Grief Liberation: Conversations in Community

Matti welcomes Maverick (they/them), an AuDHD non-binary therapist who offers private practice therapy and therapy intensives that focuses on trauma, grief, ancestry, and “soul work.” Their conversation explores mutual aid vs. charity, intergenerational trauma and epigenetics, Dr. Renee Linklater,'s “blood memory,” Dr. Eduardo Duran’s “soul wound,” and how U.S. history and whiteness are shaped by fear and trauma. Maverick explains pseudo-mutuality and pseudo-hostility in family systems, suggests compassion and tolerating feelings over perfectionism, and emphasizes that grief needs movement and community. 

Website: therapywithmaverick.com 

Instagram: be.subversively.human

Host Matti welcomes Juneau (they/them), aka Prisma Palette, an artist, performer, educator, activist, and recent UVM Master’s Graduate who works in supporting autistic and neurodivergent college students. Juneau connects liberation to grief through the loss of past selves and the painful work of unlearning bias. They discuss family tensions as a first-gen student, the need for accountability beyond “safe space” language, and restorative justice practices. Juneau describes being tokenized in higher ed, severe burnout, suicidality, and now the relief of a more supportive work environment. They share how performance channels these experiences and preview the Sunflower Soiree, a Suicide Prevention Month show (September 19th) honoring friends lost in 2024, connecting audiences to resources, and holding both grief and joy.

Matti hosts Vanessa aka Vee (she/they), a queer college professor and integrative body psychotherapy practitioner from Quebec, for a conversation on liberation, grief, and death in community. They explore how grief and other difficult emotions are often intellectualized rather than embodied, and how breath, movement, expression, and shared support can create felt liberation. Vee shares near-death and chronic pain experiences that shaped their healing path and interest in death education, discusses death-denying culture, communal Italian mourning rituals akin to Irish keening, and the value of planning for death, continuing bonds, life review, terminal lucidity, and making room for both grief and joy.

Matti (host) welcomes Brody (any/no pronouns), an agender Naropa University graduate focused on drug psychology, addiction science, and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. Brody describes how unconditional love from Brody's wife, friends, and family helped Brody survive severe depression, suicidality, and childhood LSD addiction. Matti and Brody discuss transactional relationships, capitalism, compulsory aliveness, and how neurodivergence can shape grief, including guilt and shame waves after loss. Brody shares patterns of addiction, memory loss, risky behavior, and later learning about psychotic symptoms and a childhood concussion. The conversation explores grief, shame, self-forgiveness, safe psychedelic use with preparation and integration, and ends with joy found in graduating, community, and daily routines, emphasizing that people heal through care.

Matti (they/them) welcomes their fiancée AmberRose (she/her) to this new episode. AmberRose, a new speech pathologist, describes growing up in a patriarchal cult and later conservative evangelical spaces shaped by purity culture, status, and rigid gender roles. The conversation also explores propaganda, shame, queerness, neurodivergence, and how their non-hierarchical relationship and communication help them tolerate uncertainty and plan a wedding on their own terms. 

Host Matti (they/them) welcomes Addie (they/them) to Grief Liberation Conversations in Community. Addie, a nearly 50-year-old parent in West Philadelphia, shares a definition of liberation as an ongoing practice of giving oneself permission to live authentically against social mores, including modeling liberation for young people through child-led homeschooling. They discuss neurodivergence, the grief of being pathologized rather than resourced, and how hyper-individualism and conformity are reinforced by systems that profit from compliance. Addie connects liberation and grief through the difficulty of helping others see what’s possible, explores adult friendship loss and boundaries, and describes chosen family rooted in queer/trans community. 

Dive into a powerful conversation with Sam exploring the intersections of grief, masculinity, and liberation. How do these concepts shape our understanding of self and community? Tune in!

Join us in an enlightening conversation on body grief and self-acceptance with Lara in our latest episode of Grief Liberation Conversations. How does grief show up in your body? 

Art as a movement and grief as a companion—discover how these themes intertwine in this meaningful conversation with artist and NP Christine. “To sit with grief is to find its depths and emerge stronger.”

In the debut episode, we explore the intricacies of grief, identity, and the path to joy. This episode lays the groundwork for other episodes and dives into Matti's experience with grief. Join us as we explore how understanding our grief can lead to profound joy and community resilience.