I've spent more than 30 years as a therapist helping people navigate grief, trauma, and some of the hardest experiences of their lives. But when my 16-year-old son Sammy died, I found myself in a place that all my professional training could never have prepared me for.
 
Almost six years later, I've written the book I desperately needed back then, Crying Out Loud: A Path Through Grief Into a Life Reimagined. And in this special episode, I want to share some of what I've learned, both from my own grief and from the thousands of people I've had the privilege of working with.
 
What does it actually mean to cry out loud? It means allowing ourselves to experience grief in all its messy, complicated, sometimes frightening forms. The anger, guilt, jealousy, despair, and even the moments of joy that can make us feel like we're betraying the person we've lost.
 
I talk about why we can't simply think our way through grief, how our bodies hold what our minds can't process, and why learning to care for our nervous systems is so important. I share the practices that helped me when I could barely function, how my relationships changed, and how I've learned to keep my connection with Sammy alive in ways I never could have imagined.
 
And I talk about something I believe deeply: grief changes us. I've said before that I didn't survive Sammy's death. The woman I was before he died is gone. I've had to discover who I am now, how to live with this enormous loss, and how to let joy back in without feeling guilty about it.
 
I believe healing is possible, even when the loss itself can never be undone. And I believe we can build meaningful, even beautiful lives while still wishing with every fiber of our being that none of this had happened.
 
In this episode, I explore:
<ul>
 <li>What it really means to cry out loud and why we need to stop apologizing for our grief
</li>
 <li>How to work with anger, guilt, and the emotions we're often afraid to express
</li>
 <li>Why grief lives in the body and the somatic practices that can help us move through it
</li>
 <li>How grief changes friendships, relationships, and our sense of who we are
</li>
 <li>Choosing life again, even when that choice starts with simply getting out of bed
</li>
 <li>Letting joy return without feeling like we're leaving our loved ones behind
</li>
 <li>Continuing bonds and the ways our relationships with those we've lost can evolve
</li>
 <li>How grief can transform us and what it means to create a life reimagined
</li>
</ul>
My new book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0593994450?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback">Crying Out Loud</a>, brings together what I've learned as a therapist, a grieving daughter, and a grieving mother, along with research, spiritual wisdom, and nearly 100 practical tools to help you find your own way through grief.
 
I wrote it because I know how desperately we need something to reach for when our world falls apart. And because I want you to know that whatever you're feeling, wherever you are in your grief, there are ways to begin finding your footing again.
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0593994450?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback">Crying Out Loud: A Path Through Grief Into a Life Reimagined</a>, is available now, wherever books are sold and<a href="https://drlauraberman.com/griefhealing/"> The Grief Healing Collective</a> is here for more live support. 
If something in this episode spoke to your heart, share your story or send your questions to <a href="mailto:cryingoutloudpod@gmail.com">⁠cryingoutloudpod@gmail.com⁠</a>.
 
None of us are meant to carry this alone.
 
And if you want to explore more of how our brains, bodies, histories and emotional patterns shape the way we love and connect, come find me on my other podcast,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/language-of-love-with-dr-laura-berman/id1552549384"> The Language of Love</a>. Every week, I talk with leading experts and share what I've learned in more than 30 years as a therapist about relationships, intimacy and healing. You can find<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/language-of-love-with-dr-laura-berman/id1552549384"> The Language of Love</a> wherever you're listening to Crying Out Loud.

I've spent more than 30 years as a therapist helping people navigate grief, trauma, and some of the hardest experiences of their lives. But when my 16-year-old son Sammy died, I found myself in a place that all my professional training could never have prepared me for. Almost six years later, I've written the book I desperately needed back then, Crying Out Loud: A Path Through Grief Into a Life Reimagined. And in this special episode, I want to share some of what I've learned, both from my own grief and from the thousands of people I've had the privilege of working with. What does it actually mean to cry out loud? It means allowing ourselves to experience grief in all its messy, complicated, sometimes frightening forms. The anger, guilt, jealousy, despair, and even the moments of joy that can make us feel like we're betraying the person we've lost. I talk about why we can't simply think our way through grief, how our bodies hold what our minds can't process, and why learning to care for our nervous systems is so important. I share the practices that helped me when I could barely function, how my relationships changed, and how I've learned to keep my connection with Sammy alive in ways I never could have imagined. And I talk about something I believe deeply: grief changes us. I've said before that I didn't survive Sammy's death. The woman I was before he died is gone. I've had to discover who I am now, how to live with this enormous loss, and how to let joy back in without feeling guilty about it. I believe healing is possible, even when the loss itself can never be undone. And I believe we can build meaningful, even beautiful lives while still wishing with every fiber of our being that none of this had happened. In this episode, I explore: What it really means to cry out loud and why we need to stop apologizing for our grief How to work with anger, guilt, and the emotions we're often afraid to express Why grief lives in the body and the somatic practices that can help us move through it How grief changes friendships, relationships, and our sense of who we are Choosing life again, even when that choice starts with simply getting out of bed Letting joy return without feeling like we're leaving our loved ones behind Continuing bonds and the ways our relationships with those we've lost can evolve How grief can transform us and what it means to create a life reimagined My new book, Crying Out Loud, brings together what I've learned as a therapist, a grieving daughter, and a grieving mother, along with research, spiritual wisdom, and nearly 100 practical tools to help you find your own way through grief. I wrote it because I know how desperately we need something to reach for when our world falls apart. And because I want you to know that whatever you're feeling, wherever you are in your grief, there are ways to begin finding your footing again. Crying Out Loud: A Path Through Grief Into a Life Reimagined, is available now, wherever books are sold and The Grief Healing Collective is here for more live support. If something in this episode spoke to your heart, share your story or send your questions to ⁠cryingoutloudpod@gmail.com⁠. None of us are meant to carry this alone. And if you want to explore more of how our brains, bodies, histories and emotional patterns shape the way we love and connect, come find me on my other podcast, The Language of Love. Every week, I talk with leading experts and share what I've learned in more than 30 years as a therapist about relationships, intimacy and healing. You can find The Language of Love wherever you're listening to Crying Out Loud.

I've spent more than 30 years as a therapist helping people navigate grief, trauma, and some of the hardest experiences of their lives. But when my 16-year-old son Sammy died, I found myself in a place that all my professional training could never have prepared me for.
 
Almost six years later, I've written the book I desperately needed back then, Crying Out Loud: A Path Through Grief Into a Life Reimagined. And in this special episode, I want to share some of what I've learned, both from my own grief and from the thousands of people I've had the privilege of working with.
 
What does it actually mean to cry out loud? It means allowing ourselves to experience grief in all its messy, complicated, sometimes frightening forms. The anger, guilt, jealousy, despair, and even the moments of joy that can make us feel like we're betraying the person we've lost.
 
I talk about why we can't simply think our way through grief, how our bodies hold what our minds can't process, and why learning to care for our nervous systems is so important. I share the practices that helped me when I could barely function, how my relationships changed, and how I've learned to keep my connection with Sammy alive in ways I never could have imagined.
 
And I talk about something I believe deeply: grief changes us. I've said before that I didn't survive Sammy's death. The woman I was before he died is gone. I've had to discover who I am now, how to live with this enormous loss, and how to let joy back in without feeling guilty about it.
 
I believe healing is possible, even when the loss itself can never be undone. And I believe we can build meaningful, even beautiful lives while still wishing with every fiber of our being that none of this had happened.
 
In this episode, I explore:
<ul>
 <li>What it really means to cry out loud and why we need to stop apologizing for our grief
</li>
 <li>How to work with anger, guilt, and the emotions we're often afraid to express
</li>
 <li>Why grief lives in the body and the somatic practices that can help us move through it
</li>
 <li>How grief changes friendships, relationships, and our sense of who we are
</li>
 <li>Choosing life again, even when that choice starts with simply getting out of bed
</li>
 <li>Letting joy return without feeling like we're leaving our loved ones behind
</li>
 <li>Continuing bonds and the ways our relationships with those we've lost can evolve
</li>
 <li>How grief can transform us and what it means to create a life reimagined
</li>
</ul>
My new book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0593994450?lv=shuf&amp;channelId=500&amp;plpRedirect=mhFallback" rel="noopener noreferrer">Crying Out Loud</a>, brings together what I've learned as a therapist, a grieving daughter, and a grieving mother, along with research, spiritual wisdom, and nearly 100 practical tools to help you find your own way through grief.
 
I wrote it because I know how desperately we need something to reach for when our world falls apart. And because I want you to know that whatever you're feeling, wherever you are in your grief, there are ways to begin finding your footing again.
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0593994450?lv=shuf&amp;channelId=500&amp;plpRedirect=mhFallback" rel="noopener noreferrer">Crying Out Loud: A Path Through Grief Into a Life Reimagined</a>, is available now, wherever books are sold and<a href="https://drlauraberman.com/griefhealing/" rel="noopener noreferrer"> The Grief Healing Collective</a> is here for more live support.&nbsp;
If something in this episode spoke to your heart, share your story or send your questions to <a href="mailto:cryingoutloudpod@gmail.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">⁠cryingoutloudpod@gmail.com⁠</a>.
 
None of us are meant to carry this alone.
 
And if you want to explore more of how our brains, bodies, histories and emotional patterns shape the way we love and connect, come find me on my other podcast,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/language-of-love-with-dr-laura-berman/id1552549384" rel="noopener noreferrer"> The Language of Love</a>. Every week, I talk with leading experts and share what I've learned in more than 30 years as a therapist about relationships, intimacy and healing. You can find<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/language-of-love-with-dr-laura-berman/id1552549384" rel="noopener noreferrer"> The Language of Love</a> wherever you're listening to Crying Out Loud.

Crying Out Loud: What Losing My Son Taught Me About Grief, Healing, and Choosing Life

Did you know that your risk of having a heart attack can be dramatically higher in the first 24 hours after someone you love dies?
We know grief is emotionally devastating. But what we don't always understand is just how much it affects us physically.
The exhaustion that sleep doesn't seem to fix. The brain fog. The headaches, digestive problems, tightness in your chest, and the feeling that your nervous system is constantly on high alert. Sometimes you barely recognize your own body.
I experienced so much of this after my son died. And even with more than 30 years of experience as a therapist, I was surprised by how profoundly grief affected me physically.
That's why I was so interested in having Dr. Mary-Frances O'Connor back to talk about her latest book, The Grieving Body.
Mary-Frances is a neuroscientist and psychologist at the University of Arizona and the author of The Grieving Brain, which helped explain one of the strangest experiences of grief: how we can know intellectually that someone has died while our brains continue expecting them to come home.
Her new book takes that science further, exploring what happens throughout our bodies when we lose someone we love, and what we can actually do to support our physical health while grieving.
Mary-Frances also brings a deeply personal perspective to her research. She was just thirteen when her mother was diagnosed with cancer, and watching her mother face the possibility of dying shaped her understanding of loss long before she became a scientist.
In this conversation, we get into some fascinating research, including why bereavement can increase our risk of serious health problems, what crying actually does for us, and how our attachment to someone becomes so deeply wired into our brains and bodies.
We also explore why grief can hit us physically before we're even consciously aware of what's triggering it. Why do we sometimes start feeling anxious, exhausted, or unsettled as an anniversary approaches, only to realize later what our bodies seemed to know all along?
I share some of my own experiences with the physical toll of grief, including how movement and somatic practices helped me when talking about my feelings simply wasn't enough.
And we talk about something I think is especially important for grievers: the complicated relationship between taking care of ourselves and staying connected to the person we've lost. Sometimes, even feeling better can bring up guilt.
But caring for your body, allowing yourself to rest, and finding moments of pleasure again don't diminish your love or your grief.
In this episode, we explore:
<ul>
 <li>Why grief affects everything from your immune system and cardiovascular health to your sleep, digestion, and ability to think clearly
</li>
 <li>The startling research on heart attack risk immediately following the death of a loved one
</li>
 <li>Why our brains keep searching for someone even when we know they're gone, and the "gone but also everlasting" paradox
</li>
 <li>The science of crying, why tears are connected to attachment, and what happens when we feel safe enough to let them come
</li>
 <li>Why anniversaries, birthdays, and other significant dates can trigger physical grief responses before we consciously recognize what's happening
</li>
 <li>Why two people grieving the same person can have completely different physical and emotional experiences
</li>
 <li>How prolonged or particularly intense grief can affect our health
</li>
 <li>What Mary-Frances means by the difference between time healing and action healing
</li>
 <li>How movement, rest, and small acts of physical care can help support a grieving body
</li>
 <li>A powerful story about a young widow that has stayed with Mary-Frances throughout her career
</li>
</ul>
One of the things I've learned, both professionally and through my own grief, is that we have to pay attention to what our bodies are telling us. We can't always think or talk our way through grief. Sometimes we need to move, cry, sleep, breathe, or simply give ourselves permission to stop pushing so hard.
I hope this conversation helps you understand some of what may be happening in your own body and gives you a few practical ways to care for yourself through it.
You can love and miss someone with every fiber of your being and still deserve to feel well in your own body.
Don't forget to check out Mary-Frances's books, <a href="https://maryfrancesoconnor.org/books/the-grieving-brain">The Grieving Brain </a>and <a href="https://maryfrancesoconnor.org/books/the-grieving-body">The Grieving Body</a>. You can learn more about her work on her<a href="https://maryfrancesoconnor.org/"> website</a> and follow her on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/doctormfoconnor/">Instagram</a>.
And if you're looking for support, connection, or a place to feel less alone, my book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0593994450?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback">Crying Out Loud: A Path Through Grief Into a Life Reimagined</a>, and <a href="https://drlauraberman.com/griefhealing/">The Grief Healing Collective </a>are here for you. If something in this episode spoke to your heart, share your story or send your questions to<a href="mailto:cryingoutloudpod@gmail.com"> cryingoutloudpod@gmail.com</a>.
None of us are meant to carry this alone.
And if you want to explore more of how our brains, bodies, histories, and emotional patterns shape the way we love and connect, come find me on my other podcast,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/language-of-love-with-dr-laura-berman/id1552549384"> The Language of Love</a>. Every week, I talk with leading experts and share what I've learned in more than 30 years as a therapist about relationships, intimacy, and healing. You can find <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/language-of-love-with-dr-laura-berman/id1552549384">The Language of Love </a>wherever you're listening to Crying Out Loud.

Did you know that your risk of having a heart attack can be dramatically higher in the first 24 hours after someone you love dies? We know grief is emotionally devastating. But what we don't always understand is just how much it affects us physically. The exhaustion that sleep doesn't seem to fix. The brain fog. The headaches, digestive problems, tightness in your chest, and the feeling that your nervous system is constantly on high alert. Sometimes you barely recognize your own body. I experienced so much of this after my son died. And even with more than 30 years of experience as a therapist, I was surprised by how profoundly grief affected me physically. That's why I was so interested in having Dr. Mary-Frances O'Connor back to talk about her latest book, The Grieving Body. Mary-Frances is a neuroscientist and psychologist at the University of Arizona and the author of The Grieving Brain, which helped explain one of the strangest experiences of grief: how we can know intellectually that someone has died while our brains continue expecting them to come home. Her new book takes that science further, exploring what happens throughout our bodies when we lose someone we love, and what we can actually do to support our physical health while grieving. Mary-Frances also brings a deeply personal perspective to her research. She was just thirteen when her mother was diagnosed with cancer, and watching her mother face the possibility of dying shaped her understanding of loss long before she became a scientist. In this conversation, we get into some fascinating research, including why bereavement can increase our risk of serious health problems, what crying actually does for us, and how our attachment to someone becomes so deeply wired into our brains and bodies. We also explore why grief can hit us physically before we're even consciously aware of what's triggering it. Why do we sometimes start feeling anxious, exhausted, or unsettled as an anniversary approaches, only to realize later what our bodies seemed to know all along? I share some of my own experiences with the physical toll of grief, including how movement and somatic practices helped me when talking about my feelings simply wasn't enough. And we talk about something I think is especially important for grievers: the complicated relationship between taking care of ourselves and staying connected to the person we've lost. Sometimes, even feeling better can bring up guilt. But caring for your body, allowing yourself to rest, and finding moments of pleasure again don't diminish your love or your grief. In this episode, we explore: Why grief affects everything from your immune system and cardiovascular health to your sleep, digestion, and ability to think clearly The startling research on heart attack risk immediately following the death of a loved one Why our brains keep searching for someone even when we know they're gone, and the "gone but also everlasting" paradox The science of crying, why tears are connected to attachment, and what happens when we feel safe enough to let them come Why anniversaries, birthdays, and other significant dates can trigger physical grief responses before we consciously recognize what's happening Why two people grieving the same person can have completely different physical and emotional experiences How prolonged or particularly intense grief can affect our health What Mary-Frances means by the difference between time healing and action healing How movement, rest, and small acts of physical care can help support a grieving body A powerful story about a young widow that has stayed with Mary-Frances throughout her career One of the things I've learned, both professionally and through my own grief, is that we have to pay attention to what our bodies are telling us. We can't always think or talk our way through grief. Sometimes we need to move, cry, sleep, breathe, or simply give ourselves permission to stop pushing so hard. I hope this conversation helps you understand some of what may be happening in your own body and gives you a few practical ways to care for yourself through it. You can love and miss someone with every fiber of your being and still deserve to feel well in your own body. Don't forget to check out Mary-Frances's books, The Grieving Brain and The Grieving Body. You can learn more about her work on her website and follow her on Instagram. And if you're looking for support, connection, or a place to feel less alone, my book, Crying Out Loud: A Path Through Grief Into a Life Reimagined, and The Grief Healing Collective are here for you. If something in this episode spoke to your heart, share your story or send your questions to cryingoutloudpod@gmail.com. None of us are meant to carry this alone. And if you want to explore more of how our brains, bodies, histories, and emotional patterns shape the way we love and connect, come find me on my other podcast, The Language of Love. Every week, I talk with leading experts and share what I've learned in more than 30 years as a therapist about relationships, intimacy, and healing. You can find The Language of Love wherever you're listening to Crying Out Loud.

Did you know that your risk of having a heart attack can be dramatically higher in the first 24 hours after someone you love dies?
We know grief is emotionally devastating. But what we don't always understand is just how much it affects us physically.
The exhaustion that sleep doesn't seem to fix. The brain fog. The headaches, digestive problems, tightness in your chest, and the feeling that your nervous system is constantly on high alert. Sometimes you barely recognize your own body.
I experienced so much of this after my son died. And even with more than 30 years of experience as a therapist, I was surprised by how profoundly grief affected me physically.
That's why I was so interested in having Dr. Mary-Frances O'Connor back to talk about her latest book, The Grieving Body.
Mary-Frances is a neuroscientist and psychologist at the University of Arizona and the author of The Grieving Brain, which helped explain one of the strangest experiences of grief: how we can know intellectually that someone has died while our brains continue expecting them to come home.
Her new book takes that science further, exploring what happens throughout our bodies when we lose someone we love, and what we can actually do to support our physical health while grieving.
Mary-Frances also brings a deeply personal perspective to her research. She was just thirteen when her mother was diagnosed with cancer, and watching her mother face the possibility of dying shaped her understanding of loss long before she became a scientist.
In this conversation, we get into some fascinating research, including why bereavement can increase our risk of serious health problems, what crying actually does for us, and how our attachment to someone becomes so deeply wired into our brains and bodies.
We also explore why grief can hit us physically before we're even consciously aware of what's triggering it. Why do we sometimes start feeling anxious, exhausted, or unsettled as an anniversary approaches, only to realize later what our bodies seemed to know all along?
I share some of my own experiences with the physical toll of grief, including how movement and somatic practices helped me when talking about my feelings simply wasn't enough.
And we talk about something I think is especially important for grievers: the complicated relationship between taking care of ourselves and staying connected to the person we've lost. Sometimes, even feeling better can bring up guilt.
But caring for your body, allowing yourself to rest, and finding moments of pleasure again don't diminish your love or your grief.
In this episode, we explore:
<ul>
 <li>Why grief affects everything from your immune system and cardiovascular health to your sleep, digestion, and ability to think clearly
</li>
 <li>The startling research on heart attack risk immediately following the death of a loved one
</li>
 <li>Why our brains keep searching for someone even when we know they're gone, and the "gone but also everlasting" paradox
</li>
 <li>The science of crying, why tears are connected to attachment, and what happens when we feel safe enough to let them come
</li>
 <li>Why anniversaries, birthdays, and other significant dates can trigger physical grief responses before we consciously recognize what's happening
</li>
 <li>Why two people grieving the same person can have completely different physical and emotional experiences
</li>
 <li>How prolonged or particularly intense grief can affect our health
</li>
 <li>What Mary-Frances means by the difference between time healing and action healing
</li>
 <li>How movement, rest, and small acts of physical care can help support a grieving body
</li>
 <li>A powerful story about a young widow that has stayed with Mary-Frances throughout her career
</li>
</ul>
One of the things I've learned, both professionally and through my own grief, is that we have to pay attention to what our bodies are telling us. We can't always think or talk our way through grief. Sometimes we need to move, cry, sleep, breathe, or simply give ourselves permission to stop pushing so hard.
I hope this conversation helps you understand some of what may be happening in your own body and gives you a few practical ways to care for yourself through it.
You can love and miss someone with every fiber of your being and still deserve to feel well in your own body.
Don't forget to check out Mary-Frances's books, <a href="https://maryfrancesoconnor.org/books/the-grieving-brain" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Grieving Brain </a>and <a href="https://maryfrancesoconnor.org/books/the-grieving-body" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Grieving Body</a>. You can learn more about her work on her<a href="https://maryfrancesoconnor.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer"> website</a> and follow her on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/doctormfoconnor/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Instagram</a>.
And if you're looking for support, connection, or a place to feel less alone, my book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0593994450?lv=shuf&amp;channelId=500&amp;plpRedirect=mhFallback" rel="noopener noreferrer">Crying Out Loud: A Path Through Grief Into a Life Reimagined</a>, and <a href="https://drlauraberman.com/griefhealing/" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Grief Healing Collective </a>are here for you. If something in this episode spoke to your heart, share your story or send your questions to<a href="mailto:cryingoutloudpod@gmail.com" rel="noopener noreferrer"> cryingoutloudpod@gmail.com</a>.
None of us are meant to carry this alone.
And if you want to explore more of how our brains, bodies, histories, and emotional patterns shape the way we love and connect, come find me on my other podcast,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/language-of-love-with-dr-laura-berman/id1552549384" rel="noopener noreferrer"> The Language of Love</a>. Every week, I talk with leading experts and share what I've learned in more than 30 years as a therapist about relationships, intimacy, and healing. You can find <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/language-of-love-with-dr-laura-berman/id1552549384" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Language of Love </a>wherever you're listening to Crying Out Loud.

The Grieving Body with Dr. Mary-Frances O'Connor

When we lose someone we love, we often lose so much more than that person. We lose the future we imagined, our sense of safety, sometimes our relationships, and often parts of ourselves we barely realize are missing until we look around and wonder, Who am I now? And some of our deepest losses aren't necessarily connected to a death at all. They can come from the dreams that never happened, the relationships that changed us, the versions of ourselves we had to leave behind, or the experiences we've never really allowed ourselves to grieve. My guest on Crying Out Loud is Christina Rasmussen, grief educator, founder of the Life Reentry® process, and author of Second Firsts, Where Did You Go?, and Invisible Loss. Christina spent years studying grief and working with bereaved families before losing her own husband, the father of her two young daughters, when she was just 35. She thought she understood grief. Then she found herself living it, and so much of what she'd learned no longer seemed to apply. For months, she couldn't even cry. She felt frozen, disconnected from herself and unsure how to find her way back to living. That experience eventually led her to explore something she calls the "waiting room," a place many of us recognize, where we're going through the motions of life but don't quite feel like we're living it. And while there's a reason we end up there, we can sometimes stay much longer than we realize. Christina and I talk about the different parts of ourselves that emerge after loss, including the survivor self that gets us through the worst of it, but can also make it difficult to move forward. We explore what happens to our identity when grief changes us, why our minds can sometimes work against our healing, and how we begin reconnecting with the parts of ourselves that still want to experience life. I also share a very personal experience I had after my son died, when a voice asked me a question about whether I wanted to live. That moment changed something profound in me, and Christina and I explore what it means to make that choice when you're in the depths of grief. And because grief inevitably raises some of life's biggest questions, we also venture into what happens after we die. Christina has studied thousands of near-death experiences, and we talk about what she's learned, what she believes about consciousness and the continued existence of our loved ones, and how we might experience that connection ourselves. She even guides us through a practice for connecting with someone on the other side. This is a conversation about the losses we see and the ones we don't, the ways we can disappear inside our own grief, and the possibility of discovering who we are now, even when the life we knew is gone. In this episode, we explore: 
<ul>
 <li>Why some of our most significant losses are invisible, and how they continue to shape our lives</li>
 <li>Christina's experience losing her husband and why her professional training didn't prepare her for her own grief</li>
 <li>The "waiting room" and how to recognize when we've become stuck in survival mode</li>
 <li>The survivor, watcher, and thriver selves, and how each influences our healing</li>
 <li>Why overthinking and intellectualizing grief can sometimes keep us from moving forward</li>
 <li>The difference between waiting for time to heal us and actively finding our way back into life</li>
 <li>How shame, rejection, lost dreams, and other unacknowledged grief can affect our sense of identity</li>
 <li>My own experience of being asked whether I wanted to live after losing my son</li>
 <li>What Christina's research into near-death experiences has taught her about consciousness and life after death</li>
 <li>A guided practice for connecting with a loved one who has died</li>
</ul>
If you've ever felt like you've lost touch with yourself, whether through the death of someone you love or another experience that changed your life, I think you'll find a lot to relate to in this conversation. And hopefully, some new ways to begin finding your way back. Don’t forget to check out Christina’s books, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1401940838?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback">Second Firsts</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Where-Did-You-Life-Changing-Harperelix/dp/0062689622">Where Did You Go?,</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Loss-Recognizing-Unacknowledged-Heartbreak/dp/B0D18ZY1GN/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?adgrpid=162519979603&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.0LyTMFQ_eZcRssSOtcbN3qL18ZrZvEGCTK0MX-wGJk0.YTHdm46IH-nfVLmtIkDmR5AENSAbL6jcWdDKs-g3Pog&dib_tag=se&hvadid=700584516475&hvdev=m&hvexpln=0&hvlocphy=9073682&hvnetw=g&hvocijid=12805632825699714770--&hvqmt=e&hvrand=12805632825699714770&hvtargid=kwd-2297274949348&hydadcr=28048_14727890&keywords=invisible+loss+christina+rasmussen&mcid=f59d34b9c7dc36e9849cc930b938687e&qid=1791989955&sr=8-1">Invisible Loss</a>. She recommends the physical copies, since they’re meant to be written in and returned to. You can find her at <a href="https://christinarasmussen.com/.well-known/sgcaptcha/?r=%2F&y=ipr:217.199.148.240:1791990011.081">website</a>.  And if you're looking for support, connection, or a place to feel less alone, my book,<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0593994450?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback"> Crying Out Loud: A Path Through Grief Into a Life Reimagined</a>, and<a href="https://drlauraberman.com/griefhealing/"> The Grief Healing Collective</a> are here for you. If something in this episode spoke to your heart, share your story or send your questions to <a href="mailto:cryingoutloudpod@gmail.com">cryingoutloudpod@gmail.com</a>. None of us are meant to carry this alone. And if you want to explore more of how our brains, bodies, histories and emotional patterns shape the way we love and connect, come find me on my other podcast,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/language-of-love-with-dr-laura-berman/id1552549384"> The Language of Love</a>. Every week, I talk with leading experts and share what I've learned in more than 30 years as a therapist about relationships, intimacy and healing. You can find<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/language-of-love-with-dr-laura-berman/id1552549384"> The Language of Love</a> wherever you're listening to Crying Out Loud

When we lose someone we love, we often lose so much more than that person. We lose the future we imagined, our sense of safety, sometimes our relationships, and often parts of ourselves we barely realize are missing until we look around and wonder, Who am I now? And some of our deepest losses aren't necessarily connected to a death at all. They can come from the dreams that never happened, the relationships that changed us, the versions of ourselves we had to leave behind, or the experiences we've never really allowed ourselves to grieve. My guest on Crying Out Loud is Christina Rasmussen, grief educator, founder of the Life Reentry® process, and author of Second Firsts, Where Did You Go?, and Invisible Loss. Christina spent years studying grief and working with bereaved families before losing her own husband, the father of her two young daughters, when she was just 35. She thought she understood grief. Then she found herself living it, and so much of what she'd learned no longer seemed to apply. For months, she couldn't even cry. She felt frozen, disconnected from herself and unsure how to find her way back to living. That experience eventually led her to explore something she calls the "waiting room," a place many of us recognize, where we're going through the motions of life but don't quite feel like we're living it. And while there's a reason we end up there, we can sometimes stay much longer than we realize. Christina and I talk about the different parts of ourselves that emerge after loss, including the survivor self that gets us through the worst of it, but can also make it difficult to move forward. We explore what happens to our identity when grief changes us, why our minds can sometimes work against our healing, and how we begin reconnecting with the parts of ourselves that still want to experience life. I also share a very personal experience I had after my son died, when a voice asked me a question about whether I wanted to live. That moment changed something profound in me, and Christina and I explore what it means to make that choice when you're in the depths of grief. And because grief inevitably raises some of life's biggest questions, we also venture into what happens after we die. Christina has studied thousands of near-death experiences, and we talk about what she's learned, what she believes about consciousness and the continued existence of our loved ones, and how we might experience that connection ourselves. She even guides us through a practice for connecting with someone on the other side. This is a conversation about the losses we see and the ones we don't, the ways we can disappear inside our own grief, and the possibility of discovering who we are now, even when the life we knew is gone. In this episode, we explore: Why some of our most significant losses are invisible, and how they continue to shape our lives Christina's experience losing her husband and why her professional training didn't prepare her for her own grief The "waiting room" and how to recognize when we've become stuck in survival mode The survivor, watcher, and thriver selves, and how each influences our healing Why overthinking and intellectualizing grief can sometimes keep us from moving forward The difference between waiting for time to heal us and actively finding our way back into life How shame, rejection, lost dreams, and other unacknowledged grief can affect our sense of identity My own experience of being asked whether I wanted to live after losing my son What Christina's research into near-death experiences has taught her about consciousness and life after death A guided practice for connecting with a loved one who has died If you've ever felt like you've lost touch with yourself, whether through the death of someone you love or another experience that changed your life, I think you'll find a lot to relate to in this conversation. And hopefully, some new ways to begin finding your way back. Don’t forget to check out Christina’s books, Second Firsts, Where Did You Go?, and Invisible Loss. She recommends the physical copies, since they’re meant to be written in and returned to. You can find her at website. And if you're looking for support, connection, or a place to feel less alone, my book, Crying Out Loud: A Path Through Grief Into a Life Reimagined, and The Grief Healing Collective are here for you. If something in this episode spoke to your heart, share your story or send your questions to cryingoutloudpod@gmail.com. None of us are meant to carry this alone. And if you want to explore more of how our brains, bodies, histories and emotional patterns shape the way we love and connect, come find me on my other podcast, The Language of Love. Every week, I talk with leading experts and share what I've learned in more than 30 years as a therapist about relationships, intimacy and healing. You can find The Language of Love wherever you're listening to Crying Out Loud

When we lose someone we love, we often lose so much more than that person. We lose the future we imagined, our sense of safety, sometimes our relationships, and often parts of ourselves we barely realize are missing until we look around and wonder, Who am I now? And some of our deepest losses aren't necessarily connected to a death at all. They can come from the dreams that never happened, the relationships that changed us, the versions of ourselves we had to leave behind, or the experiences we've never really allowed ourselves to grieve. My guest on Crying Out Loud is Christina Rasmussen, grief educator, founder of the Life Reentry® process, and author of Second Firsts, Where Did You Go?, and Invisible Loss. Christina spent years studying grief and working with bereaved families before losing her own husband, the father of her two young daughters, when she was just 35. She thought she understood grief. Then she found herself living it, and so much of what she'd learned no longer seemed to apply. For months, she couldn't even cry. She felt frozen, disconnected from herself and unsure how to find her way back to living. That experience eventually led her to explore something she calls the "waiting room," a place many of us recognize, where we're going through the motions of life but don't quite feel like we're living it. And while there's a reason we end up there, we can sometimes stay much longer than we realize. Christina and I talk about the different parts of ourselves that emerge after loss, including the survivor self that gets us through the worst of it, but can also make it difficult to move forward. We explore what happens to our identity when grief changes us, why our minds can sometimes work against our healing, and how we begin reconnecting with the parts of ourselves that still want to experience life. I also share a very personal experience I had after my son died, when a voice asked me a question about whether I wanted to live. That moment changed something profound in me, and Christina and I explore what it means to make that choice when you're in the depths of grief. And because grief inevitably raises some of life's biggest questions, we also venture into what happens after we die. Christina has studied thousands of near-death experiences, and we talk about what she's learned, what she believes about consciousness and the continued existence of our loved ones, and how we might experience that connection ourselves. She even guides us through a practice for connecting with someone on the other side. This is a conversation about the losses we see and the ones we don't, the ways we can disappear inside our own grief, and the possibility of discovering who we are now, even when the life we knew is gone. In this episode, we explore: 
<ul>
 <li>Why some of our most significant losses are invisible, and how they continue to shape our lives</li>
 <li>Christina's experience losing her husband and why her professional training didn't prepare her for her own grief</li>
 <li>The "waiting room" and how to recognize when we've become stuck in survival mode</li>
 <li>The survivor, watcher, and thriver selves, and how each influences our healing</li>
 <li>Why overthinking and intellectualizing grief can sometimes keep us from moving forward</li>
 <li>The difference between waiting for time to heal us and actively finding our way back into life</li>
 <li>How shame, rejection, lost dreams, and other unacknowledged grief can affect our sense of identity</li>
 <li>My own experience of being asked whether I wanted to live after losing my son</li>
 <li>What Christina's research into near-death experiences has taught her about consciousness and life after death</li>
 <li>A guided practice for connecting with a loved one who has died</li>
</ul>
If you've ever felt like you've lost touch with yourself, whether through the death of someone you love or another experience that changed your life, I think you'll find a lot to relate to in this conversation. And hopefully, some new ways to begin finding your way back. Don’t forget to check out Christina’s books, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1401940838?lv=shuf&amp;channelId=500&amp;plpRedirect=mhFallback" rel="noopener noreferrer">Second Firsts</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Where-Did-You-Life-Changing-Harperelix/dp/0062689622" rel="noopener noreferrer">Where Did You Go?,</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Loss-Recognizing-Unacknowledged-Heartbreak/dp/B0D18ZY1GN/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?adgrpid=162519979603&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.0LyTMFQ_eZcRssSOtcbN3qL18ZrZvEGCTK0MX-wGJk0.YTHdm46IH-nfVLmtIkDmR5AENSAbL6jcWdDKs-g3Pog&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;hvadid=700584516475&amp;hvdev=m&amp;hvexpln=0&amp;hvlocphy=9073682&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvocijid=12805632825699714770--&amp;hvqmt=e&amp;hvrand=12805632825699714770&amp;hvtargid=kwd-2297274949348&amp;hydadcr=28048_14727890&amp;keywords=invisible+loss+christina+rasmussen&amp;mcid=f59d34b9c7dc36e9849cc930b938687e&amp;qid=1791989955&amp;sr=8-1" rel="noopener noreferrer">Invisible Loss</a>. She recommends the physical copies, since they’re meant to be written in and returned to. You can find her at <a href="https://christinarasmussen.com/.well-known/sgcaptcha/?r=%2F&amp;y=ipr:217.199.148.240:1791990011.081" rel="noopener noreferrer">website</a>.&nbsp; And if you're looking for support, connection, or a place to feel less alone, my book,<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0593994450?lv=shuf&amp;channelId=500&amp;plpRedirect=mhFallback" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Crying Out Loud: A Path Through Grief Into a Life Reimagined</a>, and<a href="https://drlauraberman.com/griefhealing/" rel="noopener noreferrer"> The Grief Healing Collective</a> are here for you. If something in this episode spoke to your heart, share your story or send your questions to <a href="mailto:cryingoutloudpod@gmail.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">cryingoutloudpod@gmail.com</a>. None of us are meant to carry this alone. And if you want to explore more of how our brains, bodies, histories and emotional patterns shape the way we love and connect, come find me on my other podcast,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/language-of-love-with-dr-laura-berman/id1552549384" rel="noopener noreferrer"> The Language of Love</a>. Every week, I talk with leading experts and share what I've learned in more than 30 years as a therapist about relationships, intimacy and healing. You can find<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/language-of-love-with-dr-laura-berman/id1552549384" rel="noopener noreferrer"> The Language of Love</a> wherever you're listening to Crying Out Loud

The Invisible Losses We Carry: Finding Ourselves Again After Grief with Christina Rasmussen

Welcome to this special extended episode of Crying Out Loud. I’m Dr. Laura Berman.
As I share throughout this podcast, on February 7, 2021, my 16-year-old son Sammy was sent a drug dealer by Snapchat who sold him counterfeit drugs laced with  fentanyl. Like many parents, I believed my child was safe at home. We had talked about social media safety. I worried about online predators, explicit photos, and the risks teenagers face online. But it never occurred to me that drugs could be ordered through social media and delivered to our home as easily as ordering takeout.
What happened shattered my heart and my understanding of what “safe at home” really meant.
In the days, months, and years after losing Sammy, I began recording reflections simply to process what I was living through. I wasn’t thinking about creating a podcast. I was simply trying to survive the unimaginable. Those recordings eventually became what I now call The Losing Sammy Diaries.
This episode brings together four chapters from The Losing Sammy Diaries, recorded across the weeks, months, and years after Sammy’s death. Each chapter offers a snapshot along my trajectory through grief, showing how pain, understanding, and healing gradually evolve over time.
Chapter One: Ground Zero
One Week After Losing Sammy
<ul>
 <li>
What the earliest days of grief actually feel like
</li>
 <li>
The story of what happened to Sammy and the growing fentanyl crisis
</li>
 <li>
The dangers of social media platforms that many families like mine were blind to
</li>
 <li>
The powerful and surprising response I got  from families across the country 
</li>
 <li>
The role of surrender and softening in the midst of devastating loss
</li>
 <li>
Why being present with pain and releasing it from the body can be an important part of grief healing
</li>
 <li>
Why I made the difficult decision to leave my home and family for a bit just a few weeks after Sammy’s death 
</li>
</ul>
Chapter Two: The Redwood Odyssey
Three Months After Losing Sammy
<ul>
 <li>
My profound personal odyssey experienced in the Redwoods of California
</li>
 <li>
How somatic experiencing opened a new doorway for processing grief
</li>
 <li>
The emotional releases that can happen when grief moves through the body
</li>
 <li>
The healing power of nature, long walks through the forest, and hugging trees
</li>
 <li>
My unforgettable “glittering forest” experience in the redwoods
</li>
 <li>
The seeds of something new that were beginning to form
</li>
</ul>
Chapter Three: Two Funerals and a Birthday Party
Six Months After Losing Sammy
<ul>
 <li>
What my mother’s death taught me about moving with loss
</li>
 <li>
The difference between spiritual connection and spiritually bypassing pain
</li>
 <li>
The unexpected role my dog played in my healing
</li>
 <li>
The fifteen-minute grounding practice that can help you move grief through the body
</li>
 <li>
Why allowing ourselves to receive love from others can be part of healing
</li>
 <li>
The beautiful release ceremonies and the two funerals we had honoring Sammy’s life
</li>
 <li>
Why there is no right or wrong way for partners to grieve in a marriage
</li>
 <li>
The deeper questions grief raises about what remains after death
</li>
</ul>
Chapter Four: The Metamorphosis
Three Years After Losing Sammy
<ul>
 <li>
The origin of the Crying Out Loud 
</li>
 <li>
The moment I realized grief had fundamentally changed who I am
</li>
 <li>
What happened on our first ever grieving mama retreat
</li>
 <li>
The insights I’ve gained around healing after years of navigating loss
</li>
 <li>
The practices that helped me begin rebuilding life
</li>
 <li>
The Six Pillars of Healing that grew out of this journey
</li>
 <li>
How grief can become a portal for transformation
</li>
</ul>
This episode is about living our truth, feeling our feelings, and allowing love to continue even after loss.
We want to hear from you!. If you’d like to share your story or have a question or topic you’d like covered, reach out at <a href="mailto:cryingoutloudpod@gmail.com">cryingoutloudpod@gmail.com</a>.
If you’re looking for live healing resources and connection with others walking a similar path, check the <a href="https://drlauraberman.com/griefhealing">Grief Healing Collective</a>, a supportive community where people navigating loss come together to share experiences, learn tools for healing, experience live healing sessions and support groups.
None of us were meant to grieve alone. Let’s cry out loud together.

Welcome to this special extended episode of Crying Out Loud. I’m Dr. Laura Berman. As I share throughout this podcast, on February 7, 2021, my 16-year-old son Sammy was sent a drug dealer by Snapchat who sold him counterfeit drugs laced with fentanyl. Like many parents, I believed my child was safe at home. We had talked about social media safety. I worried about online predators, explicit photos, and the risks teenagers face online. But it never occurred to me that drugs could be ordered through social media and delivered to our home as easily as ordering takeout. What happened shattered my heart and my understanding of what “safe at home” really meant. In the days, months, and years after losing Sammy, I began recording reflections simply to process what I was living through. I wasn’t thinking about creating a podcast. I was simply trying to survive the unimaginable. Those recordings eventually became what I now call The Losing Sammy Diaries. This episode brings together four chapters from The Losing Sammy Diaries, recorded across the weeks, months, and years after Sammy’s death. Each chapter offers a snapshot along my trajectory through grief, showing how pain, understanding, and healing gradually evolve over time. Chapter One: Ground Zero One Week After Losing Sammy What the earliest days of grief actually feel like The story of what happened to Sammy and the growing fentanyl crisis The dangers of social media platforms that many families like mine were blind to The powerful and surprising response I got from families across the country The role of surrender and softening in the midst of devastating loss Why being present with pain and releasing it from the body can be an important part of grief healing Why I made the difficult decision to leave my home and family for a bit just a few weeks after Sammy’s death Chapter Two: The Redwood Odyssey Three Months After Losing Sammy My profound personal odyssey experienced in the Redwoods of California How somatic experiencing opened a new doorway for processing grief The emotional releases that can happen when grief moves through the body The healing power of nature, long walks through the forest, and hugging trees My unforgettable “glittering forest” experience in the redwoods The seeds of something new that were beginning to form Chapter Three: Two Funerals and a Birthday Party Six Months After Losing Sammy What my mother’s death taught me about moving with loss The difference between spiritual connection and spiritually bypassing pain The unexpected role my dog played in my healing The fifteen-minute grounding practice that can help you move grief through the body Why allowing ourselves to receive love from others can be part of healing The beautiful release ceremonies and the two funerals we had honoring Sammy’s life Why there is no right or wrong way for partners to grieve in a marriage The deeper questions grief raises about what remains after death Chapter Four: The Metamorphosis Three Years After Losing Sammy The origin of the Crying Out Loud The moment I realized grief had fundamentally changed who I am What happened on our first ever grieving mama retreat The insights I’ve gained around healing after years of navigating loss The practices that helped me begin rebuilding life The Six Pillars of Healing that grew out of this journey How grief can become a portal for transformation This episode is about living our truth, feeling our feelings, and allowing love to continue even after loss. We want to hear from you!. If you’d like to share your story or have a question or topic you’d like covered, reach out at cryingoutloudpod@gmail.com. If you’re looking for live healing resources and connection with others walking a similar path, check the Grief Healing Collective, a supportive community where people navigating loss come together to share experiences, learn tools for healing, experience live healing sessions and support groups. None of us were meant to grieve alone. Let’s cry out loud together.

Welcome to this special extended episode of Crying Out Loud. I’m Dr. Laura Berman.
As I share throughout this podcast, on February 7, 2021, my 16-year-old son Sammy was sent a drug dealer by Snapchat who sold him counterfeit drugs laced with&nbsp; fentanyl. Like many parents, I believed my child was safe at home. We had talked about social media safety. I worried about online predators, explicit photos, and the risks teenagers face online. But it never occurred to me that drugs could be ordered through social media and delivered to our home as easily as ordering takeout.
What happened shattered my heart and my understanding of what “safe at home” really meant.
In the days, months, and years after losing Sammy, I began recording reflections simply to process what I was living through. I wasn’t thinking about creating a podcast. I was simply trying to survive the unimaginable. Those recordings eventually became what I now call The Losing Sammy Diaries.
This episode brings together four chapters from The Losing Sammy Diaries, recorded across the weeks, months, and years after Sammy’s death. Each chapter offers a snapshot along my trajectory through grief, showing how pain, understanding, and healing gradually evolve over time.
Chapter One: Ground Zero
One Week After Losing Sammy
<ul>
 <li>
What the earliest days of grief actually feel like
</li>
 <li>
The story of what happened to Sammy and the growing fentanyl crisis
</li>
 <li>
The dangers of social media platforms that many families like mine were blind to
</li>
 <li>
The powerful and surprising response I got&nbsp; from families across the country&nbsp;
</li>
 <li>
The role of surrender and softening in the midst of devastating loss
</li>
 <li>
Why being present with pain and releasing it from the body can be an important part of grief healing
</li>
 <li>
Why I made the difficult decision to leave my home and family for a bit just a few weeks after Sammy’s death&nbsp;
</li>
</ul>
Chapter Two: The Redwood Odyssey
Three Months After Losing Sammy
<ul>
 <li>
My profound personal odyssey experienced in the Redwoods of California
</li>
 <li>
How somatic experiencing opened a new doorway for processing grief
</li>
 <li>
The emotional releases that can happen when grief moves through the body
</li>
 <li>
The healing power of nature, long walks through the forest, and hugging trees
</li>
 <li>
My unforgettable “glittering forest” experience in the redwoods
</li>
 <li>
The seeds of something new that were beginning to form
</li>
</ul>
Chapter Three: Two Funerals and a Birthday Party
Six Months After Losing Sammy
<ul>
 <li>
What my mother’s death taught me about moving with loss
</li>
 <li>
The difference between spiritual connection and spiritually bypassing pain
</li>
 <li>
The unexpected role my dog played in my healing
</li>
 <li>
The fifteen-minute grounding practice that can help you move grief through the body
</li>
 <li>
Why allowing ourselves to receive love from others can be part of healing
</li>
 <li>
The beautiful release ceremonies and the two funerals we had honoring Sammy’s life
</li>
 <li>
Why there is no right or wrong way for partners to grieve in a marriage
</li>
 <li>
The deeper questions grief raises about what remains after death
</li>
</ul>
Chapter Four: The Metamorphosis
Three Years After Losing Sammy
<ul>
 <li>
The origin of the Crying Out Loud&nbsp;
</li>
 <li>
The moment I realized grief had fundamentally changed who I am
</li>
 <li>
What happened on our first ever grieving mama retreat
</li>
 <li>
The insights I’ve gained around healing after years of navigating loss
</li>
 <li>
The practices that helped me begin rebuilding life
</li>
 <li>
The Six Pillars of Healing that grew out of this journey
</li>
 <li>
How grief can become a portal for transformation
</li>
</ul>
This episode is about living our truth, feeling our feelings, and allowing love to continue even after loss.
We want to hear from you!. If you’d like to share your story or have a question or topic you’d like covered, reach out at <a href="mailto:cryingoutloudpod@gmail.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">cryingoutloudpod@gmail.com</a>.
If you’re looking for live healing resources and connection with others walking a similar path, check the <a href="https://drlauraberman.com/griefhealing" rel="noopener noreferrer">Grief Healing Collective</a>, a supportive community where people navigating loss come together to share experiences, learn tools for healing, experience live healing sessions and support groups.
None of us were meant to grieve alone. Let’s cry out loud together.

The Losing Sammy Diaries

Welcome to the first episode of Crying Out Loud. I’m Dr. Laura Berman, and this podcast is for anyone who has lost someone, loves someone who’s grieving, or longing for support in carrying  the weight of their pain. It’s the grief companion I wish I had, where science, psychology, and spirituality meet, and where practical tools help you heal.
Five years ago, I never imagined I would be here. I was a well-known and busy  love and relationship expert. But on February 7, 2021, my 16-year-old son Sammy was sent a drug dealer by Snapchat who sold him counterfeit drugs laced with  fentanyl. I had experienced painful loss before,both my parents, my grandmothers and others close to me. But suffice it to say,  Sammy’s death showed me how much the heart can hold.
Grief can transform you. Not because it gets smaller, but because we grow bigger around it. In this episode, I share some of my grief journey and what I’ve learned is possible in healing. 
We explore: 
<ul>
 <li>
The story of Sammy’s passing
</li>
 <li>
Why grief is not something to fix or finish
</li>
 <li>
The Six Pillars of Healing that changed my life and can change yours
</li>
 <li>
How to surf the waves of grief instead of drowning in them
</li>
 <li>
How grief can become a portal of transformation
</li>
 <li>
The concept of “getting bigger” around your grief
</li>
 <li>
Why it’s important to never  apologize for crying
</li>
 <li>
How loss reshapes friendships and relationships
</li>
 <li>
What it means to continue loving someone beyond form
</li>
</ul>
This episode is about living your truth, feeling your feelings, and letting love continue beyond form. 
If you want to share your story or have questions, email me at <a href="mailto:cryingoutloudpod@gmail.com">cryingoutloudpod@gmail.com</a>. Check out The Losing Sammy Diaries at your leisure to get a sense of how grief evolves over time, and if you want to get healing support and connect with others on the same path, visit the <a href="https://drlauraberman.com/griefhealing">Grief Healing Collective</a>. None of us were meant to grieve alone. Let’s cry out loud together.

Welcome to the first episode of Crying Out Loud. I’m Dr. Laura Berman, and this podcast is for anyone who has lost someone, loves someone who’s grieving, or longing for support in carrying the weight of their pain. It’s the grief companion I wish I had, where science, psychology, and spirituality meet, and where practical tools help you heal. Five years ago, I never imagined I would be here. I was a well-known and busy love and relationship expert. But on February 7, 2021, my 16-year-old son Sammy was sent a drug dealer by Snapchat who sold him counterfeit drugs laced with fentanyl. I had experienced painful loss before,both my parents, my grandmothers and others close to me. But suffice it to say, Sammy’s death showed me how much the heart can hold. Grief can transform you. Not because it gets smaller, but because we grow bigger around it. In this episode, I share some of my grief journey and what I’ve learned is possible in healing. We explore: The story of Sammy’s passing Why grief is not something to fix or finish The Six Pillars of Healing that changed my life and can change yours How to surf the waves of grief instead of drowning in them How grief can become a portal of transformation The concept of “getting bigger” around your grief Why it’s important to never apologize for crying How loss reshapes friendships and relationships What it means to continue loving someone beyond form This episode is about living your truth, feeling your feelings, and letting love continue beyond form. If you want to share your story or have questions, email me at cryingoutloudpod@gmail.com. Check out The Losing Sammy Diaries at your leisure to get a sense of how grief evolves over time, and if you want to get healing support and connect with others on the same path, visit the Grief Healing Collective. None of us were meant to grieve alone. Let’s cry out loud together.

Welcome to the first episode of Crying Out Loud. I’m Dr. Laura Berman, and this podcast is for anyone who has lost someone, loves someone who’s grieving, or longing for support in carrying&nbsp; the weight of their pain. It’s the grief companion I wish I had, where science, psychology, and spirituality meet, and where practical tools help you heal.
Five years ago, I never imagined I would be here. I was a well-known and busy&nbsp; love and relationship expert. But on February 7, 2021, my 16-year-old son Sammy was sent a drug dealer by Snapchat who sold him counterfeit drugs laced with&nbsp; fentanyl. I had experienced painful loss before,both my parents, my grandmothers and others close to me. But suffice it to say,&nbsp; Sammy’s death showed me how much the heart can hold.
Grief can transform you. Not because it gets smaller, but because we grow bigger around it. In this episode, I share some of my grief journey and what I’ve learned is possible in healing.&nbsp;
We explore:&nbsp;
<ul>
 <li>
The story of Sammy’s passing
</li>
 <li>
Why grief is not something to fix or finish
</li>
 <li>
The Six Pillars of Healing that changed my life and can change yours
</li>
 <li>
How to surf the waves of grief instead of drowning in them
</li>
 <li>
How grief can become a portal of transformation
</li>
 <li>
The concept of “getting bigger” around your grief
</li>
 <li>
Why it’s important to never&nbsp; apologize for crying
</li>
 <li>
How loss reshapes friendships and relationships
</li>
 <li>
What it means to continue loving someone beyond form
</li>
</ul>
This episode is about living your truth, feeling your feelings, and letting love continue beyond form.&nbsp;
If you want to share your story or have questions, email me at <a href="mailto:cryingoutloudpod@gmail.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">cryingoutloudpod@gmail.com</a>. Check out The Losing Sammy Diaries at your leisure to get a sense of how grief evolves over time, and if you want to get healing support and connect with others on the same path, visit the <a href="https://drlauraberman.com/griefhealing" rel="noopener noreferrer">Grief Healing Collective</a>. None of us were meant to grieve alone. Let’s cry out loud together.

My Story, Your Story, Our Story

Crying Out Loud is a grief companion for anyone carrying loss. Hosted by Dr. Laura Berman, bestselling author, therapist, and grieving mother, the show blends clinical guidance with spiritual insight to support healing on every level. Each week features conversations with experts, healers and mediums to help regulate your nervous system, honor your grief, and explore continued connection with loved ones on the other side. You were never meant to grieve alone. Let’s cry out loud together.

Crying Out Loud is a grief companion for anyone carrying loss. Hosted by Dr. Laura Berman, bestselling author, therapist, and grieving mother, the show blends clinical guidance with spiritual insight to support healing on every level. Each week features conversations with experts, healers and mediums to help regulate your nervous system, honor your grief, and explore continued connection with loved ones on the other side. You were never meant to grieve alone. Let’s cry out loud together.

Crying Out Loud&nbsp;is a grief companion for anyone carrying loss. Hosted by Dr. Laura Berman, bestselling author, therapist, and grieving mother, the show blends clinical guidance with spiritual insight to support healing on every level. Each week features conversations with experts, healers and mediums to help regulate your nervous system, honor your grief, and explore continued connection with loved ones on the other side. You were never meant to grieve alone. Let’s cry out loud together.

Crying Out Loud - Trailer

Crying Out Loud&nbsp;is a grief companion for anyone carrying loss. Hosted by Dr. Laura Berman, bestselling author, therapist, and grieving mother, the show blends clinical guidance with spiritual insight to support healing on every level. Each week features conversations with experts, healers and mediums to help regulate your nervous system, honor your grief, and explore continued connection with loved ones on the other side. You were never meant to grieve alone. Let’s cry out loud together.

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Crying Out Loud is a grief companion for anyone carrying loss. Hosted by Dr. Laura Berman, bestselling author, therapist, and grieving mother, the show blends clinical guidance with spiritual insight to support healing on every level. Each week features conversations with experts, healers and mediums to help regulate your nervous system, honor your grief, and explore continued connection with loved ones on the other side. You were never meant to grieve alone. Let’s cry out loud together.

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