Maureen Pollard interviews Tom, author of the blog For The Heart Cries, about his experience of losing both his grandfather and his girlfriend to suicide, and his own attempt. They discuss how, because suicide was not talked about and was considered sinful, getting help for those affected by it was not an option and Tom was left without therapy or a space to process or understand it. This led to feelings of deep, terrible pain and his own suicide attempt as a way to escape, which ultimately helped Tom understand what his grandfather and his girlfriend were going through themselves: "that was probably the biggest lesson, if maybe the only lesson, that I learned about my suicide attempt, was that it put their deaths in the proper perspective - that it wasn't personal, that they were in the same pain that I was in and they sought the only option that they believed was availble to them, just as I sought the only option that I thought was available to me". They also discuss how he feels fortunate to have survived and has since been able to receive the support he needed, which helped him learn how to carry his grief in a much healthier way than he used to carry it.

You can visit Tom's blog here: http://fortheheartcries.blogspot.com/

Maureen Pollard interviews Andreas about his experience of losing his wife of 35 years. They discuss the anticipatory grief he felt in being ~20 years younger than his partner and having to act as her caregiver through the end of her life: "As I think about it, the aspect of caregiving, the sense of anticipatory grief, to me this is making more and more sense - that in my desire to keep [my wife] well and alive for as long as possible, I was in a way placing more pressure on myself to be the perfect caregiver, to just make sure that nothing happened to further impact her health". They also discuss how Andreas found solace in walking his dog, and in sharing short essays he wrote about his wife on Facebook as he processed his grief during one of the pandemic lockdowns. He talks about the comfort, the 'virtual hugs', he received from sharing his thoughts and emotions with his friends online during a time when he was mourning alone.

Maureen Pollard interviews musician and music therapist Adrienne Pringle about music, grief, and the ways people can use music to explore and express emotion, particularly during their grieving process. "There's always that 'aha' moment, that realization, and for some people it's thinking 'well I need to be a musician, I need to be able to play something and if I don't have those skills then this isn't for me' and that just isn't true. Music can actually be a really helpful resource to anyone: using it for mindfulness, for finding inner calm ... using your voice even."

Maureen Pollard interviews Adrianna about her experience of losing her brother to suicide. They discuss how, after her father delivered the news about her brother's death, she ended up losing everything she owned - everything but the cat. "All of a sudden I found myself at my father's home that night, at my family home, and didn't really know how I got there. And that night, I've nicknamed that night 'the day that I lost everything, everything but my cat' because there was this blow up where I lost my brother, the family dynamic, and the timeline that I thought I was in, and catapulted into grief and bereavement. But then I also had complicated grief, and compounded grief, where my partner left that night, and in doing so I lost my apartment, I lost my way of life, so I lost a lot, and for me it was really important that I keep my cat."

Adrianna is a storyteller: telling her story of grief and bereavement to educate and support those around her in grief literacy and suicide prevention for over 10 years. Her one-woman bereavement piece “Everything but the Cat…” tours schools and theatres throughout the Ontario and Quebec region to bring mental health awareness to communities about suicide loss and mental health.

Adrianna is a safeTALK Trainer as well, and has her Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST). She offers a suicide alert 3.5 hour workshop as a way to empower audiences to be a member of a suicide safer community.

A recent graduate of the End of Life Doula program at Douglas College, Adrianna is also is a volunteer Hospice Care Companion and Bereavement Facilitator at Hospice Toronto.

To know more about her grief journey please visit: www.adrianna-prosser.com/

Maureen Pollard interviews Marija Padjen, director for the centre of innovation and campus mental health. They discuss the ways that loss and grief impact us beyond the death of a person, including loss of roles, identity, relationships and material resources.

Maureen Pollard interviews Eric Lichtenfeld, a psychotherapist who specializes in grief, trauma and anxiety. They talk about the idea of continuing bonds and how we hold our loved ones close to us after death.

Maureen Pollard interviews Lyss about her experience of losing her mother to cancer as a teenager, and of losing three pregnancies on her journey to becoming a mother herself. Lyss describes how it felt like these were 'bookend losses' in a way, having lost her mom when she was young only to go through early miscarriages as an adult. They discuss how important therapy has been in her healing process, and how finding her current Psychotherapist - one that offers Inner Child Work which Lyss highly recommends to anyone who experienced childhood trauma - was a pivotal point in her life. They also discuss how crucial it was for her to hold onto the things she loved, the interests that kept her busy while grieving - "I think when you're used to grief or feelings like it, you're always waiting for the other shoe to drop. It's hard to believe that good things can be good, so I see a lot of people cutting themselves off from things they enjoy because they're scared to let themselves enjoy those things" - and how her miscarriages taught her to be okay with celebrating when she finally gave birth to her first healthy child.

Maureen Pollard interviews Adele Racine, Heart Medicine Woman about the strengths that we find in circle with life as we face and move through the experience and pain of grief and loss.

Maureen Pollard interviews Cheryl about her experience of loss after being on a long and challenging road with her husband who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and battled addiction, both of which affected his behaviour and their relationship. They discuss how, for the last year of his life, Cheryl was filled with shame, isolation and embarrassment, and how after he died she suffered from survivors guilt and her own life ended up in a downward spiral. Cheryl talks about how much she benefited from grief counseling and from joining support groups for spouses of addicts. They also discuss how joining a choir during the tumultuous times helped Cheryl - "for that 1 1/2 to 2 hours a week it literally saved me because, you know, you're out of self, you are out of that self-absorption, whether it's self-pity, whether it's grief, whether it's whatever, there's a focus on something else".

Maureen Pollard interviews Lysa Toye, social worker and expressive arts therapist with a private practice focused on trauma, dissociative disorders and grief. They discuss fact that trauma is different than grief, that both trauma and grief can influence how we are doing and how we act, which is an important perspective in healing.