books/grief-is-a-sneaky-bitch-an-uncensored-guide-to-navigating-loss-lisa-keefauver/ffd73d6b6921e6b5?ean=9781477329306&next=t&

READ ESSAYS: AFGO with Lisa Keefauver on Substack - https://afgowithlisakeefauver.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips

grief, grief support, legacy, connection, family, communication, intentions, emotional support, death, dying, dementia, hospice, social worker, Lisa Pahl, The Death Deck, Lisa Keefauver, Grief is a Sneaky Bitch, podcast

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Having met first in 2024 when they both spoke at End Well, Sah D’Simone joined host Lisa Keefauver for a live in-studio conversation. Together they explore a wide range of topics - the death of his mother, our tendencies to escape the pain even in the name of healing, the power of somatic embodiment, what helping without hope looks like and so much more. With heart and sometimes humor, Sah shares personal stories of loss, healing, and his varied path from supporting orphans in Indonesia, bringing hope to formerly enslaved individuals in India, educating recovering addicts in Nepal, providing spiritual care to the sick and dying at Cedars-Sinai Hospital, and empowering homeless youth in Los Angeles.

Sah D'Simone is a humanitarian, spiritual innovator, and grief educator whose work integrates Buddhism, somatic dance, art, and social justice to facilitate personal and collective healing. As founder of the Somatic Dance Institute, Sah developed the Somatic Activated Healing (SAH) Method, uniting dance, social justice, and spirituality to train instructors worldwide. His bestselling books, highly rated podcast, extensive membership platform, and transformative training programs have earned international recognition—from the cover of Sweden's Human Shift magazine to features in British Vogue, The Guardian, and Forbes.

LEARN MORE ABOUT SAH: https://michelledhord.com/

MEMBERSHIP COMMUNITY: https://practice.sahdsimone.com/membership

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/sahdsimone/

INSIGHT TIMER: https://insighttimer.com/sahdsimone

Lisa Keefauver is an author, keynote speaker, social worker, widow, assault & cancer survivor turned grief activist on a mission to help us center aliveness in a world full of loss by reimagining the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

LEARN MORE ABOUT LISA: at https://lisakeefauver.com/

READ BOOK: Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. https://bookshop.org/p/books/grief-is-a-sneaky-bitch-an-uncensored-guide-to-navigating-loss-lisa-keefauver/ffd73d6b6921e6b5?ean=9781477329306&next=t&

READ ESSAYS: AFGO with Lisa Keefauver on Substack - https://afgowithlisakeefauver.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips

grief, grief support, healing, emotions, healer, grief support, loss, transformation, dance, somatic embodiment, Sah D’Simone, Lisa Keefauver, Grief is a Sneaky Bitch, podcast

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Guest Michelle Hord joined host Lisa Keefauver to kick off Season 7 of Grief is a Sneaky Bitch podcast. Michelle knows that behind every tragic headline are real people experiencing real pain from catastrophic loss. As she shared in our Season 5 conversation on Grief is a Sneaky Bitch podcast, soon after she filed for divorce, her husband murdered their 7-year-old daughter, Gabrielle. She faced the unbearable pain of being a bereaved mother while grappling with the shocking actions of someone she once loved. As a producer for Good Morning America, she endured it all in the public eye. In this episode, we explore her latest O Magazine essay, There Are No Words—But Here's What We Owe the Grieving Anyway, inspired by the tragic murder of Rob and Michelle Reiner.

02:24 Harmful Grief Beliefs in Society

05:05 The Myth of Fixing Grief

09:34 Invasive Questions and Grief Thieves

12:57 The Othering Effect in Grief

14:30 Protecting Your Heart in Grief

18:10 The Power of Presence

26:57 Understanding the Complexity of Grief

30:03 The Impact of Speculation on Grief

32:00 Complexity of Loss and Grief

34:44 Self-Care for Supporters of the Grieving

38:39 Understanding Resilience and Joy

44:44 Finding Joy in Art and Service

49:23 Grief in the Workplace and Organizational Culture

58:04 The Interconnectedness of Grief and Healing

Michelle Hord is a consultant, facilitator, and keynote speaker who helps leaders navigate change, strengthen psychological safety, and build resilient, inclusive workplace cultures. With more than 30 years in media leadership and corporate talent development, she brings a storyteller’s lens and an operator’s discipline to the way organizations communicate, lead, and care for their people. Her book, The Other Side of Yet, is a recipient of the 2023 Christopher Award and the 2023 Memoir Magazine Grand Prize. Michelle is the founder of Gabrielle’s Wings, a nonprofit serving elementary-aged children in historically underserved communities named in her daughter's memory.

LEARN MORE ABOUT MICHELLE: https://michelledhord.com/

READ BOOK: The Other Side of Yet https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-other-side-of-yet-finding-light-in-the-midst-of-darkness-michelle-d-hord/42ad0b5d5d0bdb6f

READ ESSAY: There are No Words - But Here's What We Owe The Grieving Anyway https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/a69822675/rob-reiner-unthinkable-tragedy/

Lisa Keefauver is an author, keynote speaker, social worker, widow, assault & cancer survivor turned grief activist on a mission to help us center aliveness in a world full of loss by reimagining the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

LEARN MORE ABOUT LISA: at https://lisakeefauver.com/

READ BOOK: Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. https://bookshop.org/p/books/grief-is-a-sneaky-bitch-an-uncensored-guide-to-navigating-loss-lisa-keefauver/ffd73d6b6921e6b5?ean=9781477329306&next=t&

READ ESSAYS: AFGO with Lisa Keefauver on Substack - https://afgowithlisakeefauver.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips

#grief #loss #resilience #joy #presence #trauma #healing #community #workplace #compassion #griefsupport #griefandloss #tragedy #murder

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One doctor, one nurse, and two social workers walked into a podcast studio to explore what does it really mean to live honestly with grief, caregiving, and the hard decisions we’re never taught to navigate? Earlier this year, Lisa brought together three extraordinary voices who have spent their lives at the intersection of healing, meaning-making, and end-of-life care:

✨ Hui-wen Sato — pediatric ICU nurse, writer, and advocate for courageous conversations

✨ Lisa Pahl — hospice social worker, co-creator of The Death Deck, and champion for compassionate dialogue

✨ Dr. Sunita Puri — palliative care physician, author of That Good Night—and so much more than what she does

Together, they unpack the emotional labor behind caregiving, the barriers that keep us from talking openly about death, and the unexpected ways grief can shape us into more connected, more alive humans. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by caregiving, uncertain about end-of-life choices, or simply hungry for a more compassionate world, this conversation is for you.

Brand new season, Season 7, will begin in December 2025, so make sure you’re subscribed on Apple Podcast so you’re notified when the episode drops!

▶️ Learn more about our host:

Website - https://lisakeefauver.com/

Substack - https://afgowithlisakeefauver.substack.com/

▶️ Learn more about our guests:

Hui-Wen Sato - https://heartofnursing.blog/

Dr. Sunita Puri - https://sunitapuri.com/

Lisa Pahl - https://thedeathdeck.com

▶️ Learn more about our non-profit collaborators for this special episode here:

Medicinal Media - https://www.medicinalmedia.com/

Unlikely Collaborators - https://www.unlikelycollaborators.com/

➡️ Themes:

narrative therapy, grief, storytelling, healthcare, identity, palliative care, uncertainty, empathy, mental health, loss, end-of-life care, emotional toll, family dynamics, good death, healing, hospice, compassion

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Hospice Nurse Penny as she’s known to millions on Tik Tok and Instagram joins host Lisa Keefauver for this episode of Grief is a Sneaky Bitch podcast. They explore Penny’s journey into hospice care, the myths surrounding hospice, and the importance of reframing our understanding of grief and death. Penny emphasizes that hospice care is about enhancing the quality of life for patients and dispelling misconceptions about the dying process. In this conversation, Penny and Lisa explore the complexities of end-of-life care, emphasizing the importance of centering the patient, advocating for honest communication, and addressing death anxiety. They share personal stories and insights on how to navigate difficult conversations about dying, the significance of understanding cultural differences, and the need for medical professionals to engage in meaningful discussions about hospice and palliative care. The dialogue highlights the emotional challenges faced by families and caregivers while also offering hope and strategies for finding meaning in the dying process.

Penny Smith, BSN, RN is a (US) nationally certified hospice and palliative care nurse, social media influencer and author of Influencing Death, Reframing Dying for Better Living. For 20 years, Penny has worked in a variety of care settings and roles within hospice and is currently working as a hospice quality assurance nurse for an organization in Washington state.

Penny is a passionate advocate for hospice education with a mission to normalize the end-of-life process to remove the stigma and fear around hospice care, death and dying. During the pandemic she found her way to social media and discovered a unique way to utilize her death care expertise to provide education to a worldwide audience at a grassroots level. Using a variety of teaching styles including TikTok trends, dark humor, dancing and storytelling, Penny has gathered over 2 million followers across her social media platforms as @hospicenursepenny.

Lisa Keefauver is a social worker, widow, and grief activist on a mission to reimagine the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

Learn more at www.lisakeefauver.com.

Follow @lisakeefauvermsw on Instagram.

Listen to Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Podcast - Available on all podcast platforms.

Read Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. Available in bookstores and on your favorite online booksellers, including Bookshop.Org.

Watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here

Subscribe AFGO with Lisa Keefauver on Substack here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jennifer Hassel, author of 'Badass Grief joins host Lisa Keefauver' to discuss her journey through profound loss and the adventures that followed. Jennifer shares her early experiences with grief, the legacy of her husband Mark, and how she navigated parenting while grieving. The discussion emphasizes the importance of living fully in memory of loved ones and the challenges of finding happiness amidst sorrow. In this conversation, they explore the complexities of grief, resilience, and the journey of healing after profound loss. They discuss the importance of finding agency, the role of purpose in navigating grief, and the nonlinear path of healing. Jennifer shares her personal experiences and insights, emphasizing the need for compassion and support for those who are grieving. The conversation highlights the significance of acknowledging hard feelings while also recognizing moments of growth and hope.

·      Finding ways to remember loved ones is essential.

·      Adventures can be a form of healing after loss.

·      Finding agency in grief is crucial for healing.

·      Having a purpose, even a small one, can help navigate loss.

·      Resilience is a journey that takes time and effort.

·      Offering hope to others can be a powerful act of compassion.

·      It's important to connect with those further along in their grief journey.

·      Recognizing personal growth can be difficult but is essential.

Jennifer E. Hassel was a lawyer who then became a registered nurse after living through her husband’s terminal illness, their mutual suffering, and her own grief. Writing from what she knows through first-hand experience, she has been published in The Philadelphia Lawyer, Joyful Life Magazine, The Sun, and the local newspaper of her hometown. profession and practice of nursing. Badass Grief is her first book. You can pick up a copy at your favorite online bookseller or your local bookstore. Learn more about Jennifer at jenniferhassel.com or subscribe to her new Substack at https://substack.com/@jenniferhassel

Lisa Keefauver is a social worker, widow, and grief activist on a mission to reimagine the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

 Learn more at www.lisakeefauver.com.

Follow @lisakeefauvermsw on Instagram.

Listen to Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Podcast - Available on all podcast platforms.

Read Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. Available in bookstores and on your favorite online booksellers, including Bookshop.Org.

Watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here

Subscribe AFGO with Lisa Keefauver on Substack here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Grief is a Sneaky Bitch podcast, host Lisa Keefauver welcomes mother-daughter duo Suzy Hopkins and Hallie Bateman to discuss their new book, 'What to Do When You Get Dumped.' Suzy’s world fell apart when just a few weeks shy of her retirement, her husband of more than 30 years announced he was leaving her. Relying on her skills as a journalist, she set out to understand what other people did to move forward in the wake of this particular type of loss. With creativity, grit, talent, and humor, Suzy and her daughter Hallie joined forces for a second time to create a graphic book that helps us feel seen and understood in the grief that comes from being dumped.

·     Family dynamics play a significant role in how we process grief.

·     Writing can be a powerful tool for processing grief.

·     Humor can help navigate the darkness of grief. mor can coexist with grief and provide relief.

·     Creative expression can be a powerful tool for processing grief.

·     Art allows for a cathartic exploration of emotions.

·     Self-compassion is crucial in the healing journey.

·     Setting boundaries is essential for personal healing.

·     Witnessing a loved one's healing can inspire personal growth.

Suzy Hopkins is a former newspaper reporter and magazine publisher. She is co-author of What to Do When I’m Gone and her latest book, What To Do When You Get Dumped with her daughter, writer and illustrator Hallie Bateman. You can follow Suzy on Instagram @hopkinssuzy. Hallie Bateman is the author of four books. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, The New Yorker, Buzzfeed and many others. She lives in Cincinnati with her husband, their twins and a dog named Spinelli. You can learn more about Hallie and her illustration and creative works by visiting halliebateman.com

Lisa Keefauver is a social worker, widow, and grief activist on a mission to reimagine the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

Learn more at www.lisakeefauver.com.

Follow @lisakeefauvermsw on Instagram.

Listen to Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Podcast - Available on all podcast platforms.

Read Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. Available in bookstores and on your favorite online booksellers, including Bookshop.Org.

Watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here

Subscribe AFGO with Lisa Keefauver on Substack here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome ESPN Sports Broadcaster Lauren Sisler to Grief is a Sneaky Bitch podcast with host Lisa Keefauver. As a sportscaster and former collegiate gymnast, Lauren is passionate about sports, but even more passionate about telling the stories of the coaches, athletes, and fans who make it more than a game. Lauren's life was not always marked by victories. In 2003, as a freshman at Rutgers University, tragedy struck when she unexpectedly lost both parents within hours of each other to their hidden battle with prescription drug addiction. In this conversation, Lauren shares her profound journey of grief following the sudden death of both her parents when she was just 18. She reflects on the complexities of understanding their deaths, the impact of addiction, and the importance of storytelling in processing trauma. Through her experiences, Lauren emphasizes the significance of empathy, acceptance, and gratitude in healing, ultimately encouraging others to embrace their own stories, no matter how messy they may be.

Lauren Sisler is a national award-winning sports broadcaster who has been captivating audiences with her insightful coverage on ESPN since 2016. Not only is she a powerhouse in the broadcasting world, but she’s also the author of the compelling new book, 'Shatterproof.' Through her grief, Lauren emerged from the shadows of shame and found renewed hope. Her message is clear: confront adversity with bravery, own your story, and let it propel you towards a future filled with greater meaning and fulfillment. You can pick up a copy of her autobiography Shatterproof and learn more about her work as a broadcaster, speaker, and storyteller at www.laurensisler.com

Lisa Keefauver is a social worker, widow, and grief activist on a mission to reimagine the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

Learn more at www.lisakeefauver.com.

Follow @lisakeefauvermsw on Instagram.

Listen to Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Podcast - Available on all podcast platforms.

Read Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. Available in bookstores and on your favorite online booksellers, including Bookshop.Org.

Watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here

Subscribe AFGO with Lisa Keefauver on Substack here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mary-Frances O’Connor is one of the foremost experts on the impact of grief on the brain and the body. That’s why host Lisa Keefauver was thrilled to welcome her back to the podcast for a second time to discuss her latest book The Grieving Body: How the Stress of Loss Can Be an Opportunity for Healing. Just as Mary-Frances did in her book, she combines fascinating science, intimate storytelling, and her generous heart to help us better understand the physiological impact of the stressors of grief. Some of the themes explored include:

• Stress is a significant factor in the grieving process.
• Grief can significantly impact physical health, particularly cardiovascular health.
• Every small act of agency contributes to healing.
• The body has a natural resilience and ability to recover from grief.
• Life after loss involves adapting to new realities and understanding changes.
• Grieving is a continuous learning curve that requires practice.
• Attachment plays a crucial role in how we experience grief.
• Social connections can alleviate some of the physiological impacts of grief.

MARY-FRANCES O’CONNOR, PhD is a professor of psychology at the University of Arizona, where she directs the Grief, Loss and Social Stress (GLASS) Lab, investigating the effects of grief on the brain and the body. Her first book The Grieving Brain was included on Oprah’s list of Best Books to Comfort a Grieving Friend. O’Connor holds a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Arizona and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in psychoneuroimmunology at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. Having grown up in Montana, she now lives in Tucson, Arizona. Visit www.maryfrancesoconnor.org to learn more.

Lisa Keefauver is a social worker, widow, and grief activist on a mission to reimagine the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

Learn more at www.lisakeefauver.com.

Follow @lisakeefauvermsw on Instagram.

Listen to Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Podcast - Available on all podcast platforms.

Read Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. Available in bookstores and on your favorite online booksellers, including Bookshop.Org.

Watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here

Subscribe AFGO with Lisa Keefauver on Substack here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome Serene Meshel-Dillman to the show. In this episode, host Lisa Keefauver engages in a profound conversation with Serene - a producer and filmmaker, about her documentary series 'Take Me Out Feet First.' now playing on Amazon Prime. – is a poignant documentary series delving into the deeply personal journeys of 25 terminally ill individuals as they navigate their end-of-life decisions and explore their options. They explore personal experiences of loss, the cultural context of grief, and the importance of discussing medical aid in dying. The conversation highlights the need for agency and dignity in end-of-life choices, emphasizing the significance of sharing stories to normalize these discussions and advocate for change in legislation surrounding medical aid in dying.

A New York native and dancer with a passion for the visual arts, Serene attended The School of American Ballet, Tenafly High School then The University of Vermont. Post graduation, she opted out of law school and worked at an advertising agency in New York, founded a company that imported baskets from Haiti, then moved to Los Angeles to work in production on television commercials. In 2014 Serene conceived and directed the documentary film, “Getting to The Nutcracker”, a behind the scenes look at what it takes to produce the classic ballet from auditions to final performance. Her second documentary, “The 5th Dementia” is about a Los Angeles-based band whose members live with Alzheimer’s, dementia and Parkinson’s. They are able to sing and play music despite their neurodegenerative diseases. Take Me Out Feet First, currently streaming on Amazon Prime, is her first series.

• The importance of agency in end-of-life decisions.
• Many people do not use medical aid in dying despite having the option.
• Personal stories can drive advocacy for change.
• Conversations about death should be normalized.
• Quality of life is paramount in end-of-life care.
• Legislation is evolving, and advocacy is crucial.

Lisa Keefauver is a social worker, widow, and grief activist on a mission to reimagine the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

LEARN more at www.lisakeefauver.com.

FOLLOW @lisakeefauvermsw on Instagram.

LISTEN to Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Podcast - Available on all podcast platforms.

READ Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. Available in bookstores and on your favorite online booksellers, including Bookshop.Org. Also available as an audiobook.

WATCH her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here

SUBSCRIBE AFGO with Lisa Keefauver on Substack here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Consolée Nishimwe and Barbara Becker joined host Lisa Keefauver for this powerful episode. In this episode, these friends explore the profound themes of grief, trauma, and resilience. They discuss Consolée's experiences as a survivor of the Rwandan genocide, and the importance of empathy and storytelling in the healing process. The conversation highlights the significance of creating safe spaces for vulnerability and the role of community support in navigating pain and hope. Consolee opens up about her journey of healing through storytelling, the transformation of her identity after trauma, and the importance of breaking the stigma surrounding HIV and rape. She emphasizes the role of mindfulness and meditation in her healing process, and the necessity of community support in overcoming shame and stigma. As Consolee expressed, we are more than what we endured.

Consolee Nishimwe is an author, a motivational speaker, and a survivor of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Today, Consolee is a committed speaker on the genocide, a defender of Women’s rights, and an advocate for other genocide survivors. In 2012, Consolee released her memoir Tested to the Limit: A Genocide Survivor’s Story of Pain, Resilience, and Hope. Consolee currently lives in New York. Learn more about her at www. https://www.consolee.org

Barbara Becker is a bestselling writer, international human rights advocate, and interfaith leader. She is the author of the Gold Nautilus Award-winning HEARTWOOD: The Art of Living with the End in Mind, which Katie Couric Media featured in their “Books that will Change Your Life.” Barbara has worked with the United Nations, Human Rights First, the Ms. Foundation for Women, and has recently participated in a delegation of interfaith leaders to Rwanda. As an ordained interfaith minister, she bridges the sacred and the secular. Learn more at www.barbarabecker.com

Lisa Keefauver is a social worker, widow, and grief activist on a mission to reimagine the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

Learn more at www.lisakeefauver.com. Follow @lisakeefauvermsw on Instagram. Listen to Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Podcast - Available on all podcast platforms.

Read Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. Available in bookstores and on your favorite online booksellers, including Bookshop.Org. Also available as an audiobook. Watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here Subscribe to AFGO with Lisa Keefauver on Substack here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sundari Malcolm, a Birth, Grief, and Death Doula, joined host Lisa Keefauver for this episode. In 2007, at 27 years old, and after 7 years of being her Caregiver, Sundari Malcolm lost her mother to Breast Cancer. 4 years later, her father died from the complications of Brain Cancer.

Those experiences redirected her life, and she's made it her mission to equip people with the tools they need to manage life’s greatest transitions.

This conversation travels topics deep and wide from friendship loss, the role of caregiving for one parent, to grieving a complicated relationship with the other parent and the practices and skills we need to metabolize our grief. All along the way Sundari brings warmth, wisdom, and my favorite – a little cheeky humor to this wide-ranging conversation.

Sundari is the founder of A Healing Doula Academy, a self- paced virtual training program for Spiritually led Grief & Death Doulas with a focus on Indigenous healing practices. Sundari is offering this community an enrollment discount of 20%. You can visit www.ahealingdoula.com to learn more and Simply apply the giftcode, SNEAKYBITCH20 at checkout.

05:07 Cultural Perspectives on Grief

07:58 Understanding Friend Loss

14:54 Healing Practices and Self-Care

19:31 Navigating Life as an Orphan

28:03 Spiritual Practices in Grief

29:11 The Role of Caregiver in Grief

29:32 Navigating the Complexities of Caregiving

43:38 The Challenges of Anticipatory Grief

56:10 Understanding Complicated Grief

01:03:55 Reclaiming Intuitive Healing

Lisa Keefauver is a social worker, widow, and grief activist on a mission to reimagine the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

Learn more at www.lisakeefauver.com.

Follow @lisakeefauvermsw on Instagram.

Listen to Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Podcast - Available on all podcast platforms.

Read Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. Available in bookstores and on your favorite online booksellers, including Bookshop.Org. Also available as an audiobook.

Watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here

Subscribe AFGO with Lisa Keefauver on Substack here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cole Imperi, a clinically trained chaplain and thanatologist joins host Lisa Keefauver to explore the multifaceted nature of grief. They explore the importance of grief literacy, the role of community support, and the cultural perspectives that shape our understanding of loss. Cole shares her experiences working with incarcerated individuals and discusses the concept of shadow losses, emphasizing the need for compassion and understanding in grief. The conversation highlights the significance of rituals, vulnerability, and the importance of building supportive communities for those navigating grief. 

Cole Imperi is a thanatologist, author, and researcher whose work focuses on the use of non-clinical tools in support of those experiencing loss and grief. She is the author of "A Guide to Grief" published by Kids Can Press for ages 10-14 and has a second book about grief for adults coming in 2026 from Penguin. Visit www.coleimperi.com to learn more about her work.

09:49 Grief in the Prison System

18:09 Themes of Loss and Home

24:42 Cultural Perceptions of Grief

33:05 Vulnerability of Grievers

38:53 Cultural Influences on Grieving Practices

49:11 Building Community in New Environments

55:09 Writing for Grief Literacy in Teens

01:04:18 Understanding Thanatology and Its Cultural Context

Lisa Keefauver is a social worker, widow, and grief activist on a mission to reimagine the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

Learn more at www.lisakeefauver.com.

Listen to Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Podcast - Available on all podcast platforms.

Read Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. Available in bookstores and on your favorite online booksellers, including Bookshop.Org. Also available as an audiobook.

Watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here

Subscribe AFGO with Lisa Keefauver on Substack here

Follow @lisakeefauvermsw on Instagram.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Olivia Abousaid joins host Lisa Keefauver for a profound conversation about the complexities of grief, particularly in the context of community, chronic illness, and cultural influences. They explore personal experiences of grief, the importance of rituals, the role of anger, and the necessity of finding agency amidst ongoing loss. The discussion emphasizes the significance of community support, the power of letter writing as a tool for processing grief, and the balance between experiencing joy and sorrow. Ultimately, the episode serves as a reminder that grief is a shared human experience that requires connection, understanding, and compassion. Our conversation traverses a wide landscape of types of losses and facets of grief  - from the death of loved ones, witnessing and experiencing racism and genocide, dreams deferred and denied, and the grief over the limitations brought on by living with Lupus, a chronic illness.

Master Certified Coach Olivia understands the profound power of self-improvement and resilience. Born and raised in Dallas to Palestinian parents, her journey has instilled in her a deep appreciation for personal growth and navigating cultural nuances. Now residing in Los Angeles, Olivia combines her life experiences with her expertise as a Master Certified Professional Coach to empower individuals to unlock their full potential. As a dedicated grief and transformation coach, Olivia helps clients navigate their unique journeys through grief—whether it’s the loss of a loved one, coping with chronic illness, or grappling with unfulfilled dreams. Her transformational coaching goes beyond one-size-fits-all solutions, creating a safe space for you to explore your goals, overcome challenges, and embrace your authentic self. Learn more about Olivia by visiting https://www.pact-coaching.com/

09:46 Cultural Context of Grief

15:36 Navigating Complicated Grief

21:12 Agency in Ongoing Grief

30:36 Embracing the Complexity of Emotions

36:32 Sustaining Activism and Personal Well-being

45:19 Understanding Chronic Illness and Grief

56:59 The Importance of Community in Grief

01:05:39 Rituals and Practices for Healing

Lisa Keefauver is a social worker, widow, and grief activist on a mission to reimagine the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

Learn more at www.lisakeefauver.com.

Listen to Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Podcast - Available on all podcast platforms.

Read Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. Available in bookstores and on your favorite online booksellers, including Bookshop.Org. Also available as an audiobook.

Watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here

Subscribe to Substack AFGO with Lisa Keefauver

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anne Gudger is the author of the beautiful memoir, The Fifth Chamber, which Kirkus Review called “An emotionally riveting memoir, raw and inspiring.” In this conversation, Annie Gudger shares her journey of navigating love and grief after the accidental death of her husband when she was just 6 months pregnant with their son. As she shared in her extraordinary memoir, Anne explores the complexities of entering a new relationship as a young widow and mother while dealing with profound. Together we explore themes around shock, the nature of helpful (and not helpful) grief support, along with the coping mechanisms she developed. Annie emphasizes the importance of curiosity and meaningful conversations in processing grief and highlights the therapeutic value of writing as a tool for healing.

Anne Gudger's work has been published in places like Newsweek, Real Simple Magazine, Columbia Journal, The Los Angeles Review, and more. She has been a Best of the Net Nominee twice and has won a handful of essay contests. In March 2020, with her beloved daughter, she co-founded Coffee and Grief: a community that includes a monthly reading series focused on grief and their podcast called Coffee, Grief, and Gratitude. Anne’s big purpose is to normalize grief, to give grief a microphone. You can learn more about Anne Gudger, her incredible memoir, The Fifth Champer, and her other grief platforms by visiting www.annegudger.com or follow her on socials at @annegudger.

00:00 Introduction to Grief and Early Loss

06:00 Lessons from Early Grief Experiences

09:01 Celebrating Kent: A Life Full of Adventure

11:58 Navigating Accidental Loss and Early Grief

15:07 The Role of Support Systems in Grief

18:01 Specific Ways to Offer Support

21:04 The Impact of Grief on Daily Life

28:55 The Importance of Grief Support

30:01 Navigating the Before and After of Grief

34:25 The Challenge of Dating After Loss

41:53 Remaking Identity Through Grief

44:47 Finding New Love Amidst Grief

Lisa Keefauver is a social worker, widow, cancer survivor, and grief activist, author, and keynote speaker on a mission to reimagine the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

Learn more at www.lisakeefauver.com.

Follow @lisakeefauvermsw on Instagram.

Listen to Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Podcast - Available on all podcast platforms.

Read Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. Available in bookstores and on your favorite online booksellers, including Bookshop.Org. Also available as an audiobook.

Watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m thrilled to bring you a conversation with the warm and one of the truly wisest people I know on the subject of grief and loss, Litsa Williams. She is the co-founder of the online grief organization, What’s Your Grief - - - which is also the title of the incredible book she co-authored. She is a grief therapist with over 15 years of experience working with sudden, traumatic, and disenfranchised losses as well as ambiguous grief. Litsa holds a Masters in Social work and one in Philosophy too. Both of those perspectives show up in this conversation.

This episode is expansive as we explore the loss of her father and the subsequent challenges her family faced, including her sister's struggle with addiction. Litsa emphasizes the importance of understanding our grief beliefs and the stigma surrounding addiction, while also highlighting the need for accessible resources for those navigating grief. Whether you or someone you love is experiencing a disenfranchised grief related to addiction, ambiguous losses, traumatic loss or more, I promise you are going to learn so much from this conversation.

She is the co-founder of the online grief organization What’s Your Grief. She’s a grief therapist with over 15 years of experience working with sudden, traumatic, and disenfranchised losses as well as ambiguous grief. Drawing on personal and professional experience with grief, WYG was built as a resource offering concrete, accessible, and relatable support, founded on the values of psychoeducation and creative coping. Litsa received her master’s degree in clinical social work from the University of Maryland School of Social Work, as well as a master’s degree in Philosophy from the University of Warwick (UK). She co-authored the 2022 book What’s Your Grief: Lists to Help You Through Any Loss. Learn more here: https://whatsyourgrief.com; https://instagram.com/whatsyourgrief; https://facebook.com/whatsyourgrief

Lisa Keefauver is a social worker, widow, and grief activist on a mission to reimagine the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

Learn more at www.lisakeefauver.com.

Follow @lisakeefauvermsw on Instagram.

Listen to Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Podcast - Available on all podcast platforms.

Read Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. Available in bookstores and on your favorite online booksellers, including Bookshop.Org. Also available as an audiobook.

Watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Susan Lieu is a multi-hyphenate storyteller, activist, and author helping people live the stories they’ve always wanted. Her award-winning solo show 140 LBS: How Beauty Killed My Mother evolved into her debut and truly extraordinary memoir, The Manicurist’s Daughter. In this episode we explore the complexities of grief beliefs shaped by family dynamics, the silence surrounding loss, and the impact of cultural context on mourning. Susan reflects on her mother's legacy, the circumstances of her death, and the cascading losses that followed, including shifts in family structure and identity. The conversation highlights the importance of being seen and heard in the grieving process and the role of art in healing. Susan shares her profound journey of grief, justice, and self-discovery following the death of her mother. She discusses the complexities of carrying grief, the quest for accountability, and the transformative power of performance art in processing her experiences. Through her exploration of family dynamics, she uncovers the shared pain and resilience within her family, ultimately leading to a deeper understanding of love, compassion, and the importance of living with intention.

Vietnamese-American author, playwright, and performer Susan Lieu is the creator of her theatrical solo show "140 LBS: How Beauty Killed My Mother," which received critical acclaim from LA Times, NPR, and American Theatre. Her debut memoir, The Manicurist’s Daughter (Celadon), is an Apple Book Pick of the Month and Must Listen of the Month, and has received accolades from The New York Times, NPR Books, Elle Magazine, and The Washington Post. The cofounder of Socola Chocolatier, she is a proud alumnae of Harvard, Yale, and Hedgebrook.

You can follow: @susanlieu @celadonbooks facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susanlieuofficial TikTok: @susanlieuofficial LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanlieu/ https://www.susanlieu.me/over-140-lbs

ABOUT THE SHOW & HOST

Lisa Keefauver is a social worker, widow, cancer survivor and grief activist on a mission to reimagine the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

LEARN more at www.lisakeefauver.com.

FOLLOW @lisakeefauvermsw on Instagram.

SUBSCRIBE to AFGO with Lisa Keefauver on Substack at lisakeefauver.substack.com

LISTEN to Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Podcast - Available on all podcast platforms.

READ Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. Available in bookstores and on your favorite online booksellers, including Bookshop.Org. Also available as an audiobook.

WATCH her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here or the video versions of this podcast here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we discuss internationally celebrated celebrity intuitive medium Susan Grau’s new remarkable book, Infinite Life, Infinite Lessons. It is a deep dive into the soul's journey, offering insights into healing from grief and the afterlife. Susan shares her early memories of trauma and loss and the profound impact of her near-death experience. Our conversation delves into the definitions of spirit and soul, and how these concepts relate to our understanding of life and death. Susan explains what she’s experienced and learned about the spiritual connections that persist beyond death, the role of angels and guides, and the importance of being present in our lives. Susan offers practical advice for connecting with loved ones who have passed.

Please note: This episode does include discussions of childhood abuse and near-death experiences. Please take care and use your judgement on what’s best for you.

Susan Grau is an internationally celebrated celebrity intuitive medium, author, soul healer, and speaker. In addition to working as a professional medium and life path intuitive, Susan’s diverse range of certifications include: Reiki Master, Sai Maa Diksha Practitioner, Karuna Practitioner, and Certified CADC II - Addiction Specialist. Additionally, she is a licensed hypnotherapist specializing in past life regression, a respected professional teacher of the metaphysical arts and an honorary member of the Healing Touch Professional Association (HTPA). Susan specializes in grief therapy, guiding people to healing and recovery. Susan has just released her new book Infinite Life, Infinite Lessons (July 16, 2024) by Hay House. It is a deep dive into the soul's journey, offering insights into healing from grief and the afterlife and is now available to order on her website and a variety of retailers in the US.

ABOUT THE SHOW & HOST

Lisa Keefauver is a social worker, widow, cancer survivor and grief activist on a mission to reimagine the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

LEARN more at www.lisakeefauver.com.

FOLLOW @lisakeefauvermsw on Instagram.

SUBSCRIBE to AFGO with Lisa Keefauver on Substack at lisakeefauver.substack.com

LISTEN to Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Podcast - Available on all podcast platforms.

READ Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. Available in bookstores and on your favorite online booksellers, including Bookshop.Org. Also available as an audiobook.

WATCH her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here or the video versions of this podcast here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emmy Award-Winning journalist and author, Allison Gilbert, joined host Lisa Keefauver for an important conversation on the intersections of grief, joy, and loneliness. They dive deep into the lessons from Allison's latest book, 'The Joy of Connections: 100 Ways to Beat Loneliness and Live a Happier and More Meaningful Life.' co-authored with the late Dr. Ruth Westheimer. They explore early experiences of grief, the importance of peer support, and the tough love lessons from her co-author, Dr. Ruth Westheimer. The conversation delves into defining joy, the structure of their book, and the significance of communicating needs in relationships. They also address the challenges faced by caregivers and the importance of maintaining connections amidst caregiving responsibilities.

Allison Gilbert is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and one of the most influential writers and speakers on how to find the inner resources to overcome life’s biggest challenges. Through research and lived experience, Allison helps audiences transform grief and loss, manage caregiving and chronic illness, and find connection amid the growing public health crisis of social isolation and loneliness. She is co-author of Dr. Ruth Westheimer’s final book, The Joy of Connections: 100 Ways to Beat Loneliness and Live a Happier and More Meaningful Life. The book stems from the article Allison wrote for The New York Times, “Dr. Ruth Saved People’s Sex Lives. Now she wants to Cure Loneliness,” about Dr. Ruth’s appointment as New York State’s Ambassador to Loneliness, the first such position in the United States. Allison is also the author of Passed and Present, Always Too Soon, and Parentless Parents. You can follow her on IG at @agilbertwriter.

Lisa Keefauver is a social worker, widow, cancer survivor and grief activist on a mission to reimagine the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

LEARN more at www.lisakeefauver.com.

FOLLOW @lisakeefauvermsw on Instagram.

LISTEN to Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Podcast - Available on all podcast platforms.

READ Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. Available in bookstores and on your favorite online booksellers, including Bookshop.Org. Also available as an audiobook.

WATCH her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here or the video versions of this podcast here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kathleen Blackburn was the oldest of five children, a 12-year-old from Lubbock, Texas, whose evangelical family eschewed publ­ic education for homeschooling and wove improbable scientific theories into literal interpretations of the bible. Then her father, a former air force pilot, was diagnosed with stage IV cancer at the age of thirty-eight, and, as Kathleen writes in her searing memoir, Loose of Earth, “it was like pouring gasoline on the Holy Spirit.”

In this conversation, we explore the intricate relationship between personal grief, memory, and the political dimensions of loss. We dive dep into the complexities of memory, denial, and the impact of parental beliefs on childhood experiences of loss. As a memoirist, Kathleen explores the journey of humanizing those we’ve lost and shares her experiences growing up in a family that prioritized faith healing over medical care for her father's cancer.

Kathleen explores the impact of her father's military background, the denial surrounding his illness, and the emotional toll it took on her as a child. The conversation also explores the environmental factors contributing to her father's health issues, particularly PFAS contamination, and how these experiences shaped her understanding of grief and memory.

Kathleen was born in a military hospital on Guam in 1984. She was raised in Lubbock, Texas. She earned an MFA from the Ohio State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is the author of the memoir Loose of Earth, out with the University of Texas Press (April 2024). Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Texas Observer, Belt, Guernica, Gulf Coast, River Teeth, and elsewhere. For five years, she’s taught creative nonfiction workshops at the University of Chicago. In Fall 2024, she will join the English faculty at SUNY New Paltz as an Assistant Professor. You can pick up a copy of her extraordinary memoir, Loose of Earth online here or in your favorite local bookstore.

Lisa Keefauver is a social worker, widow, cancer survivor and grief activist on a mission to reimagine the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

LEARN more at www.lisakeefauver.com.

FOLLOW @lisakeefauvermsw on Instagram.

LISTEN to Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Podcast - Available on all podcast platforms.

READ Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. Available in bookstores and on your favorite online booksellers, including Bookshop.Org. Also available as an audiobook.

WATCH her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here or the video versions of this podcast here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Please welcome my wonderful friend, Jamie Thrower to the show. They are a Creative, Death Doula and founder of the Queer Grief Club. This episode is all about the intersections of grief, art, and community. Jamie and Lisa explore how personal experiences with loss shape grief beliefs, the importance of creative expression in processing grief, and the need for safe spaces for grieving individuals, particularly within the LGBTQ+ community. Jamie shares their journey of using photography and art as tools for mindfulness and connection, emphasizing the significance of community in navigating grief. Jamie explores their own losses, including a late pregnancy loss and how that informs the community work they do. The conversation highlights the necessity of witnessing grief and creating environments where individuals can both embody and express their grief.

You can learn more about Jamie’s work as a Death Doula, End-Of-Life Educator, and Grief Supporter at www.jamiethrower.com. They also host an incredible Substack called Mourning Glory. You can sign up here: https://jamiethrower.substack.com/

Lisa Keefauver is a social worker, widow, and grief activist on a mission to reimagine the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

Learn more at www.lisakeefauver.com.

Follow @lisakeefauvermsw on Instagram.

Listen to Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Podcast - Available on all podcast platforms.

Read Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. Available in bookstores and on your favorite online booksellers, including Bookshop.Org. Also available as an audiobook.

Watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here

SPECIAL EPISODE

Submit your question: If you have a grief question, you’d like Lisa to answer on the air, record your question here: https://www.speakpipe.com/GriefIsASneakyBitchLive. Make sure you’re subscribed to the show so you get notified when these bonus episodes drop so you can hear your question, and her answer live on the air.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Doménica Feraud joined host Lisa Keefauver for a conversation about her play 'Someone Spectacular' and the experience of creating a play about grief. They discuss the early lessons about grief that Doménica learned from her parents, the losses she experienced as a child, and the impact of those losses on her understanding of grief. Doménica shares how her close relationship with her mother, Nathalie, shaped her identity and how her mother's sudden death led her to write the play. They also touch on the importance of open conversations about grief and the struggles of navigating life after loss. The play 'Someone Spectacular' explores the messy and complex nature of grief through the stories of six characters who come together in a grief support group. Each character represents a different type of loss, including the death of a spouse, the loss of a sibling, and the experience of miscarriage. The play delves into the individual experiences of grief and the ways in which people cope and support each other. It emphasizes the importance of staying connected and working through the pain together, even when it's messy and uncomfortable.

Doménica Feraud is a first-generation Ecuadorian writer, producer, and actor from New York City. Her groundbreaking play Rinse, Repeat premiered at the Signature Theatre in 2019 (NYT Critic’s Pick). Her sophomore play, someone spectacular, a tribute to her late mother Nathalie, is currently running at Signature Theater until September 7th. After the viral success of The Movie Star and Me and The 26-Year-Old Virgin, Feraud’s debut book, You Are What You See, will be released next summer. Acting credits include: Rinse, Repeat (Signature), The Wild Parrots of Campbell (Cherry Lane). Film/TV: Life After You, “Law & Order: SVU.” BA: NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

Learn more about her and her work at https://www.domenicaferaud.com

Lisa Keefauver is a social worker, widow, and grief activist on a mission to reimagine the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

Learn more at www.lisakeefauver.com.

Follow @lisakeefauvermsw on Instagram.

Listen to Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Podcast - Available on all podcast platforms.

Read Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. Available in bookstores and on your favorite online booksellers, including Bookshop.Org. Also available as an audiobook.

Watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jessica Waite, author of The Widow’s Guide to Dead Bastards is my guest in this thought-provoking episode. We explore the complexities of grief, betrayal, and healing through Jessica's personal journey as a widow. We discuss early memories of loss, the impact of mental health on relationships, and the importance of processing anger and forgiveness. Jessica shares her experiences with writing as a healing tool and the societal expectations surrounding grief. Our conversation emphasizes the significance of intuition, agency, and the need for compassion in navigating the aftermath of betrayal and loss.

When life handed Jessica Waite a riveting, horrifying and surprisingly beautiful story, she transformed herself into a writer. Her debut memoir, The Widow’s Guide to Dead Bastards (Atria) was an instant national bestseller, featured by The Washington Post, Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper, The Toronto Star and many other outlets. Jessica lives on Treaty 7 territory in the city of Calgary, Alberta. You can find her at JessicaWaite.work

Lisa Keefauver is a social worker, widow, and grief activist on a mission to reimagine the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

Learn more at www.lisakeefauver.com.

Follow @lisakeefauvermsw on Instagram.

Listen to Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Podcast - Available on all podcast platforms.

Read Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. Available in bookstores and on your favorite online booksellers, including Bookshop.Org. Also available as an audiobook.

Watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here

Submit your question: If you have a grief question, you’d like Lisa to answer on the air, record your question here: https://www.speakpipe.com/GriefIsASneakyBitchLive. Make sure you’re subscribed to the show so you get notified when these bonus episodes drop so you can hear your question, and her answer live on the air.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Answering your grief questions LIVE in this SPECIAL EPISODE of Grief is a Sneaky Bitch, with co-host Kousha Navidar. Co-host Kousha introduces 4 callers (Sachi, Robin, Bethany, and Sabrina) to Host Lisa Keefauver as she answers their questions in real time. They explore themes of compounding grief, the importance of communication in expressing needs, and the role of movement and rituals in processing loss. The conversation emphasizes the duality of experiencing joy amidst grief and the necessity of self-compassion in navigating the grieving process. Listeners are encouraged to find their own paths through grief, recognizing that there is no right way to heal.

Lisa and Kousha met in the summer of 2024 when she appeared as a guest on the WNYC NPR show, All of It, where Kousha was serving as a special host. Kousha is a host, writer, and producer. He has hosted national shows at WNYC / NPR, has been on-air talent at PBS, a former speechwriter for a member of President Obama's cabinet, and a high school math teacher. Kousha has hosted and produced shows on WNYC / NPR including The Brian Lehrer Show, All of It, and Notes from America. At WGBH / PBS, he helped launch the national show Point Taken, where he developed a companion YouTube series to reach younger viewers typically outside PBS's viewership. As a speechwriter, Kousha has written for and advised politicians, celebrities, and executives around the country.

Lisa Keefauver is a social worker, widow, and grief activist on a mission to reimagine the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

LEARN more at www.lisakeefauver.com.

FOLLOW @lisakeefauvermsw on Instagram.

LISTEN to Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Podcast - Available on all podcast platforms.

READ Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. Available in bookstores and on your favorite online booksellers, including Bookshop.Org. Also available as an audiobook.

WATCH her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here

Submit your question: If you have a grief question, you’d like Lisa to answer on the air, record your question here: https://www.speakpipe.com/GriefIsASneakyBitchLive. Make sure you’re subscribed to the show so you get notified when these bonus episodes drop so you can hear your question, and her answer live on the air.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m thrilled to share that today’s guest is Alica Forneret. You might recognize her name as her writing and work about grief, work, and race have been featured in The The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Psychology Today, Huffington Post, GQ, and more. She is also an educator, speaker, and consultant dedicated to creating new spaces for people to explore grief and grieving. She is the Founder and Executive Director of PAUSE, a nonprofit focused on supporting Communities of Color through grief and end of life.

In this episode, we explore some very important themes, including the grief around adoption, mother loss, grieving someone who we had a complicated relationship with, and the experiences of grieving as a Black woman. I so appreciate Alica’s honesty, thoughtfulness, and directness in helping us better understand some of the more complex corners of grief.

Learn more about Alica by visiting https://alicaforneret.co/ and her incredible organization, PAUSE, at www.timetopause.org.

Don't forget to sign up for the PAUSE Resource Fair happening at Our House in Los Angeles on November 23rd.

Lisa Keefauver is a social worker, widow, and grief activist on a mission to reimagine the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

Learn more at www.lisakeefauver.com.

Follow @lisakeefauvermsw on Instagram.

Listen to Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Podcast - Available on all podcast platforms.

Read Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. Available in bookstores and on your favorite online booksellers, including Bookshop.Org. Also available as an audiobook.

Watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here

Submit your question: If you have a grief question, you’d like Lisa to answer on the air, record your question here: https://www.speakpipe.com/GriefIsASneakyBitchLive. Make sure you’re subscribed to the show so you get notified when these bonus episodes drop so you can hear your question, and her answer live on the air.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this conversation, Dr. Red Hoffman shares her experiences with grief and loss, including the deaths of her grandparents, the murder of her father in a terrorist attack, and the death by suicide of her boyfriend. She discusses the challenges of navigating grief as a teenager and the lack of support and language to express her emotions. Red also talks about her journey into the medical field, combining her passion for surgery with her interest in palliative care and end-of-life conversations. She discusses the unique challenges faced by survivors of violent loss, including the loss of safety in the world and the complications of dealing with the legal system and media. Red emphasizes the importance of extending grace to oneself and others in the grieving process and highlights the need for understanding and support for survivors of violent loss.

Melissa Red Hoffman, MD, ND, FACS began her professional career as a naturopathic physician and a yoga teacher and now practices as an acute care surgeon (a combination of trauma, emergency general surgery, and surgical critical) at Mission Hospital in Asheville. As one of just 90 US surgeons board-certified in Hospice and Palliative Medicine, she serves as an Associate Hospice Medical Director at Care Partners. Red is the co-founder of the Surgical Palliative Care Society. She recently launched a new podcast, The Surgical Soul with Red MD, focused on the joys and struggles of surgeons, both inside and outside of the operating room.

Lisa Keefauver is a social worker, widow, and grief activist on a mission to reimagine the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

Learn more at www.lisakeefauver.com.

Follow @lisakeefauvermsw on Instagram.

Listen to Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Podcast - Available on all podcast platforms.

Read Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. Available in bookstores and Amazon, Bookshop.Org. Barnes & Noble. Also available in the UK and available as an audiobook.

Watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Joanne Cacciatore is an expert in traumatic grief and she is also a bereaved mother. The conversation today is wide and deep exploring themes including: traumatic grief, the loss of a child, the healing practices and rituals required to metabolize loss, the ways in which our culture makes navigating the messy non-linear path of grief unnecessarily difficult, and so much more. Her best selling book, Bearing the Unbearable: Love, Loss, and the Heartbreaking Path of Grief, is one of my all-time favorite books on loss and a national award winning best seller that has helped revolutionize the way our culture thinks, and feels, about grief. 

MORE ABOUT THE GUEST

Dr. Joanne Cacciatore is a Professor at Arizona State University, a Senior Sustainability Scholar, and Director of the Graduate Certificate in Trauma and Bereavement Program. She is in the top 2% of scholars in her field around the world, and has devoted her life to research, practice, and community based care of those suffering traumatic grief. She served on Oprah and Prince Harry’s Mental Health Committee for the Apple TV Series, The Me You Can’t See, which also featured her work at the Selah Carefarm, a therapeutic ecocommunity that combines rescued animals with humans who are grieving the tragic death of a child, parent, partner, or other primary family member. Her research has been published in the Lancet, and other medical journals, and she just released one the Great Courses called Understanding and Coping with Grief with Audible in 2022.

Lisa Keefauver is a social worker, widow, and grief activist on a mission to reimagine the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

Learn more at www.lisakeefauver.com.

Follow @lisakeefauvermsw on Instagram.

Listen to Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Podcast - Available on all podcast platforms.

Read Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. Available in bookstores and on your favorite online booksellers, including Bookshop.Org. Also available as an audiobook.

Watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here

Submit your question: If you have a grief question, you’d like Lisa to answer on the air, record your question here: https://www.speakpipe.com/GriefIsASneakyBitchLive. Make sure you’re subscribed to the show so you get notified when these bonus episodes drop so you can hear your question, and her answer live on the air.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kicking off Season 6 of the show, actress and author Tembi Locke shares her experience of grief and the lessons she learned after the death of her husband. She discusses the importance of bringing awareness to grief and the opportunity it provides for connection and aliveness. She emphasizes the need to hold both the pain of loss and the joy of the person's life. Tembi also talks about the impact her husband had on her and the importance of sharing stories and memories of loved ones. In this conversation, Lisa Keefauver and Tembi Locke discuss the daily challenges of grief and the importance of finding agency and small moments of control amid loss. They also explore the vulnerability of being a young widow and the overwhelming weight of responsibility. Tembi shares her experience of navigating solo parenting and the importance of finding a partner who can understand and support her grief journey. They emphasize the need for rest, self-care, and finding moments of joy or ease in the midst of grief.

From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home: https://www.amazon.com/Scratch-Memoir-Love-Sicily-Finding/dp/150118766X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

From Scratch (the Netflix special): https://www.netflix.com/title/81104486

Lisa Keefauver is a social worker, widow, and grief activist on a mission to reimagine the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

Learn more at www.lisakeefauver.com.

Follow @lisakeefauvermsw on Instagram.

Listen to Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Podcast - Available on all podcast platforms.

Read Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. Available in bookstores, favorite online booksellers, including Bookshop.Org. Also available as an audiobook.

Watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here

Submit your question: If you have a grief question, you’d like Lisa to answer on the air, record your question here: https://www.speakpipe.com/GriefIsASneakyBitchLive. Make sure you’re subscribed to the show so you get notified when these bonus episodes drop so you can hear your question, and her answer live on the air.

This conversation was recorded in May 2024 prior to the release of host Lisa Keefauver’s book and held to be the kickoff episode for Season 6 of the podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jessica Fein has faced a lot of loss. Siblings, parents, and in 2022 her daughter Dalia. At the age of five Jessica’s daughter Dalia was diagnosed with a rare degenerative disease that would claim her life at 17. Before that moment came, and inspired by Dalia’s own insuppressible zest for life, Jessica and her family would discover how to live in the present when the future can’t be fixed. In our conversation today, and in her beautiful book, Breath Taking: A Memoir of Family, Dreams, and Broken Genes, Jessica maps both her journey to becoming an adoptive mom and the roller coaster ride of loving and caring for a terminally ill child, persevering when the simple act of taking a breath can become an act of courage. Through it all, she discovers the need to be both relentless advocate and calm presence, to show vulnerability as well as strength, and to allow joy to be louder than sorrow.

In addition to being a writer and a fierce advocate in the memory of her daughter, she's also host of the "I Don't Know How You Do It” podcast, which features people whose lives seem unimaginable from the outside. I’m grateful to share that I had the chance to be on the other side of the microphone and join her on her show recently too.

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 and will be in bookstores JUNE 4th.

Visit www.lisakeefauver.com to learn more about Lisa, sign up for her Not-So-Regular Newsletter, register for an upcoming online grief workshop, find out if she is coming to a city near you for her book tour, 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 May 8, 2024

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m inviting you to revisit a very special conversation I had from Season 4 of this podcast with my guest pediatric ICU nurse, Hui-Wen Sato.

Why? Well something absolutely crazy and horrible happened to the both of us shortly after we recorded that episode in November 2022. Just over 2 months later, on January 20th 2023, we BOTH received a Breast Cancer Diagnosis. On the EXACT SAME DAY. You'll hear a compelling new intro about the friendship that formed and of course have a chance to listen or re-listen to the profound wisdom Hui-Wen shares in our conversation.

What must it be like to be a pediatric ICU Nurse day in and day out, witnessing children and families in the most vulnerable and often grief-filled moments of their lives? Today’s guest, Hui-Wen Sato weaves a beautiful narrative about the realities of professional grief and the important cultural shifts needed to better serve both families and the medical professionals that serve them. She also shares the personal resources she draws on to sustain her and the role of storytelling as healing for all involved. And, as the title implies, she also implores us to stop putting healthcare workers on a pedestal.

Hui-wen is a pediatric ICU nurse based in Los Angeles. She holds an MPH and MSN from UCLA, and is currently obtaining her Certification in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University. She and her husband have two daughters, two tortoises and one complicated dog.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Her 2017 TEDxTalk was promoted to the main TED webpage in 2020, titled “How Grief Helped Me Become a Better Caregiver.”

You can also now view her powerful talk at End Well here

She has been featured in podcasts with NPR TED Radio Hour and The Silent Why, as well as webinars for Happify and the Speaking Grief Initiative.

You can follow her work at http://heartofnursing.blog.

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, find out if she is coming to a city near you for her book tour, or watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less.

Original episode recorded October 28, 2022. Recorded New Intro May 6, 2023 - 14 months after both guest and host were diagnosed with Breast Cancer on the exact same day - January 20, 2023.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today J.S. (Joon) Park is a hospital chaplain. Some of the other descriptions he uses for himself include: former atheist/agnostic, sixth degree black belt, suicide survivor, Korean-American, and follower of Christ. He is the author of a profoundly insightful, and at times poetic new book, As Long As You Need: Permission to Grieve. It’s part hospital chaplain experience and part memoir.

In this episode, Joon shares a bit about his personal journey from growing up in a home with violence and a martial arts dojo to becoming a hospital chaplain, highlighting the similarities between the two roles in terms of being present and encouraging others to find their voice. We also discussed the importance of allowing individuals to talk about their hopes and dreams, even in the face of loss or adversity. Joon shared how he creates safe space where people can share their desires without feeling shame or judgment. One of the important themes Joon brings to light is the grief we often feel over future losses and the significance of giving oneself permission to grieve them.

The conversation also touches on the idea relocating hope, of staying close to one's dreams and finding new ways to honor them, even if the original path is no longer possible. We also explored the importance of self-care and pacing oneself in the work of caregiving, recognizing the need for rest and support. One of the many important reminders I learned from both his book and our conversation is recognizing loss of autonomy and the value of finding the smallest choices and moments. Joon’s vulnerability, wisdom, and heart shine through both in his book and in our conversation.

About the Guest & Resources

J.S. Park is a hospital chaplain, published author, and online educator. For eight years he has been an interfaith chaplain at a 1000+ bed hospital that is designated a Level 1 Trauma Center. His role includes grief counseling, attending every death, every trauma and Code Blue, staff care, and supporting end-of-life care. J.S. also served for three years as a chaplain at one of the largest nonprofit charities for the homeless on the east coast. J.S. has a MDiv completed in 2010 and a BA in Psychology. He also has a sixth-degree black belt. He is the author of As Long as You Need: Permission to Grieve. J.S. currently lives in Tampa, Florida with his wife, a nurse practitioner, and his daughter, newborn son, and adopted dog.

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, find out if she is coming to a city near you for her book tour, or watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less. You can also WATCH this episode now on YouTube @lisakeefauvermsw

Recorded April 24, 2024.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.

You 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.

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. 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.

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.

Author 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.

Nikki’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.

Order 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.

Check 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.

Resources

You 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.

You 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.

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.

• 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.

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.

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.care

Learn 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.

Visit 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 Go

You 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.