Let's Talk Death! ... a HealGrief® program

In this episode, Allison shares her personal journey with grief and speaks passionately about the importance of keeping memories of loved ones alive and her Memory Bash® events to celebrate them.

Allison Gilbert is an Emmy award-winning journalist and considered one of the most thought-provoking and influential writers on grief and resilience. The author of numerous books including the groundbreaking, Passed and Present: Keeping Memories of Loved Ones Alive, her stirring work exposes the secret and essential factor for harnessing loss to drive happiness and rebound from adversity. She serves on the Board of Directors for the National Alliance for Grieving Children and the Advisory Board for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, the preeminent national organization providing grief support to families of America’s fallen heroes.

Allison’s other books include, Parentless Parents: How the Loss of Our Mothers and Fathers Impacts the Way We Raise Our Children and Always Too Soon: Voices of Support for Those Who Have Lost Both Parents. She is also co-editor of Covering Catastrophe: Broadcast Journalists Report September 11, the definitive historical record of how broadcast journalists covered that tragic day. The landmark book was turned into a documentary by the U.S. State Department and distributed to embassies and consulates around the world. Allison is the official narrator of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum’s core historical exhibition audio tour and her voice is introduced by Robert De Niro on the museum’s “Witnessing History” tour, the only female journalist to be so honored.

Allison is a popular workshop leader and keynote speaker, helping individuals transform personal and professional setbacks into opportunity. She has spoken to such diverse groups as Google, Time Warner, National Association for Female Executives, Women’s Enterprise Development Center Inc., JCC in Manhattan, 92Y, Gilda’s Club, and New York Public Library. She also partners with hospitals, hospices, funeral homes, and religious institutions, to bring her one-of-a-kind Memory Bash® events to communities across the country. She has run these fun and meaningful events for many groups, including New Song Center for Grieving Children in Phoenix, Hospice of the South Shore in Boston, and NorthShore University Hospital and Hospice in Chicago, to name just a few.

You can learn more about Allison here: www.allisongilbert.com.

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Dr. Neimeyer is Professor of Psychology, University of Memphis, where he maintains an active clinical practice. He also directs the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition, which provides training internationally in grief therapy.

Since completing his doctoral training at the University of Nebraska in 1982, he has published 30 books, including Techniques of Grief Therapy: Creative Practices for Counseling the Bereaved and Grief and the Expressive Arts: Practices for Creating Meaning, the latter with Barbara Thompson, and serves as Editor of the journal Death Studies. The author of nearly 500 articles and book chapters, he is currently working to advance a more adequate theory of grieving as a meaning-making process, both in his published work and through his frequent professional workshops for national and international audiences.

Dr. Neimeyer served as President of the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC), and Chair of the International Work Group for Death, Dying, & Bereavement. In recognition of his scholarly contributions, he has been granted the Eminent Faculty Award by the University of Memphis, made a Fellow of the Clinical Psychology Division of the American Psychological Association, and given Lifetime Achievement Awards by
both the Association for Death Education and Counseling and the International Network on Personal Meaning.

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In this episode, Brook talks about a touching moment that brought clarity to her professional path and the much needed work of Judi's House and the JAG Institute, where practice informed evidence and research come together.

Brook Griese, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist who has devoted her career to promoting resilience and growth in children and families who have experienced loss, trauma, and adversity. In 2002, Dr. Griese and her husband, Brian, co-founded Judi’s House in memory of his mother who died when he was 12. Since that time, this family bereavement center has provided free care to more than 11,000 youth and caregivers, reaching many thousands more through the research and education initiatives of JAG Institute. By disseminating resources like the Childhood Bereavement Estimation Model (CBEM) and offering training in a continuum of Comprehensive Grief Care, the nonprofit is dedicated to elevating childhood bereavement as a public health priority and ensuring equitable access to support that prevents complications of unaddressed grief.

Dr. Griese spearheaded the organization’s research and trauma-informed programs and served as CEO before transitioning to her current role on the Board of Directors. She is co-author of Pathfinders, a 10-week group curriculum, and regularly publishes and presents nationally. She has served on several boards and advisory bodies, including the University of Colorado Johnson Depression Center Board of Directors, the Mayor’s Denver Education Compact, and the Governor’s Colorado Behavioral Health Task Force Children’s Subcommittee. Recent honors include receiving the 2019 National Alliance for Grieving Children’s Excellence in Service Award. She is a Distinguished Alumni of Albion College, earned her PhD from the University of Colorado Boulder, and is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Learn about the Comprehensive Grief Care

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In this episode, Lynn speaks about her calling and how she turned it into a bereavement care center for children and the inspiration behind her new book, Little Ruby’s Big Change- Talking with Children About Loss, Change and Hope.

Lynn Snyder is the founder and director of Common Ground Grief Center located in Manasquan, NJ. Common Ground is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting children, teens and young adults who have experienced the death of a parent or sibling.

Lynn is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Registered, Board Certified Art Therapist and Fellow in Thanatology; the study of death, dying and bereavement. She also serves as adjunct faculty at Monmouth University.

Lynn recently authored her first children’s book titled, Little Ruby’s Big Change- Talking with Children About Loss, Change and Hope.

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In this episode, Kimberly shares insights into her raw experience of grief. She journeyed around the world in search of alternative healing methods and how she integrated them into her healing.

Kimberly Carter Gamble is the Producer, Director, and Writer of the globally-acclaimed documentary THRIVE: What on Earth will it Take? and the sequel: THRIVE II: This is What it Takes, which will be released in 2020.

In the course of her research for the films, Kimberly travelled the world to investigate and empower breakthrough innovations in health, energy and consciousness. It led her to explore insights and technologies that shed new light on the energetic nature of reality and what it all means in terms of death. She witnessed profound healing practices, many of which have helped to infuse her personal life with tools and insights to navigate grief and other strong emotions.

Kimberly shares some of the intimate experiences of her own process integrating these new insights into her raw human experience of grief.

Learn more about the documentary Thrive
Learn more about the Thrive Movement

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In this episode, AnnaLynne reveals her personal experience of death loss and how that affected her as a child. She exposes her moment contemplating suicide and how recalling the grief she and her mother experienced after her grandfather's suicide interfered with her ability to take her own life.

AnnaLynne McCord is an American actress, writer, director and producer. Known for playing the vixen, vamp and roles of a darker nature, McCord first gained prominence in 2007 as the scheming Eden Lord on the FX television series Nip/Tuck. Followed by credits on CW's 90210, TNT's Dallas, Stalker on CBS, FOX's Jerry Bruckheimer produced pilot, Lucifer, POPTV’s Comedy, Let’s Get Physical and ABC's Secret's and Lies. Her turn as a disturbed and delusional teenager in the 2012 film, Excision, was widely acclaimed. For her role in Excision, McCord won "Best Actress" at the Malaga International Week of Fantastic Cinema in 2012. McCord's recent film, 68 Kill won the Audience Award at SXSW and her performance has been hailed strong, fierce and powerful. McCord is currently filming in New York on STARZ’s 50-Cent produced Power spinoff, Raising Kanan.

During her free time, McCord has contributed to various charities, stating that "working with charitable organizations and giving back has been (her) saving grace as it has taught (her) how to rescue (herself)." She is the President of "Together1Heart" which empowers women and children victimized by human-trafficking and sexualized violence. In 2009, McCord was awarded a U.S. Congressional Honor by Connecticut Congresswoman Rosa De Lauro for her anti-trafficking work. In 2019, AnnaLynne was nominated for Best Actress at the Madrid International film festival for her role in Milkshake Girls, a short film about sex-trafficking fiscally sponsored by Together1heart.

In 2014, McCord revealed that she was sexually assaulted when she was nineteen by a male friend. In March of 2015, while speaking at the United Nations in support of UNWFPA, McCord announced her alignment with the NFL-supported anti-sexual assault and anti- domestic abuse project, the NO MORE Campaign. After speaking at the Oxford Union in England, McCord connected with NO MORE UK and has extended her ambassadorship overseas. In 2018 while undergoing EMDR (a neurological treatment for PTSD), McCord had latent memories of years of child sexual abuse resurface. She has since become an advocate for the profound treatment and the remarkable transformation to which it has led her. As a TEDx speaker, advocate and activist and meditation leader, McCord continues to engage audiences at colleges, events and private engagements with her transformative tools and candid outlook on sexualized violence, domestic abuse, human-trafficking and the slavery which "touches 7 billion people": mental slavery.

On National Human Trafficking Awareness Day in 2020, McCord launched THE LOVE STORM, a global awareness world tour featuring a compassion meditation in 22 cities across 6 continents with the aim to “end slavery from the inside out.”

Follow AnnaLynne on Instagram @TheAnnaLynneMcCord

Go to www.Together1Heart.org for more information on AnaLynne's work to stop human-trafficking

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In this episode, Kate shares her story on what it was like to be a bereaved young adult attending college. She speaks about how she seeks to incorporate grief work into her practice and to ensure her patients feel supported in times of grief.

Kate Etter is a second-year medical student at the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. During her undergraduate studies, Kate, a grieving young adult, founded and formed a thriving and active Actively Moving Forward, AMF chapter at Marshall University. She also swam at Marshall for the Thundering Herd.

She currently sits as the AMF ambassador where she welcomes new app community members to the AMF App for Grieving Young Adults and teaches them how to use the application. Her goals are to write a book about her grief experiences, incorporate grief work into her practice and to ensure her patients feel supported in times of grief.

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In this episode, Kyle recalls his first grief experience at the age of 16, after the death of his best friend was killed in an auto accident. He touches on how his personal experience with death loss helped him in his character role in the soon to be released motion picture film, The Ravine.

Kyle Lowder is an Emmy-nominated and award-winning actor and producer. He was accepted into the School of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University, and began their intensive BFA Drama program.

However, in early 2000 during his sophomore year in college, an invitation to attend a talent showcase in Los Angeles immediately relocated him to the west coast. Kyle signed with representation shortly after his arrival in Los Angeles and signed modeling contracts with ABERCROMBIE & FITCH and SPEEDO.

In July of 2000, five months after his relocation from New York, Kyle landed a three-year contract role with the NBC daytime drama, DAYS OF OUR LIVES, a role that would later bring him an Emmy nomination in 2003.

After a six-year run on DAYS Kyle moved networks to CBS, signing a contract with THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL. He would leave that role in 2011 to pursue a new opportunity in the music industry. After a year of recording and touring in Italy to promote his self-titled debut album, Kyle hit the stage with the original Las Vegas company of Broadway’s ROCK OF AGES playing ‘Stacee Jaxx.’ Following a year in Las Vegas, Kyle returned home to Los Angeles to begin work as the executive producer of the miniseries, LADIES OF THE LAKE, which ran for two seasons on Amazon’s PRIME VIDEO. Currently, Kyle has three feature films being released in 2020.

Follow Kyle on Twitter and Instagram @KyleLowder22

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In this episode, Ilene speaks about Somatic Experiencing and the important role it played on helping her to heal through her own personal grief journey after her husband's death.

Ilene Smith is the author of Moving Beyond Trauma: The Roadmap to Healing from Your Past and Living with Ease and Vitality. She is a certified professional coach and Somatic Experiencing practitioner who is passionate about helping others explore life with curiosity and exuberance.

Her research into Somatic Experiencing and eating disorders has contributed to the importance of Somatic Experiencing and body-based therapies in recovery. Ilene has also worked extensively with patients suffering from addiction.

With master’s degrees in exercise physiology and mental health counseling, Ilene blends talking, touch work, and movement to create synergy between a client’s body and mind. In addition to her private practice, Ilene has developed a series of trauma healing workshops and lectures, which she hosts worldwide. She lives in Arizona.

For more information, please visit http://ilenesmith.com/ 

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