Podcasts for Grief
Podcasts can be a great way to get some support and encouragement for your grief journey. We have a page on podcasts in the My Grief Toolbox section of MyGriefCare™. If you have found a great podcast that isn’t listed below, please share it with us at hello@mygriefcare.com
PODCASTS FOR GRIEF
Mindfulness and Grief Hosted by author and thanatologist Heather Stang, features compassionate insights for coping with grief and life after loss. Designed for bereaved people and grief professionals, you will learn how a mindful approach to grief can help you deal with difficult emotions, cultivate self-care and self-compassion, and honor the relationship that remains.
Grief Out Loud Grief Out Loud is opening up this often avoided conversation because grief is hard enough without having to go through it alone. We bring you a mix of personal stories, tips for supporting children, teens, and yourself, and interviews with professionals.
Open to Hope Feeling discouraged? Relax and tune into the Open to Hope podcast and hear Dr. Gloria Horsley and Dr. Heidi Horsley interview guests with inspiring stories about recovery from loss.
What’s Your Grief In this podcast series Eleanor Haley and Litsa Williams, the two mental health professionals behind the grief website What’s Your Grief, seek to leave no stone unturned in demystifying the complicated and sometimes crazy experience of living life after loss.
While We’re Waiting Podcasts FOR bereaved parents BY bereaved parents.
Here After with Megan Devine Get practical insight and advice from psychotherapist and grief advocate Megan Devine
Widowed Mom A place for those who have lost their significant other and are ready to start the next chapter of their lives. It’s designed to help you move through your grief to grow, evolve and create a future you can actually look forward to!
Widow We Do Now A surprisingly funny podcast on grief.
Just a Widow Talk Voices of spouse and partner loss.
Apps To Support Your Grief Journey
Let’s look at apps that can support your grief journey. We have a page on Apps in the My Grief Toolbox section of MyGriefCare.com. When we refer to Apps, in case you are not familiar with the term, we are primarily speaking of downloadable programs for your mobile devices (e.g., smartphones and tablets).
APPS FOR GRIEF
A social network for those who have suffered the loss of a loved one. Good Grief is free and helps grieving people to privately connect, chat, and support each other in finding a new normal. GoodGrief is for people ages 18 and up. GoodGrief works by connecting you with others who lost a loved one due to various causes. Create a private profile by answering questions related to your loss. Then, connect to other people through a one-on-one in-app texting service. Your private information is never seen publicly and chats are private and secure. Additional filters narrow your connections by age, gender, religion, time frame, and type and cause of loss. Apple Store. Google Play.
Empathy gives you personalized, step-by-step guidance through the challenges of losing a loved one, from practical, legal, and financial details to emotional support. Empathy.
Appropriate for kids age 4 and up. Smiles and Tears is like a virtual diary where kids can document their favorite memories of the person they lost. They can add pictures, release balloon messages, fill a memory jar, and even send virtual “gifts” to their loved one. It provides an interactive tool to record memories, send gifts and write thoughts, feelings, and emotions. As well as these interactive tools, Nelson’s Journey provides tips on how to manage emotions such as anger, confusion, guilt, loneliness, etc. which are common when someone has been bereaved of a special person. Apple Store.
Apart of Me is a charity that supports children, young people, and parents through loss and trauma. They aim to be your trusted guide through life’s biggest challenges. They empower you to work with ‘difficult’ emotions and discover your strength and wisdom hidden in the darkest places. Their multi-award-winning therapeutic game, which was co-created by experts in child psychology and bereaved young people, is at the core of what they do. It translates bereavement counseling techniques into a magical 3D world and is free to use. Apple Store. Google Play.
An app aimed at promoting well-being through meditation and mindfulness techniques. You can begin with a ‘basics’ taster and choose to subscribe for regular updates. Headspace founder Andy Puddicombe says: “You’re not trying to turn off your thoughts or feelings. You’re learning to observe them without judgment.” The app is available to download on the Apple App Store, and Google Play. Please scroll to the bottom of their homepage for links: https://www.headspace.com/science.
APPS FOR ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, OR SLEEP PROBLEMS
#1 app for sleep, mediation, and relaxation
Description from their website: “Youper is the only mental health service that understands you and provides care that fits your unique needs, preferences, and budget. With or without insurance, Youper has an affordable plan for you.
You can start with digital therapy, choose to receive care from coaches and therapists who really listen to you, or get an evaluation and diagnosis from a doctor. No matter your plan, Youper is available 24/7 to support you wherever and whenever you need it.”
If you have found a great app that has helped you, please share it with use at hello@mygriefcare.com.
Grief Reality Check
Whether your loss was recent or it has been some time, you probably have already figured out that society doesn’t understand much about grief, nor does it equip us to know what to do after a devastating loss. We live in a society that wants to avoid pain – not talk about it, pretend we’re okay, cover it up, numb it, or just power through it. Have you noticed how uncomfortable people can be around your grief?
This can leave grievers very confused and believing things like:
- We should be doing better than we are, so there must be something wrong with us.
- We need to figure out how to fix this.
- We are alone and misunderstood because people around us just don’t get it – so, again, there must be something wrong with us.
So please hear us when we tell you that you are not crazy, there is nothing wrong with you, and you don’t need to be fixed! You have suffered an intense loss – possibly a life-changing event.
Megan Devine says in her book; It’s Okay Not to Be Okay (which we highly recommend) “Grief is not a problem to be solved; it’s an experience to be carried. The work here is to find – and receive – support and comfort that helps you live with your reality. Companionship, not correction, is the way forward. “
We hope that MyGriefCare™ can companion you through your journey.
You might have to change the way you think. The goal is not to get your grief over as quickly as possible. We can assure you that it doesn’t work that way. Embracing your grief is the true path to where you hope to be. That can be a scary thought, but we promise you that this is the right way.
Earl Grollman said, “Grief is not a disorder, a disease or a sign of weakness. It is an emotional, physical and spiritual necessity, the price you pay for love. The only cure for grief is to grieve.”
Well, we know there is no “cure” for grief. But we can tell you that the only way to the other side of grief and suffering is to walk through it and experience it – in your time and in your way. And you don’t have to do it alone.
Please don’t judge or criticize yourself. Allow yourself permission to grieve. Tell the truth about how you feel. Be gracious to yourself. The last thing you need is to think you “aren’t doing this right.”
Questions to Ponder:
- Can you think of any incorrect information you believed about grief
- How has that impacted you?
Let’s start changing your thinking today!
The Shaky Ground of Grief
Have you ever experienced an earthquake? We’ve lived in California most of our lives and have had the unsettling experience of realizing the earth isn’t always as stable as we think it should be.
In your current state of grief, you may have a sense of being on shaky ground – as though you are stumbling your way through an emotional quake. If so, you are in good company. When you experience the painful and difficult loss of a loved one, you may question virtually everything, making your world unstable.
Your view of the world around you will naturally differ somewhat from anyone else’s. Your worldview has been, in part, shaped by your relationship with your lost loved one. The closer that person is to you, and the deeper your relationship, the more your worldview will be shaken up by the loss of the person.
In reality, your world is full of variables, inconsistencies and the potential for constant change. As a human being, however, you naturally desire a “sense of stability” about your surroundings, including your relationships, if you are to function well. Most of us will instinctually try to create constancy and reliability in our lives – in the interest of our sanity.
When a big part of your reality is removed from your world, especially losing someone important and close to you, your sensation of stability in your world is understandably shaken. Sometimes people refer to a loved one as “my rock,” “my heart” or even “my world?” While these are simply terms of endearment, they communicate how vital another person can be to your sense of stability and security.
It makes sense then, doesn’t it, to feel some instability in your life after experiencing a loss? Allow yourself to feel and acknowledge the lack of stability, examine all your loved one has meant to you, and give yourself a lot of grace as you sort this out. In some ways, your world has truly been shaken. In time, you will find stable ground again, but the first step is simply to acknowledge the profound impact losing your loved one has had on you.
Questions to Ponder:
- Has the loss of your loved one left you on shaky ground? Try to describe what that feels like in your own words.
- What specific insecurities are you feeling at this time? Who might be able to help you with even one small thing so you can feel a bit more secure?
Why Don’t My Friends or Family Understand My Grief?
Often friends and family don’t seem to understand how to be with and support us when we are grieving.
Many people just are not going to understand what you are going through. They don’t know how to speak with grieving people, are uncomfortable with their emotions, and feel inadequately prepared. So, they do what most people would do in such circumstances; they find ways to avoid it, or say things that really don’t help.
Some people think they know how to be with a grieving person. But they are usually 180 degrees off course. They may try to fix you. They may say judgmental things to you that are hurtful but aren’t intended that way. They may unwisely offer platitudes and poor advice.
Before I keep dumping on your friends and family for not getting it, I want to remind you that most people don’t understand grief until they experience it. I am horrified at how poorly I supported my grieving friends before my husband’s death. How were you with your grieving friends? When I think of that, I am humbled and much less judgmental. Our friends and family need our help.
They could probably better support you if they understood your pain and what you needed from them. But, people generally aren’t prepared to step in without guidance. Who will provide that to them? Most likely – you.
People need guidance to help others who are experiencing loss. And, the guidance most often needs to come from the griever. We have a video that might help titled The Grief Letter, which is part of the Series: Relationships After Loss on MyGriefCare.com. Many of our clients have had great success with this letter idea and do it as a written letter, email or social media post or group text. The video will give you some great ideas about communicating with people who aren’t giving you the support you’d like.
If you aren’t comfortable telling people what you need, you can always share a copy of my book “When Their World Stops: The Essential Guide to TRULY Helping Anyone in Grief”. It’s a quick and easy read and will open the reader’s eyes to understanding grief and how to support grieving people.
Questions to Ponder:
- When you think about people you had hoped would support you better or more, do you think they might do better if they understood what you really need (and what you don’t need)? Are you willing to write them a grief letter?
- If you look back in the past, would you have been in a position to do a better job helping a grieving friend if you knew then what you know now? What would you have done differently?
You hold the key to getting the support and understanding you want. Kindly tell people what you need – because they have no idea, just like many of us before we lost our loved ones.