What would it be like to get into an accident and walk away not knowing who you are?

Shandra shares her experience of what it is like to see her daughter and loved ones and not know them. She found herself living a "half-life" as she called it. 

However, this accident and memory loss occurred following many other loss experiences. She shares that, while in high school, she found herself down the path of experimenting with drugs and alcohol. When she was 21, her father passed away from cancer. Fortunately, she found a way to eliminate the crutches and addiction to drugs and alcohol in her life.

With every loss she experienced after that time of friends and pets, she ultimately realized she had lost a part of herself, too. This set her on the path of self-discovery and introspection. During this time, she sought out many modalities to help heal her memory loss, grief, and trauma. She shares what those modalities were.

It is through her life experience, she has found herself working as a healer today.

Shandra shares that grief taught her to live and that the meaning of life is to live it. Listen to Shandra's story of hope and how she found her way back home to herself.

Connect with Shandra:

• Website
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Shandra is offering a special promo for my listeners: Use the promo code "LIGHTANDLOVE" to receive 50% off your first Soul Birth Session

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Need help?

• Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7 support via text message. Text HOME to 741741 to connect with a trained Crisis Counselor

If you or anyone you know is struggling with grief due to any of the 40+ losses, there are free resources available HERE.

Are you enjoying the podcast? Check out my bi-weekly newsletter,

Send Victoria a text message!

Support the show

_______

NEED HELP?

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
• Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7 support via text message. Text HOME to 741741 to connect with a trained Crisis Counselor

If you are struggling with grief due to any of the 40+ losses, free resources are available HERE.

CONNECT WITH VICTORIA:

• Instagram
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook

This episode is sponsored by Do Grief Differently™️, my twelve-week, one-on-one, in-person/online program for grievers who have suffered any type of loss to feel better. Click here to learn new tools, grief education, and the only evidence-based method for moving beyond the pain of grief.

Would you like to join the mission of Grieving Voices in normalizing grief and supporting hurting hearts everywhere? Become a sup...

Based on the experiences she had in the first decade of her life, Angela was destined for a life of struggle, and, as her mom declared - die with a needle in her arm by the time she was 16. This prophecy nearly came true more than once. Instead, she got her Ph.D..

A life of trauma, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse by her mother led to early motherhood, heroin addiction, looking for love in all the wrong places, and losing her son to her own mother who put him in foster care. It would take over a decade for her to get her son back.

As her book describes, she was a child that fell through the cracks of the system. And, nearly paid with her life for it. Her story is a hero's journey where she paved her own path out of living hell.

Connect with Angela:

• Website 
• Facebook 
• Instagram
• Deboning Power Podcast  
• Book: Snakes and Ladders

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Mental Health Support NOW:

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
• Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7 support via text message. Text HOME to 741741 to connect with a trained Crisis Counselor
• Voxer Me @vvolk3102

If you or anyone you know is struggling with grief due to any of the 40+ losses, there are free resources available HERE.

If you'd like to share your grieving voice on the show or want to share your thoughts about an episode, please send an email to [email protected].

Are you enjoying the podcast? Check out my bi-weekly newsletter, The Unleashed Letters.
______

WAYS TO SUPPORT THE SHOW:

• T

Send Victoria a text message!

Support the show

_______

NEED HELP?

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
• Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7 support via text message. Text HOME to 741741 to connect with a trained Crisis Counselor

If you are struggling with grief due to any of the 40+ losses, free resources are available HERE.

CONNECT WITH VICTORIA:

• Instagram
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook

This episode is sponsored by Do Grief Differently™️, my twelve-week, one-on-one, in-person/online program for grievers who have suffered any type of loss to feel better. Click here to learn new tools, grief education, and the only evidence-based method for moving beyond the pain of grief.

Would you like to join the mission of Grieving Voices in normalizing grief and supporting hurting hearts everywhere? Become a sup...

In this episode, I dig more into the topic of faith and spirituality that Lizzy and I touched on in her episode.  Communication and support were a huge influence on her grief, whereas, I share how my experienced differed, despite both of us having the exact same losses which occurred in the same order, too.

From Margo's episode, I talk about how hope greatly influences our outlook. Also, because it hasn't been talked about a whole lot yet on the podcast, I wanted to talk more about grief in the workplace that Margo and I discussed in her episode. With Covid-19, there is plenty of grief in the workplace. I describe various reasons why our personal grief impacts the workplace as well - plus more!

Resources:

• Ep 34 Lizzy Flavin | Never Fatherless
• Ep 35 Margo Fowkes | Lessons From My Beloved Son, Jimmy
• Grief Recovery Method 

______

Need help?

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
• Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7 support via text message. Text HOME to 741741 to connect with a trained Crisis Counselor

If you or anyone you know is struggling with grief due to any of the 40+ losses, there are free resources available HERE.

If you'd like to share your grieving voice on the show or want to share your thoughts about an episode, please send an email to [email protected].

Are you enjoying the podcast? Check out my bi-weekly newsletter, The Unleashed Letters.
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WAYS TO SUPPORT THE SHOW:

• Tell Your Friends & Share Online!
  • Subscribe, Rate & Review:

Send Victoria a text message!

Support the show

_______

NEED HELP?

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
• Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7 support via text message. Text HOME to 741741 to connect with a trained Crisis Counselor

If you are struggling with grief due to any of the 40+ losses, free resources are available HERE.

CONNECT WITH VICTORIA:

• Instagram
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook

This episode is sponsored by Do Grief Differently™️, my twelve-week, one-on-one, in-person/online program for grievers who have suffered any type of loss to feel better. Click here to learn new tools, grief education, and the only evidence-based method for moving beyond the pain of grief.

Would you like to join the mission of Grieving Voices in normalizing grief and supporting hurting hearts everywhere? Become a sup...

In this conversation, Margo shares the lessons she learned from her son, Jimmy, as he battled brain cancer for eight long years. 

His cancer took his life at the young age of 21. What is a little different about Margo's share is that, prior to her son's death, loved ones close to her who had passed had all lived long lives; close to or in their 100s. 

Her own father had passed away, also peacefully, in his home. The loss of her son jolted her beliefs around death and also taught her the importance of having hope to the very end. 

Margo also shares some practical things that others did that helped her family get through the years of treatments Jimmy went through and after he died. 

We also chat about the importance of grief communication in the workplace, and how, through Covid, it's even more important to acknowledge the struggles of those with whom we work. Also, to recognize that even happy workplace situations can cause grief, such as promotions. 

• This episode is for you if you're not sure how to support someone you know who is going through a challenging time. 
• 
  
• This episode is for you if you want to hear wonderful insight into how, as parents, they communicated and updated Jimmy's progress with friends/family. 
• 
  
• This episode is for you if you or your company could use some insight into the topic of grief in your company. 

Mentions:

• David Woods Bartley Grieving Voices Episode
• Grief Recovery

Connect with Margo:

• On Target Consulting
• Find Your Harbor (i.e. Salt Water)
• Instagram

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If you or anyone you know is struggling with grief due to any of the 40+ losses, t

Send Victoria a text message!

Support the show

_______

NEED HELP?

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
• Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7 support via text message. Text HOME to 741741 to connect with a trained Crisis Counselor

If you are struggling with grief due to any of the 40+ losses, free resources are available HERE.

CONNECT WITH VICTORIA:

• Instagram
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook

This episode is sponsored by Do Grief Differently™️, my twelve-week, one-on-one, in-person/online program for grievers who have suffered any type of loss to feel better. Click here to learn new tools, grief education, and the only evidence-based method for moving beyond the pain of grief.

Would you like to join the mission of Grieving Voices in normalizing grief and supporting hurting hearts everywhere? Become a sup...

Lizzy and I share a similar loss experience. So much so, we both experienced the death of a grandmother, father, then uncle - in the same order.

We have a conversation about how those losses have shaped and shown up in her life, from her perspective of being in her early 20's. Also, being only ten years past the death of her father, she shares what's helped her throughout her youth.

The conversation also turns to spirituality and faith. Lizzy shares grief that she feels around the separateness that exists within faith communities. And, she shares how she's working to study and contribute to a greater conversation around the topic.

If you're a teen, into your 20s, or a parent of a teen/youth, I encourage you to listen to Lizzy's perspective of the loss of her father when she was 12, as well as the other losses she experienced before that and since that loss as well.

Mentions:

• Ep 26 with Victoria Shaw
• Grief Recovery 

Connect with Lizzy:

• LovingDiversityPodcast on IG
• NeverFatherless on IG

Need help?
Suicide Prevention Lifeline to chat or call the Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or reach out to Victoria
______

If you or anyone you know is struggling with grief due to any of the 40+ losses, there are free resources available HERE.

If you'd like to share your grieving voice on the show or want to share your thoughts about an episode, please send an email to [email protected].

Are you enjoying the podcast? Check out my bi-weekly newsletter,

Send Victoria a text message!

Support the show

_______

NEED HELP?

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
• Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7 support via text message. Text HOME to 741741 to connect with a trained Crisis Counselor

If you are struggling with grief due to any of the 40+ losses, free resources are available HERE.

CONNECT WITH VICTORIA:

• Instagram
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook

This episode is sponsored by Do Grief Differently™️, my twelve-week, one-on-one, in-person/online program for grievers who have suffered any type of loss to feel better. Click here to learn new tools, grief education, and the only evidence-based method for moving beyond the pain of grief.

Would you like to join the mission of Grieving Voices in normalizing grief and supporting hurting hearts everywhere? Become a sup...

Through childhood grief and trauma, we are greatly shaped and influenced by the experiences we go through well into adulthood.

I reflect on Nicky's episode, where he shares what life was like growing up as a child of artificial insemination and growing up in an LGBTQ home. We talked a lot about personal growth and how growing up surrounded by diversity helped him be accepting of all people.

Sandi's episode brought up how child sexual trauma can bring about intangible losses such as loss of trust, safety, and trust. Not to mention, a loss of faith.  Together, we also share how Grief Recovery helped both of us address what was emotionally incomplete, as well as explain why our childhood experiences impact our future.

Resources:

• Helping Children with Loss
• Grief Recovery 
• Ep. 31 Nicky Scorpio
• Ep. 32 Sandi Derby

______

Need help?

• Call 800.656.HOPE (4673) to be connected with a trained staff member from a sexual assault service provider in your area.

If you or anyone you know is struggling with grief due to any of the 40+ losses, there are free resources available HERE.

If you'd like to share your grieving voice on the show or want to share your thoughts about an episode, please send an email to [email protected].

Are you enjoying the podcast? Check out my bi-weekly newsletter, The Unleashed Letters.
______

WAYS TO SUPPORT THE SHOW:

Send Victoria a text message!

Support the show

_______

NEED HELP?

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
• Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7 support via text message. Text HOME to 741741 to connect with a trained Crisis Counselor

If you are struggling with grief due to any of the 40+ losses, free resources are available HERE.

CONNECT WITH VICTORIA:

• Instagram
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook

This episode is sponsored by Do Grief Differently™️, my twelve-week, one-on-one, in-person/online program for grievers who have suffered any type of loss to feel better. Click here to learn new tools, grief education, and the only evidence-based method for moving beyond the pain of grief.

Would you like to join the mission of Grieving Voices in normalizing grief and supporting hurting hearts everywhere? Become a sup...

Sandi Derby, a fellow Advanced Grief Recovery Specialist, and Life Coach, shares her life's traumatic story that led her to do the work she does today.

As a child, Sandi was sexually abused by her father, followed by sexual, satanic/ritualistic abuse at her uncle's hands (a pastor) and his friend (also a pastor).

In adulthood, she became a functioning meth addict (by outside appearances)  for 3 1/2 years until a pivotal, life-changing moment woke her up, and her transformational journey began.

Sandi didn't say this, but I think if you listen to her story, you may agree that how she's been able to turn her life around is a miracle. And, what she did say, was that she heard God speaking to her.

Growing up in an anti-God home to finding faith, God, and a spiritual connection has been the miracle in Sandi's life.

Life is mysterious, and so is this greater force, whatever you choose to call it: God, Universe, Spirit, etc., that work through us and with us. We are the co-creators of our lives, and Sandi shares what that journey has been like for her.

"Your past is your present until it's healed."

Resources:

• Grief Recovery Institute
• The Grief Recovery Handbook
•  Free Ebooks for Grief Support

Connect with Sandi:

• Website
• Instagram
• Facebook

______

If you or anyone you know is struggling with grief due to any of the 40+ losses, there are free resources available

Send Victoria a text message!

Support the show

_______

NEED HELP?

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
• Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7 support via text message. Text HOME to 741741 to connect with a trained Crisis Counselor

If you are struggling with grief due to any of the 40+ losses, free resources are available HERE.

CONNECT WITH VICTORIA:

• Instagram
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook

This episode is sponsored by Do Grief Differently™️, my twelve-week, one-on-one, in-person/online program for grievers who have suffered any type of loss to feel better. Click here to learn new tools, grief education, and the only evidence-based method for moving beyond the pain of grief.

Would you like to join the mission of Grieving Voices in normalizing grief and supporting hurting hearts everywhere? Become a sup...

Nicky Scorpio, singer, songwriter, producer, and host of Scorpio Rising Podcast shares his experience being a child of artificial insemination, whose biological father later died of AIDS, and who was raised in an LGBTQ home.

Through growing up in and around diversity all of his life, he gleaned many lessons. At age 12, he started to understand where he didn't fit and became an angry child as a result.

Nicky recognized later in life, the important role curiosity played in his healing of childhood wounds. Through studying philosophy, meditation, seeking healers, shamans, and mentors, he slowly began to find his way back to himself.

Interestingly, he brings up something not often talked about in personal development. When a person begins to work on themselves and their healing, there are often consequences within relationships. People may say some hurtful things and resist the more evolved version of you.

As Nicky says in this episode, "Vulnerability is the key to set ourselves free."

Resources:

• Happy Documentary
• Donna Eden
• Gary Vaynerchuk
• Tony Robbins

Connect with Nicky:

• @Yonickyscorpio
• Apple Podcast - Scorpio Rising
• YouTube: Sophisticated Psychos

______

If you or anyone you know is struggling with grief due to any of the 40+ losses, there are free resources available HERE.

If you'd like to share your grieving voice on the show or want to share your thoughts about an episode, please send an email to [email protected].

Are you enjoying the podcast? Check out my bi-weekly newsletter,

Send Victoria a text message!

Support the show

_______

NEED HELP?

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
• Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7 support via text message. Text HOME to 741741 to connect with a trained Crisis Counselor

If you are struggling with grief due to any of the 40+ losses, free resources are available HERE.

CONNECT WITH VICTORIA:

• Instagram
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook

This episode is sponsored by Do Grief Differently™️, my twelve-week, one-on-one, in-person/online program for grievers who have suffered any type of loss to feel better. Click here to learn new tools, grief education, and the only evidence-based method for moving beyond the pain of grief.

Would you like to join the mission of Grieving Voices in normalizing grief and supporting hurting hearts everywhere? Become a sup...

Episode 28 with  Quandell Wright offered me a perspective of what life was like for him growing up on the streets of Detroit, MI. He had to grow up fast, growing up with a single-parenting mom during his younger years, and how he found himself in a gang. I share thoughts about how easily a parent can make parenting choices based on fear.

I share, from Ruthie Bowles episode (Episode 29) more about my thoughts on how the traumas that happen to us, like sexual assault, impact our parenting. I also include the tips Ruthie shared from her episode on what to look for in a friend whose behavior has changed and seems to be keeping something from you.

These two stories are an excellent representation of how our experiences, both growing up, and as adults, change us, thereby, also change in how we move about in the world, and yes, parent.

These illustrate how important it is to take ownership of our lives and empower ourselves with new knowledge; challenging what we were brought up to believe to be true about grief and break the cycle so many of us find ourselves in.

Resources Mentioned:

• Grief Recovery 

Quick Link to Previous Episodes:

• Previous Episodes

Need help?
Call 800.656.HOPE (4673) to be connected with a trained staff member from a sexual assault service provider in your area.

______

If you or anyone you know is struggling with grief due to any of the 40+ losses, there are free resources available HERE.

If you'd like to share your grieving voice on the show or want to share your thoughts about an episode, please send an email to [email protected]

Send Victoria a text message!

Support the show

_______

NEED HELP?

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
• Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7 support via text message. Text HOME to 741741 to connect with a trained Crisis Counselor

If you are struggling with grief due to any of the 40+ losses, free resources are available HERE.

CONNECT WITH VICTORIA:

• Instagram
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook

This episode is sponsored by Do Grief Differently™️, my twelve-week, one-on-one, in-person/online program for grievers who have suffered any type of loss to feel better. Click here to learn new tools, grief education, and the only evidence-based method for moving beyond the pain of grief.

Would you like to join the mission of Grieving Voices in normalizing grief and supporting hurting hearts everywhere? Become a sup...

Ruthie Bowles shares her story of being raped not once but twice during her time serving in the U.S. Army full-time. The first assault occurred at the hands of her then-boyfriend. The second time she was assaulted was the very day she came back from deployment. 

Surviving a deployment, only to come home and be assaulted in her own private space, along with the previous assault, set Ruthie up for a long road of healing.

Between her first case never being resolved, leaving her to feel defeated and made to feel like a victim all over again, she never gave it a second thought to not report the second assault. Besides, she was higher ranking and, she had already learned, from her first experience, that the process of reporting was painful and yielded zero justice.

Ruthie shares how these experiences impacted her decisions moving forward, how she nearly lost the love of her life, and how her experiences influence how she parents her children.

There is something to learn for everyone in this episode. We discuss:

• Fight, Flight, & Freeze; you never know what you'll do in a situation until you find yourself in it.
• Shame and sexual assault.
• The revictimization sexual assault victims are often subjected to after reporting - and even by well-meaning friends. 
• Red flags in relationships.
• The mind-mess that happens when consent isn't given. 
• Her transition from military to civilian life after these experiences. 
• Tips for how she began to heal. 
• Things to look out for in friends who may have something they're afraid to share, specifically a sexual assault.
• Military sexual assault stats.
• Why the phrase "boys are easier to raise than girls" drives her nuts and the one thing many parents of boys are probably missing when it comes to the "sex talk."

Resources Mentioned/Worth Mentioning:

• S.H.A.R.P. (Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention)
• Army Soldier & Fam

Send Victoria a text message!

Support the show

_______

NEED HELP?

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
• Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7 support via text message. Text HOME to 741741 to connect with a trained Crisis Counselor

If you are struggling with grief due to any of the 40+ losses, free resources are available HERE.

CONNECT WITH VICTORIA:

• Instagram
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook

This episode is sponsored by Do Grief Differently™️, my twelve-week, one-on-one, in-person/online program for grievers who have suffered any type of loss to feel better. Click here to learn new tools, grief education, and the only evidence-based method for moving beyond the pain of grief.

Would you like to join the mission of Grieving Voices in normalizing grief and supporting hurting hearts everywhere? Become a sup...