Grief Encounters

How do you cope with the death of a parent at 24 years old? The time when you’re somewhere between independence and reliance on parents, figuring out who you are and what you want to do, and trying to maintain friendships and a social life when your world is crumbling around you and no one understands. This weeks podcast guest is Rose Yavneh Taylor, author of 365 Days Past the Traffic Lights, a beautifully compelling account of the first 365 days following the death of her father, Cyrus Yavneh. 

At 24 years of age, Rose straddled two worlds; living in both a picturesque English village and an adventure-filled Hollywood lifestyle in Los Angeles. But in late 2017 life hurtled her into a new realm, one that was immersed in medical settings and put her life on hold. In the first episode of 2020 Sasha spoke to Rose about the tough realities of losing a parent during this seminal period of her life and development. Rose’s unique account of her first year of grief is raw and unfiltered but also familiar to anyone who has experienced loss in this way before. They talk about the initial diagnosis, the experience of becoming a carer for her father and why a resource tailored for young adults is truly needed.

If you're looking for a safe haven to express how you feel, 

Share articles, photos ,memories and more,

Join the Grief Encounters Facebook Group,

A place for support, compassion and empathy for those grieving

https://www.facebook.com/groups/GriefEncounters/

Music by: Nctrnm

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

Sasha looks back on what has been an incredible debut 12 months for Grief Encounters, featuring some of the most powerful interviews on the podcast to date. 

On behalf of all the team, we want to wish our listeners and past guests a joyous and prosperous 2020. We will be back next Tuesday with our first show of the New Year.

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

Christmas can be a difficult time for anyone who has experienced loss in the past, and feelings of grief can be greatly amplified in these busy few weeks. This week on the podcast Sasha & Venetia revisit their first ever episode of Grief Encounters in an incredibly insightful interview Dr Colman Noctor, who is an Adolescent Psychotherapist with St Patrick's Mental Health Services.

Christmas is a time built on traditions for many people, and Colman discusses the positives and negatives of building new traditions after a loss, in particular for families. He also gives an insight into how children process information differently to adults, and how that can make the grieving process an often strange and difficult one for a child to deal with. 

If you're looking for a safe haven to express how you feel, 

Share articles, photos, memories and more,

Join the Grief Encounters Facebook Group,

A place for support, compassion and empathy for those grieving

https://www.facebook.com/groups/GriefEncounters/

Music by: Nctrnm

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

This week’s guest is a tenor, writer and performer whos beautiful show Nine Weeks received widespread acclaim at this years Dublin Fringe Festival. Nine Weeks deals with Seán Kennedy’s experience of bringing his terminally-ill mother home from Australia, at the hands of an abusive partner. Seán’s account of his weeks spent in Victoria Point caring to his mother, and ultimately freeing her from the control of her partner genuinely have to be heard to be believed. It is a story where the unconditional love he shows is abundantly present throughout the conversation. 

In the interview, he discusses at the detail the terrifying nature of balancing the cocktail of drugs and medicine’s required to tend to his mother’s cancer and his constant fear of accidentally overdosing her. Finally, Seán’s account of his mothers final hours and minutes are extremely vivid and paint an incredibly clear picture that will be familiar to many listeners. Also in a similar vein to a host of recent Grief Encounters guests, the story involves the absolutely incredible care team from Our Lady’s Hospice, Harolds Cross, who Sasha and Venetia both have personal connections with. 

If you're looking for a safe haven to express how you feel, 

Share articles, photos , memories and more,

Join the Grief Encounters Facebook Group,

A place for support, compassion and empathy for those grieving

https://www.facebook.com/groups/GriefEncounters/

Music by: Nctrnm

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

This week’s podcast is slightly different, as we hear one woman’s account of undergoing fertility treatment, and the pain and disappointment that was to follow. Fertility treatment has undoubtedly been a catalyst for joy in many couples lives, but for a large proportion of people, the treatment does not work. Deirdre Donelly feels that she was given miss information by an Irish fertility clinic when she underwent treatment nine years ago. 

Deirdre gave birth to her first child David in 2004, which brought a huge amount of joy to her and her husband. A few years after David was born she began trying to become pregnant with her second child, and at this point realised there may be something wrong.  Deirdre visited a fertility specialist and decided that she would explore this route with her husband. Fertility treatment can be all-encompassing and sadly during this period, Deirdre’s mother died of breast cancer. After months of expensive and painful therapies, Deirdre and her husband found out that there was only ever a 3% chance of success for the treatment she was on, which is something she believes was hidden from her by the clinics. 

She speaks to Sasha about the grief involved with being an infertile woman, as well as the many caveats as to how Ireland currently deal with women’s health on a national level. Deirdre also speaks about the loss of her mother and the guilt she felt for not being around more during her mother’s illness, because of her treatment. 

If you're looking for a safe haven to express how you feel, 

Share articles, photos ,memories and more,

Join the Grief Encounters Facebook Group,

A place for support, compassion and empathy for those grieving

https://www.facebook.com/groups/GriefEncounters/

Music by: Nctrnm

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

This week’s podcast marks the first live episode of Grief Encounters, as Sasha and Venetia were part of an extraordinary night of poetry, film and discussion at the Dublin premiere of the extraordinary documentary Git Was Here in The Sugar Club. The documentary is based around the life of Christopher “Git” Byrne who passed away from cancer in March 2016. Lorcan Fox, the films Director and Git’s friend interviewed him on camera about his life – his regrets, his legacy and his view on mortality. This 90-minute chat is the genesis of the incredibly moving film.

Chris was a gregarious character with an infectious smile and a beautiful family with his wife Caroline and son Harry, who was born in the autumn of 2014. Sadly, just weeks later Chris was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour and despite several operations and amazing care from the Irish medical system, Chris passed away at the age of 31 in Harold Cross Hospice. The film begins with Chris’s individual story but expands to a spectrum of experiences and ideas around death and dying. Interviewing experts across all areas, from academics and historians to medical consultants and gravediggers, we aim to understand more about death and mortality. 

After the screening, Sasha and Venetia sat down for a discussion with Caroline and Lorcan with an audience filled with friends and family of Christopher’s, to discuss the impact of his tragic loss on both of them, and how this truly beautiful tribute came to life. 

We want to thank Lorcan Fox, Fiachra Doyle, Kevin Flynn and Caroline Byrne for allowing us the chance to be apart of such a special night. You can check out more information about the movie and possible future screenings through their social media pages. 

If you're looking for a safe haven to express how you feel, 

Share articles, photos ,memories and more,

Join the Grief Encounters Facebook Group,

A place for support, compassion and empathy for those grieving

https://www.facebook.com/groups/GriefEncounters/

Music by: Nctrnm

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

Grief Encounters was set up with one clear goal, which was to open up the conversation around loss for Ireland(and beyond)’s bereaved community. There weren’t nearly enough conversations on record offering support to those in the midst of their grief, and what a better medium to begin one, then a podcast. Unbeknownst to the Grief Encounters team, while we were busy plotting the opening sequence of podcast episodes to take us through January and February, this weeks guest was also spending her free time in a very similar way. 

Liz Gleeson is an experienced grief therapist and also the host of the excellent podcast Shapes Of Grief, which came out in January 2019. Her podcast hosts conversations with people about their experience of loss and grief in their lives, looking at important topics such as losing a partner to illness, complicated & disenfranchised grief and finding meaning after loss. 

In this episode, her and Venetia spark some incredibly interesting conversation about their learnings so far, and what drove them to both start their own outlet for grief. Liz also shared her really interesting opinions on vocalising sympathy for someone who is grieving, stating that  If you are unsure of what to say, it’s often worth taking the risk because the sentiment is usually the most important matter in the conversation. 

If you're looking for a safe haven to express how you feel, 

Share articles, photos, memories and more,

Join the Grief Encounters Facebook Group,

A place for support, compassion and empathy for those grieving

https://www.facebook.com/groups/GriefEncounters/

Music by: Nctrnm

To check out more of Liz’s work visit here website Shapes Of Grief.

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

This week’s podcast is incredibly special, as Sasha and Venetia are joined in studio with Tomi Reichental, who's personal story is inspirational, emotional and more than all - incredibly important to tell.  Born in Slovakia 1935, Tomi is one of the only Holocaust survivors to have settled in Ireland after being liberated from the Bergen Belsen concentration camp in 1945. Tomi is an incredibly thoughtful and emotionally intelligent man which is clear from his account of the atrocity that he and his family lived through. 

When he was liberated in April 1945 he discovered that 35 members of his extended family were murdered, Grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins-died in the Holocaust. Tomi was 9 years old in October 1944 when he was rounded up by the Gestapo in a shop in Bratislava. Along with 12 other members of his family he was taken to a detention camp Sered in Slovakia where the elusive Nazi War Criminal Alois Brunner had the power of life or death, as he decided who would face deportation.  

Tomi, his mother Judith and his brother Miki, his grandmother Rosalia, aunt Margo and cousin Chava were dumped into a cattle wagon on a train bound for Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The other 7 members of the family were sent to the slave labour camp at Buchenwald, where inmates were literally worked to death, 6 of them perished in Buchenwald only one survived.

Tomi has experienced grief on an extraordinary level, and kept his past completely hidden from friends and family for over 50 years because of fears this could happen again. In the past 15 years, he has dedicated much of his life to speaking about the holocaust to schools around Ireland. This year The Bar of Ireland have selected Tomi as their incredibly deserving recipient of The Award For Human Right’s, will be presented to him on the 28th of November 2019. Tomi has also featured in an extraordinary  2017 documentary Condem To Remember, that details his extraordinary life pre and post-war which is well worth a watch. 

If you're looking for a safe haven to express how you feel, 

Share articles, photos ,memories and more,

Join the Grief Encounters Facebook Group,

A place for support, compassion and empathy for those grieving

https://www.facebook.com/groups/GriefEncounters/

Music by: Nctrnm

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

The importance of end of life care can never be understated, not only for the patient but also for their loved ones. It’s something that Sasha and Venetia both discussed on the podcast before, having experienced the special work that they do first hand. 

This week’s podcast is a special one, as Sasha is joined in studio by palliative care doctor and bestselling author Kathryn Mannix, to speak about how we approach loss and the grief that often follows. Kathryn and Sasha go into detail about the experience of death and our responsibility to make it as comfortable as possible for those that are ill, sharing both of their experiences. They also discuss the importance of living in the now how we must prepare ourselves for our own deaths. 

In her Sunday Times, Best Selling book With the End in Mind, Kathryn explores the biggest taboo in our society and the only certainty we all share: death. Told through a series of beautifully crafted stories taken from nearly four decades of clinical practice, her book answers the most intimate questions about the process of dying with touching honesty and humanity. She makes a compelling case for the therapeutic power of approaching death not with trepidation but with openness, clarity and understanding.

If you're looking for a safe haven to express how you feel, 

Share articles, photos, memories and more,

Join the Grief Encounters Facebook Group,

A place for support, compassion and empathy for those grieving

https://www.facebook.com/groups/GriefEncounters/

Music by: Nctrnm

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

In recent years, the public’s attitude towards grief and loss seem to be changing, and more open conversations about the subject are happening, with those bereaved. These conversations, however, are often still regarded as taboo when speaking about Pregnancy & Infant Loss, with the grief often being kept silent. 

October is Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month, and this week Sasha and Venetia were joined by the incredibly inspirational writer and blogger Aoife Bermingham, to speak about her experience with stillbirth, after losing her son Oisin in September 2016. Aoife was also joined in studio by Éabha, her beautiful daughter who was born five weeks previous to the interview. 

Aoife’s life changed forever on Tuesday 28th 2016, as she accounts in this beautiful passage from her blog Irish Mum On the Run:

“At 4.05 we got called in. Up I hopped on the bed and the sonographer started putting the gel on. I asked her not to give us any inclination of the gender as we wanted a surprise as I joked with her that at my last anomaly scan the previous year the sonographer said ‘him’ and I spent the rest of my pregnancy assuming it was a boy and was shocked when we had a girl!

 At 4.07pm my life changed forever.

 The sonographer placed the handle on my tummy and within 5 seconds, placed her hand on my abdomen and uttered the words that constantly ring in my ears (ok I am crying now writing this), ‘Aoife, I am so sorry but your baby has no heartbeat’… my own heart skipped a beat or two, my mouth dried up and my head went foggy, ….’don’t say those words, those words, stop, this can’t be true, try again, this is all wrong, this can’t be true’ is what was swimming around in my head but I couldn’t talk. I looked at the screen and saw an outline of baby just lying there, not moving, on the screen. I couldn’t look any longer. “

In the interview, Aoife speaks in detail about the years and months since that day, and how it has changed her forever. She also discusses the importance of others acknowledging Oisin and his ongoing role in their family. 

If you're looking for a safe haven to express how you feel, 

Share articles, photos , memories and more,

Join the Grief Encounters Facebook Group,

A place for support, compassion and empathy for those grieving

https://www.facebook.com/groups/GriefEncounters/

Music by: Nctrnm

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