Grief Dreams Podcast

Kathy Wagner is a writer, writing coach, and mother of three grown children including her son, Tristan, who died from fentanyl poisoning in 2017. Her personal essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Globe & Mail, and The Sun Magazine. She is the author of Here With You: A Memoir of Love, Family, and Addiction, to be published on September 9, 2023 in Canada with a US & global release date of Spring 2024. You can find more about Kathy at https://www.kwagnerwrites.com/

In this episode we talk about her son’s journey with addiction, parenting a child in addiction, her grief journey after his death, her new book and being of service, and dreams of her deceased son.

You can find more about Grief Dreams here:

Our website – www.griefdreams.ca 

Instagram and Twitter - @Griefdreams

Facebook – Grief Dreams Podcast Page and Grief Dreams Group

Looking for ways to support the podcast?

You can help support the Grief Dreams Podcast in a few ways:

1) Become a Patreon supporter (monthly financial support)

https://www.patreon.com/griefdreamspodcast

2) Buy us a Coffee (one-time financial support)

 https://www.buymeacoffee.com/griefdreams 

3) Subscribe to the podcast (on the platform you listen) and give a review. This improves our online visibility.

4) Support the topic by sharing the podcast or website. We appreciate any support that contributes to raising awareness on the topic

Colin Campbell is a writer and director for theater and film. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Seraglio, a short film he wrote and directed with wife Gail Lerner. He has taught Theater and/or Filmmaking at Chapman University, Loyola Marymount University, Cal Poly Pomona University, and to incarcerated youth through The Unusual Suspects. His one person show titled, Grief: A One Man ShitShow, premiered at the Hollywood Fringe Festival where it won a Best of Broadwater Award. He recently wrote the book titled Finding the Words: Working Through Profound Loss with Hope and Purpose. You can find more about Colin at https://colincampbellauthor.com/

In this episode we talk about the death of his two teenage children, bereavement challenges in processing his grief (including anger), using the Jewish tradition to embrace grief, how his grief changed overtime, his one person show and new book, and grief dreams of his deceased children.

You can find more about Grief Dreams here:

Our website – www.griefdreams.ca 

Instagram, Threads, and X (formerly Twitter) - @Griefdreams

Facebook – Grief Dreams Podcast Page and Grief Dreams Group

Looking for ways to support the podcast?

You can help support the Grief Dreams Podcast in a few ways:

1) Become a Patreon supporter (monthly financial support)

https://www.patreon.com/griefdreamspodcast

2) Buy us a Coffee (one-time financial support)

 https://www.buymeacoffee.com/griefdreams

3) Subscribe to the podcast (on the platform you listen) and give a review. This improves our online visibility.

4) Support the topic by sharing the podcast or website. We appreciate any support that contributes to raising awareness on the topic.

Emily Bevan is a writer and actor, perhaps best known for her role as spirited zombie Amy Dyer in BAFTA winning series ‘In The Flesh’. She is soon to appear on Disney plus/Hulu in the hotly anticipated tv series of the much loved film, The Full Monty. Other credits include Funny woman, Doc Martin, Temple, GRANTCHESTER, Domina and many more. In the run up to her father’s untimely death in 2014, Emily kept a diary of thoughts, feelings, anecdotes and poems as a way of keeping sane. These diaries were published by Unbound in 2022 in the form of ‘The Diary of Losing Dad’ and releasing them to the world has been a hugely cathartic exercise. You can find more about Emily on Instagram and Twitter @EmilyGraceBevan.

In this episode we talk about her experiences of keeping a diary when her father was dying and some moments that occurred, writing her book ‘The Diary of Losing Dad’, her grief journey following his death, connecting with her father through the senses and activities, and grief dreams of her deceased father that she had, as well as ones that her husband and mother had.

You can find more about Grief Dreams here:

Our website – www.griefdreams.ca 

Instagram and Twitter - @Griefdreams

Facebook – Grief Dreams Podcast Page and Grief Dreams Group

Looking for ways to support the podcast?

You can help support the Grief Dreams Podcast in a few ways:

1) Become a Patreon supporter (monthly financial support)

https://www.patreon.com/griefdreamspodcast

2) Buy us a Coffee (one-time financial support)

 https://www.buymeacoffee.com/griefdreams 

3) Subscribe to the podcast (on the platform you listen) and give a review. This improves our online visibility.

4) Support the topic by sharing the podcast or website. We appreciate any support that contributes to raising awareness on the topic

After teaching poetry as an academic for over 20 years, Cathy Sosnowsky started writing poetry herself in response to the sudden death of her teenaged son. Two lines of poetry came to her in a dream on the very night he died. She had to get out of bed and write them down. From then on, in her grief journey, writing poetry saved her. Eventually, many of these poems were published in the book, Holding On: Poems for Alex. Cathy has since published two more books: Snapshots: A Story of Love, Loss, and Life, and, more recently, Finding Heartstone: A Taste of Wilderness. As a chapter leader of The Compassionate Friends, a support group for bereaved parents, Cathy often gives “Writing as Healing Workshops.” You can find more about Cathy at www.cathysosnowsky.com 

In this episode we talk about the death of her 17-year-old son, how she used poetry to process her grief, poems she wrote, and a grief dream of her deceased son.

You can find more about Grief Dreams here:

Our website – www.griefdreams.ca 

Instagram and Twitter - @Griefdreams

Facebook – Grief Dreams Podcast Page and Grief Dreams Group

Looking for ways to support the podcast?

You can help support the Grief Dreams Podcast in a few ways:

1) Become a Patreon supporter (monthly financial support)

https://www.patreon.com/griefdreamspodcast

2) Buy us a Coffee (one-time financial support)

 https://www.buymeacoffee.com/griefdreams 

3) Subscribe to the podcast (on the platform you listen) and give a review. This improves our online visibility.

4) Support the topic by sharing the podcast or website. We appreciate any support that contributes to raising awareness on the topic

Krishma Arora immigrated to the United States from India when she was five years old, and grew up on Long Island and then attended New York University. She is a poet, writer, and public speaker. For a few years, she was the author of “Free Spirit,” a monthly column in her hometown magazine, Brookville Living. She has an MS in Education, as well as an MS in Marketing. She has also worked as a high school social studies teacher for 11 years. She lives in New York with her husband and four children. Krishma’s newest book is called “From Ash to Ashes”. She began writing From Ash to Ashes seventeen years ago, after the death of her first child. His loss was the inspiration for her book, and she has dedicated it to his memory. In addition to From Ash to Ashes, she is also writing a nonfiction book, titled Brown Girl’s Guide, a collection of essays on womanhood and motherhood as seen through the eyes of a woman of color. You can find more about Krishma at www.krishmatuliarora.com, Instagram and Twitter: @krishmawrites 

In this episode we talk about her grief experience following the death of her first child, writing her new book, the challenges in coping with her grief, learning to surrender, challenging cultural norms through Sikhism, and dreams of her deceased child, grandmother, and friend.

You can find more about Grief Dreams here:

Our website – www.griefdreams.ca 

Instagram and Twitter - @Griefdreams

Facebook – Grief Dreams Podcast Page and Grief Dreams Group

Looking for ways to support the podcast?

You can help support the Grief Dreams Podcast in a few ways:

1) Become a Patreon supporter (monthly financial support)

https://www.patreon.com/griefdreamspodcast

2) Buy us a Coffee (one-time financial support)

 https://www.buymeacoffee.com/griefdreams

3) Subscribe to the podcast (on the platform you listen) and give a review. This improves our online visibility.

4) Support the topic by sharing the podcast or website. We appreciate any support that contributes to raising awareness on the topic.

Dr. Donna Stoneham is the author of The Thriver’s Edge: Seven Keys to Transform the Way You Live, Love, and Lead (SWP, 2015), and a contributor to the anthology, Art in the Time of Unbearable Crisis: Women Writer’s Respond to the Call (SWP, 2022), and the new book Catch Me When I Fall: Poems of Mother Loss and Healing (being released May 9, 2023). Additionally, over the span of her thirty-year career in leadership development, she has coached hundreds of leaders, teams, and executives, guiding them to live more fulfilling, authentic lives while expressing their gifts in the world. She has also worked for twelve years part-time as a chaplain and a hospice chaplain, providing spiritual and end-of-life care in nursing homes, and assisted living facilities. You can find more about Donna at https://donnastoneham.com/

In this episode we talk about her near-death experience after a suicide attempt at age 15, her relationship with her mother before and after her death, her new book, coping with her grief, honouring her mother on Mother’s Day, and dreams of her deceased mother.

You can find more about Grief Dreams here:

Our website – www.griefdreams.ca 

Instagram and Twitter - @Griefdreams

Facebook – Grief Dreams Podcast Page and Grief Dreams Group

Looking for ways to support the podcast?

You can help support the Grief Dreams Podcast in a few ways:

1) Become a Patreon supporter (monthly financial support)

https://www.patreon.com/griefdreamspodcast

2) Buy us a Coffee (one-time financial support)

 https://www.buymeacoffee.com/griefdreams

3) Subscribe to the podcast (on the platform you listen) and give a review. This improves our online visibility.

4) Support the topic by sharing the podcast or website. We appreciate any support that contributes to raising awareness on the topic.

Fiona Tinwei Lam has authored three poetry collections and a children's book. She has produced several award-winning poetry videos that have screened at festivals all over the world. Besides editing the anthology, The Bright Well: Contemporary Canadian Poems on Facing Cancer, she has co-edited two nonfiction anthologies. She has been shortlisted for the City of Vancouver Book Award and thrice selected for BC’s Poetry in Transit. Her work appears in over 40 anthologies, including the Best Canadian Poetry series. A former lawyer, she has an MFA in creative writing from UBC.  She currently teaches at SFU's Continuing Studies and has been appointed Vancouver’s Poet Laureate for 2022-2024, which serves as a champion for poetry, language, and the arts. You can find more about her at www.fionalam.net

In the episode we talk with Fiona about the death of her father as a child, her mother having dementia, coping with the death of her mother and father, her child’s grief after her mother died, her children's book “The Rainbow Rocket”, Ching Ming Day, and a dream of her deceased father.

You can find more about Grief Dreams here:

Our website – www.griefdreams.ca 

Instagram and Twitter - @Griefdreams

Facebook – Grief Dreams Podcast Page and Grief Dreams Group

Looking for ways to support the podcast?

You can help support the Grief Dreams Podcast in a few ways:

1) Become a Patreon supporter (monthly financial support)

https://www.patreon.com/griefdreamspodcast

2) Buy us a Coffee (one-time financial support)

 https://www.buymeacoffee.com/griefdreams

3) Subscribe to the podcast (on the platform you listen) and give a review. This improves our online visibility.

4) Support the topic by sharing the podcast or website. We appreciate any support that contributes to raising awareness on the topic.

Suzanne Falter is a writer, podcaster and essayist whose work has been featured in SELF, O, More, Tiny Buddha and The New York Times. She’s the author of multiple self-help titles including The Extremely Busy Woman’s Guide to Self-Care (Sourcebooks). She is the host of The Self-Care for Extremely Busy Women podcast, and has been heard widely on podcasts and radio. You can find more about Suzanne at www.suzannefalter.com

In this guest update episode, we talk with Suzanne about the death of her daughter, learning about self-care, her new book ‘Free Spirited’, the unified field of love, and new dreams of her deceased daughter.

You can listen to Suzanne’s first episode (episode 141) on our podcast here - https://www.griefdreams.ca/podcast/141 and her friend’s (Debi) podcast episode here - https://www.griefdreams.ca/podcast/142

You can find more about Grief Dreams here:

Our website – www.griefdreams.ca 

Instagram and Twitter - @Griefdreams

Facebook – Grief Dreams Podcast Page and Grief Dreams Group

Looking for ways to support the podcast?

You can help support the Grief Dreams Podcast in a few ways:

1) Become a Patreon supporter (monthly financial support)

https://www.patreon.com/griefdreamspodcast

2) Buy us a Coffee (one-time financial support)

 https://www.buymeacoffee.com/griefdreams

3) Subscribe to the podcast (on the platform you listen) and give a review. This improves our online visibility.

4) Support the topic by sharing the podcast or website. We appreciate any support that contributes to raising awareness on the topic.

Dr. Kathy Belicki is a Professor Emerita of Psychology at Brock University. She trained originally as a clinical psychologist, but soon found out that teaching and conducting research brought her the most joy. For much of her career she studied dreams looking at such questions as differences in dream recall, the causes and treatment of nightmares, the relation of personality to dreaming, and, at the end of her research career, the nature of dreams of the deceased. At various times she also studied forgiveness, and the impact of childhood trauma and abuse on one’s emotional well-being and physical health as an adult. At present she has just completed writing a memoir about her experiences in the Memory Wars of the 1990s—a period of intense conflict over what to make of recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse.

You can find more about Kathy at https://brocku.ca/social-sciences/psychology/people/kathryn-belicki/

In this episode we talk about her early research on nightmares, how dreams lack volume control, researching dreams of the deceased, bereavement experiences while awake, and dreams of her deceased cats and grandmother.

You can find more about Grief Dreams here:

Our website – www.griefdreams.ca 

Instagram and Twitter - @Griefdreams

Facebook – Grief Dreams Podcast Page and Grief Dreams Group

Looking for ways to support the podcast?

You can help support the Grief Dreams Podcast in a few ways:

1) Become a Patreon supporter (monthly financial support)

https://www.patreon.com/griefdreamspodcast

2) Buy us a Coffee (one-time financial support)

 https://www.buymeacoffee.com/griefdreams

3) Subscribe to the podcast (on the platform you listen) and give a review. This improves our online visibility.

4) Support the topic by sharing the podcast or website. We appreciate any support that contributes to raising awareness on the topic.

In this episode we recap some of the dream conversations we had with guests in 2022.

You can find more about Grief Dreams here:

Our website – www.griefdreams.ca 

Instagram and Twitter - @Griefdreams

Facebook – Grief Dreams Podcast Page and Grief Dreams Group

Looking for ways to support the podcast?

You can help support the Grief Dreams Podcast in a few ways:

1) Become a Patreon supporter (monthly financial support)

https://www.patreon.com/griefdreamspodcast

2) Buy us a Coffee (one-time financial support)

 https://www.buymeacoffee.com/griefdreams

3) Subscribe to the podcast (on the platform you listen) and give a review. This improves our online visibility.

4) Support the topic by sharing the podcast or website. We appreciate any support that contributes to raising awareness on the topic.