Having coffee with a friend today, we commented on how we all have our stories, we all have our 'stuff'. This isn't always apparent when we look at each other. For those watching Nicola Crean complete her first Iron 'Man' in Cork last year, it would not have been obvious what hurdles she had overcome in the previous few years and how running had become her way of staying sane as the life she knew unravelled around her.

In this honest and down-to-earth conversation, Nicola describes a very relatable account of meeting a partner, starting a home and family, the mental health issues that would stop them all in their tracks and force Nicola to start again, from scratch, raising two bereaved children alone. 

This episode deals with suicide.

If you are affected by any of the issues in this podcast, here are some contact details that may be supportive:

https://www.pieta.ie

https://www.samaritans.org/ireland/samaritans-ireland/

About Shapes of Grief:

Shapes of Grief is an internationally recognized organization dedicated to enhancing competency around loss, grief and bereavement literacy. Curated by Psychotherapist and grief specialist Liz Gleeson, Shapes of Grief equips individuals with the tools and expertise necessary for understanding and supporting the complex needs of the bereaved, or people grieving any type of loss.

With a curriculum that has been meticulously developed to include the most comprehensive evidence-based material available, Shapes Of Grief stands out as the only program to feature contributions from international grief experts. The award-winning online programme offers different levels of training to accurately meet the needs of each learner.

Don’t wait to make a difference in the lives of those who need it most, sign-up HERE for our FREE Masterclass in Loss & Grief.

This was a really interesting talk with Jimmy Edmonds, award-winning filmmaker and bereaved father, on what his grief is like for him and how being creative helped him to find expression for his grief. Along with his wife Jane, Jimmy Produced and Directed the beautiful documentary 'A Love that Never Dies' - which documents life after their son's death as well as the grief journeys of several other bereaved parents. 

Jimmy and Jane set up The Good Grief Project in the UK and have produced several short films on grief, check out their website on https://thegoodgriefproject.co.uk and download A Love that Never Dies on Vimeo.

#grief #goodgrief #thegoodgriefproject #bereavement #alovethatneverdies #parentalbereavement #janeharris #jimmyedmonds #lizgleeson #shapesofgrief #griefpodcast #bestgriefpodcast

About Shapes of Grief:

Shapes of Grief is an internationally recognized organization dedicated to enhancing competency around loss, grief and bereavement literacy. Curated by Psychotherapist and grief specialist Liz Gleeson, Shapes of Grief equips individuals with the tools and expertise necessary for understanding and supporting the complex needs of the bereaved, or people grieving any type of loss.

With a curriculum that has been meticulously developed to include the most comprehensive evidence-based material available, Shapes Of Grief stands out as the only program to feature contributions from international grief experts. The award-winning online programme offers different levels of training to accurately meet the needs of each learner.

Don’t wait to make a difference in the lives of those who need it most, sign-up HERE for our FREE Masterclass in Loss & Grief.

In this episode, Liz talks to Kate Gunn, author of 'Untying the Knot - how to consciously uncouple in the real world', about the grief of separation and divorce. 

Purchase Kate's book 'Untying the Knot' here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Untying-Knot-Consciously-Uncouple-World/dp/1786050684

When you are going through separation or divorce it can often feel like there is no way through the pain and conflict. No small light twinkling at the end of the tunnel. Will it always feel this bad? How will you heal the hurt of your children? Will this damage them for life? How will you cope with increased costs and reduced money? Where will you live? Will you ever find peace and happiness again? Part personal story, part expert guide, Untying the Knot takes you through the process of separation as both parents and friends. From the very first days of unfathomable heartache, through telling the children, what to do with the family home and dealing with conflicts, to finding yourself, coming out the other side and much more. Written by Kate Gunn, with excerpts from ex-husband Kristian, Untying the Knot also provides dedicated expert advice from the likes of Emma Kenny, resident psychologist for ITV s This Morning; Stella O Malley, psychotherapist and author of Cotton Wool Kids and Bully-Proof Kids; Sara Byrne, clinical psychologist; and Deirdre Burke, barrister, solicitor and family law mediator. If you re looking for a helping hand to lead you through the darkness, this is it.

About Shapes of Grief:

Shapes of Grief is an internationally recognized organization dedicated to enhancing competency around loss, grief and bereavement literacy. Curated by Psychotherapist and grief specialist Liz Gleeson, Shapes of Grief equips individuals with the tools and expertise necessary for understanding and supporting the complex needs of the bereaved, or people grieving any type of loss.

With a curriculum that has been meticulously developed to include the most comprehensive evidence-based material available, Shapes Of Grief stands out as the only program to feature contributions from international grief experts. The award-winning online programme offers different levels of training to accurately meet the needs of each learner.

Don’t wait to make a difference in the lives of those who need it most, sign-up HERE for our FREE Masterclass in Loss & Grief.

This episode of Shapes Of Grief features the introduction by Liz of Shapes Of Grief and follows with Directors Q & A with Liz, Jane Harris & Jimmy Edmonds during a live screening of ‘A Love That Never Dies’ held in the Whale Theatre in Greystones, Co. Wicklow on January 29th 2020. The documentary itself can be viewed here for £3.99 https://thegoodgriefproject.co.uk/watch-a-love-that-never-dies-now/

How do we grieve? Why do we grieve? And why are we afraid of those that do grieve?

Jane Harris and Jimmy Edmonds’ son Josh died nine years ago while travelling in SE Asia. As a way of honouring his memory, they set off on their own road trip across the USA to find out why, in a world where death will always make front page news, real life conversations about death, dying and bereavement are so problematic.

Along the way they find other bereaved families with stories of grief that refuse social expectations about moving on or letting go.

In a culture that is still uneasy talking about death, dying and bereavement it gives a voice to grief in ways that will move and inspire.

About Shapes of Grief:

Shapes of Grief is an internationally recognized organization dedicated to enhancing competency around loss, grief and bereavement literacy. Curated by Psychotherapist and grief specialist Liz Gleeson, Shapes of Grief equips individuals with the tools and expertise necessary for understanding and supporting the complex needs of the bereaved, or people grieving any type of loss.

With a curriculum that has been meticulously developed to include the most comprehensive evidence-based material available, Shapes Of Grief stands out as the only program to feature contributions from international grief experts. The award-winning online programme offers different levels of training to accurately meet the needs of each learner.

Don’t wait to make a difference in the lives of those who need it most, sign-up HERE for our FREE Masterclass in Loss & Grief.

A lovely episode with psychologist Chris Germer on how Self-Compassion can be a really useful practice at times of Grief.  Understanding the biology of self-compassion can assist us in understanding the mechanism of how kindness not criticism can support us through grief. 

As promised in the episode, find links to Chris' website for lots of free resources and more information on Mindful Self Compassion https://chrisgermer.com/meditations/

About Shapes of Grief:

Shapes of Grief is an internationally recognized organization dedicated to enhancing competency around loss, grief and bereavement literacy. Curated by Psychotherapist and grief specialist Liz Gleeson, Shapes of Grief equips individuals with the tools and expertise necessary for understanding and supporting the complex needs of the bereaved, or people grieving any type of loss.

With a curriculum that has been meticulously developed to include the most comprehensive evidence-based material available, Shapes Of Grief stands out as the only program to feature contributions from international grief experts. The award-winning online programme offers different levels of training to accurately meet the needs of each learner.

Don’t wait to make a difference in the lives of those who need it most, sign-up HERE for our FREE Masterclass in Loss & Grief.

Julia Samuel’s book Grief Works contains a wealth of information and wisdom on the process of grief, grounded in years of experience as a Grief Therapist and with deep awareness of how grief can be for many people. In this inspiring conversation, Julia and Liz talk about the paradox of grief -  “The essence of grief is that we are forced, through death, to confront a reality we inherently reject’ and how we can best support ourselves and each other during the painful weeks, months and years that can follow the death of someone we love.

Julia has developed an App, based on her book, also called Grief Works and it will be available for trial free during the month of January 2020. To access the app, please sign-up on her website https://www.apps.psyt.co.uk/grief-works

About Shapes of Grief:

Shapes of Grief is an internationally recognized organization dedicated to enhancing competency around loss, grief and bereavement literacy. Curated by Psychotherapist and grief specialist Liz Gleeson, Shapes of Grief equips individuals with the tools and expertise necessary for understanding and supporting the complex needs of the bereaved, or people grieving any type of loss.

With a curriculum that has been meticulously developed to include the most comprehensive evidence-based material available, Shapes Of Grief stands out as the only program to feature contributions from international grief experts. The award-winning online programme offers different levels of training to accurately meet the needs of each learner.

Don’t wait to make a difference in the lives of those who need it most, sign-up HERE for our FREE Masterclass in Loss & Grief.

On September 30th 2014, Sheila and Barry Boland learned that their beloved 3 year-old son Oisín had an incurable brain tumour and had only weeks to live. Treatment could buy them some more time, but Sheila and Barry took a road less travelled and decided instead to focus on making every day special for their beloved boy.

Five years later, Sheila opens up to Liz about the incredible experience that would follow; one filled with equal parts of devastation and beauty and how it would propel Sheila onto a spiritual path in a search of meaning in the madness.

This episode features their first conversation. Following from this conversation, Sheila felt that there was still so much more that she wished she had said, so a further conversation is coming your way!

Sheila’s blog https://butterflyboyoisin.wordpress.com/oisins-story/

#grief #bereavement #childhoodcancer #braintumour #parentalgrief #whenachilddies 

About Shapes of Grief:

Shapes of Grief is an internationally recognized organization dedicated to enhancing competency around loss, grief and bereavement literacy. Curated by Psychotherapist and grief specialist Liz Gleeson, Shapes of Grief equips individuals with the tools and expertise necessary for understanding and supporting the complex needs of the bereaved, or people grieving any type of loss.

With a curriculum that has been meticulously developed to include the most comprehensive evidence-based material available, Shapes Of Grief stands out as the only program to feature contributions from international grief experts. The award-winning online programme offers different levels of training to accurately meet the needs of each learner.

Don’t wait to make a difference in the lives of those who need it most, sign-up HERE for our FREE Masterclass in Loss & Grief.

On January 10th 2007, just 24 hours after five men lost their lives in an Irish vessel called the Pere Charles, just a few miles down the coast, another boat was to run into difficulty resulting in the loss of two more lives. In this conversation, I speak with Helen Bohan who’s brother Ger Bohan was the skipper on that second vessel, the Honeydew II. Helen talks of the impact of this sudden and traumatic loss, how she coped in the weeks, months and years afterwards, the importance of acknowledging sibling grief, how it is not to retrieve your loved ones body and so much more. Helen and Liz refer to an article about ‘resilience’, the link to which can be found here https://medium.com/the-mission/resilience-a-new-grief-myth-that-can-hurt-you-40af29639e62

#gerbohan #grief #bereavement #drowning #sinking #honeydewII #perecharles #darafitzpatrick #niamhfitzpatrick #somaticexperiencing #kinsale

About Shapes of Grief:

Shapes of Grief is an internationally recognized organization dedicated to enhancing competency around loss, grief and bereavement literacy. Curated by Psychotherapist and grief specialist Liz Gleeson, Shapes of Grief equips individuals with the tools and expertise necessary for understanding and supporting the complex needs of the bereaved, or people grieving any type of loss.

With a curriculum that has been meticulously developed to include the most comprehensive evidence-based material available, Shapes Of Grief stands out as the only program to feature contributions from international grief experts. The award-winning online programme offers different levels of training to accurately meet the needs of each learner.

Don’t wait to make a difference in the lives of those who need it most, sign-up HERE for our FREE Masterclass in Loss & Grief.

Back in the Winter of 2018, when I was planning the launch of the Shapes Of Grief podcast, two other women in Ireland were doing the same.  Venetia Quick and Sasha Hamrogue launched the Grief Encounters podcast at the same time.  It was lovely to finally meet with Venetia (unfortunately Sasha wasn’t there that day) and share experiences of our past few months hosting the podcasts and what we’ve learnt from people about grief.

Both Shapes Of Grief and Grief Encounters have been met with such support in Ireland and Abroad, with a common goal of opening up the conversations around grief so that those grieving can feel less isolated and those supporting them will have a better understanding of the enormity that a bereavement or other traumatic event can have on someone’s life.

Grief Encounters is available on most podcasting platforms and, like Shapes Of Grief, they have a private facebook group for those experiencing grief at this time.

If you have been supported by either Shapes Of Grief or Grief Encounters, please do consider giving us a rating and a review wherever you get your podcast, it's much appreciated!

About Shapes of Grief:

Shapes of Grief is an internationally recognized organization dedicated to enhancing competency around loss, grief and bereavement literacy. Curated by Psychotherapist and grief specialist Liz Gleeson, Shapes of Grief equips individuals with the tools and expertise necessary for understanding and supporting the complex needs of the bereaved, or people grieving any type of loss.

With a curriculum that has been meticulously developed to include the most comprehensive evidence-based material available, Shapes Of Grief stands out as the only program to feature contributions from international grief experts. The award-winning online programme offers different levels of training to accurately meet the needs of each learner.

Don’t wait to make a difference in the lives of those who need it most, sign-up HERE for our FREE Masterclass in Loss & Grief.

Note from Liz:

I hope you're all getting something really beneficial from the Shapes Of Grief podcast. I want to send out a huge thanks to those of you who have sponsored the podcast so far. I'm delighted to let you know that there is a new sponsorship option of just $1 per month - I'm hoping this will encourage more listeners to sponsor us and help to keep us going.

Become a sponsor for as little as $1 per month! Your support is much appreciated. ♥️

https://www.patreon.com/shapesofgrief