Dr. Melissa Mork is a Professor and Chair of The Department of Psychology Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement at the University of Northwestern St. Paul. Dr. Melissa lost both of her parents within a short span of each other when she was still in college, and this led her to dedicate her career to learning about and understanding grief. Her career has since evolved and she shares why it's critical for you to also embrace humor and the 'gritty' sides of grief in this week's episode.

Key Takeaways:

• Dr. Melissa shares her grief story.
• Dr. Melissa has always used humor to help her cope with her grief. She shared hilarious stories about her mother at her funeral, and she realized that there was so much power to humor and healing.
• Dr. Melissa shares the story of how she lost her husband.
• Laughter is the cornerstone to helping everyone move forward and heal.
• Dr. Melissa's marriage wasn't perfect, but she tries to not focus on those things too much because it makes her feel farther away from him. However, remembering all the bad things is a necessary part of grief.
• Dr. Melissa went to marriage counseling after her husband had passed away because she needed to work through some of the unresolved conflicts she had with her husband.
• Susan laughs at it now on the silly little fights that she and Paul had.
• If your soul is hurting, seek help. If you want to show up differently in your relationships, friends, family, romantic, and otherwise, you need to first work on yourself.
• There are four tasks of grief. Dr. Melissa breaks this down.
• How do you create a new relationship when it's been lost?
• No matter where you are, you can always find your purpose.
• We seek purpose in our suffering.
• Grief is a transformative experience.
• Dr. Melissa shares a couple of stories on how humor can really be a fantastic place to start.
• Closure is not the goal. The goal is to find a way to honor them and remember your loved ones.

Resources:

Unwsp.edu/bio/melissa-baartman-mork

Ourhouse-grief.org

Man's Search for Meaning Book by Viktor Frankl