Susan, your host, welcomes Martha Hunt Handler to today’s episode.

Martha is the award-winning author of Winter of the Wolf, a novel that tells the story of Bean, an empathic and spiritually evolved teenage girl who sets out to discover the truth about the mysterious death of her beloved brother and finds herself on a journey of healing and self-discovery.

The novel is inspired by the death of Martha’s best friend’s 12-year-old son and covers several important themes, including suicide, grief, spirituality, human connection to nature, shamanism, and native Inuit culture. It is an Amazon bestseller and was chosen as a Barnes and Noble Top Indy Pick.

Apart from being a successful author, Martha is an environmentalist and fierce wolf advocate. She serves as the Board President of the Wolf Conservation Center, where 100% of her author proceeds go to support the organization.

Key Takeaways:

• Martha shares her grief story that started when her friend lost her 12-year-old son.

• Martha and Susan talk about signs and how people tend to judge.

• Hospices do the most beautiful job, leading people and their families through their transition out of this life.

• Grievers find it hard to identify what they need and even harder to ask for it.

• Helping a griever sometimes is just showing up. Grievers want to know they are not alone.

• If you don’t know what to say to someone grieving, just don’t.

• If you are grieving, keep “Grace” in your mind, you will need it.

• Martha talks about her next book.

• When you are grieving, the guilt of moving forward to live the life you want is real.

• Susan got closer to her husband in his last year of life.

Resources

Tendrilsofgrief.com

Email Susan: [email protected]

Dead to Me, a comedy series

Meet Martha Hunt Handler

Visit Martha’s website 

Wolf Conservation Center

Winter of the Wolf, by Martha Hunt Handler

Susan, your host, welcomes Tracee Dunblazer. Tracy is a certified grief counselor, a Los Angeles-based empath, a shaman, and a 22-time award-winning author who has spent decades living an alchemical life working with the stone kingdom as a guide. She was born multi-spirited, with a profound innate awareness of the spirit world and deep compassion for all who hurt. Tracee’s down-to-Earth style embraces the humor of reality and has helped thousands to find radical acceptance, empowerment, and joy in their lives, no matter where they begin. Her national and international award-winning GoTracee Publishing creates spiritual tools that have become game-changers for those who suffer. Dunblazier is a charismatic keynote speaker and enjoys podcasting from her CHAT-Cast platform and currently serves as President of the Coalition of Visionary Resources, the trade organization for the Mind-Body-Spirit Industry.

Key Takeaways:

• Tracy shares how she started in the fascinating world of being a psychic.

• Grief makes us who we are.

• Drama equals trauma.

• Grief brings beautiful people into your life and also cuts bonds with people you were close to before.

• The power of forgiveness: releasing yourself from bondage that doesn’t serve you anymore.

• When you remove someone from your life it is not forever; give yourself permission to walk away.

• Protect your power through effective communication and allow yourself to feel and cry as much as needed.

• Being in grief is like running a marathon; nurture yourself and be prepared for a transformative journey.

• Ask for help; it is part of the grieving process to ask for what you need and protect your space.

• Find a way to let people know what they need to do to support you.

• Trust that there is a deeper connection that is coming for you to inform you about your next step, you don’t need to know what is happening next; things are going to change in a way that you could have never imagined.

Resources

Tendrilsofgrief.com

Email Susan: [email protected]

Meet Tracee Dunblazier

Visit Tracee’s website

Transformative Grief: An Ancient Ritual Healing for Modern Times, by Tracee Dunblazier

Follow Tracee on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube

Susan, your host, welcomes Richard John Allen to today’s episode. Richard has a mission of dedicating his life to helping others overcome their struggles and find hope and healing, providing support and guidance for anyone experiencing loss. Whether you're struggling with the death of a loved one or other life changes, Richard wants to help people find peace and healing through his books, podcast, or one-on-one coaching to help others navigate their unique challenges.

Key Takeaways:

• Richard shares his grief story.

• Richard and Susan discuss the power of sharing and being vulnerable when grieving.

• Feel free to choose to believe in whatever suits you and make you feel better.

• Richard recalls the signs he received from his father, who passed away.

• Richard shares how he became an author.

• How can you connect with the signs your departed loved one sends you?

• Richard talks about the power of nature to ease your grieving days.

• Some people can’t live with the memories.

• Grief is complex (Richard believes grief to be the most complex of all emotions); you will need a lot of help from loved ones, professionals, and also from nature that can accompany you in your grief journey.

• Join Richard in a gratitude prayer.

Resources

Tendrilsofgrief.com

Email Susan: [email protected]

Meet Richard John Allen

Check Richard’s Website

Follow Richard on Instagram and Facebook

Find more about Richard’s books

Susan, your host, welcomes  Karen Docherty to today’s episode. Karen is a psychic medium and mentor. Her mission is to use her ability to bring comfort, understanding, and healing. The loss of a loved one brings with it grief, which leads us to ponder questions about the afterlife. It's something we all experience and endure at one time or another. There are many unanswered questions, but one thing is absolutely certain, your loved ones still care for you and want to look after you as they continue their journey in spirit. Karen is blessed to have the ability to connect and communicate the word of a spirit and to teach others to do the same. When you hear what they have to say, you can begin to live a life free of worry. 

Key Takeaways:

• Karen shares her grief story and how she became a psychic medium.

• Karen addresses the fear some people feel about psychic mediums.

• When someone is in spirit, what is the number one thing they want to transmit to the person still alive? ‘I am here, I am still with you’.

• You need to move forward; many people get stuck in grief.

• Karen shares some of her emotionally mobilizing psychic experiences connecting with the spirits of the ones who passed.

• Karen talks about the grief those who passed have to experience too.

• There is no normal in grieving; your grief is unique; follow the path that helps you better soothe your soul.

• Karen does in-person and online readings.

• You can connect with the ones who passed through meditation, ask to connect with them, and create that space for your loved ones to connect.

Resources

Tendrilsofgrief.com

Email Susan: [email protected]

Meet Karen Docherty

Visit Karen’s website

Susan, your host, welcomes Stephanie Sarazin. Stephanie is a writer, researcher, and experiential expert in ambiguous grief. Her work began with her own experience of mid-life trauma, which sparked an ambitious journey — spiritually and around the world — to understand, name, and heal the grief she found within her. Her efforts revealed a first-of-its-kind definition for “ambiguous grief,” whereby grief is onset by the loss of a loved one who is still living and wherein the experience of hope presents as a stage of the grieving process. Stephanie’s work brings new resources to reframe disruptive, activating events as a gateway to discovering your highest self, in turn championing ambiguous grief as nuanced, natural, and navigable. Stephanie is also the founder of Rise Up Rooted, an online resource center for those navigating ambiguous grief, a grief educator, and a TEDx curator in her community. She is a graduate of Michigan State University and earned a Master of Public Policy from The University of Chicago. She is an avid reader, recreational runner, and aspiring camper, and lives in North Carolina, where she is training to trek to Mt. Everest’s Base Camp. Her book, Soulbroken: A Guide for Your Journey Through Ambiguous Grief, is published by Balance, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing, and was released in October 2022. It is currently available for order at Barnes & Nobel, Amazon, or your favorite independent bookseller.

Key Takeaways:

• Stephanie shares her grief story that started when she discovered that she was living in a marriage that was not what she thought it was.

• Ambiguous loss: Losing a loved one but not necessarily through death.

• Share your story; someone will benefit from it; you are not alone. It is an honor to share your story and to the listeners to hear it.

• Shame cannot grow when there is empathy.

• When talking to someone grieving, avoid starting sentences with ‘At least…” since you are probably about to give a consolation prize that won’t be appreciated.

• We are not taught how to show up for others. If you don’t know what to say, try: “Thank you for telling me, I am glad you told me.” This is a way of validating someone’s grief.

• Sometimes holding hope can restrict healing and delay acceptance.

• Define what you have control over; focusing on what is possible for you to change will bring you closer to healing.

Resources

Tendrilsofgrief.com

Email Susan: [email protected]

Meet Stephanie 

Learn more about Stephanie

Find her book Soulbroken: A Guidebook For Your Journey Through Ambiguous Grief at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Susan, your host, welcomes Michelle Pfile to today’s episode. Michelle is a health wellness, business mentor, and podcast host who helps women create positive changes in their lives by elevating them physically, mentally, spiritually, and financially. After struggling with a PCOS diagnosis for much of her life, she made drastic changes to improve her lifestyle that helped her completely transform her health, mind, and body. Speaking on topics such as holistic health, intermittent fasting, mindset shifts, network marketing, and grief, Michelle has a plethora of expertise and speaks about it in a way that just makes sense.

Key Takeaways:

• Michelle shares her grief story.

• Michelle and Susan talk about how it feels to be grieving the memories we won’t have with our loved ones who passed away.

• Michelle shares how her background helped her with her grieving experience: Mindset goes first.

• “I don’t want to feel this way anymore.”

• Michelle talks about how stress and sorrow affect our physical bodies.

• Susan and Michelle talk about how their mindsets shifted as a result of practicing gratitude.

• How to avoid toxic positivity.

• Know where you are and be OK with that.

• Michelle explains how to Stair Step to the next place. (Recognize your small wins and celebrate them.)

• Change your mind and give yourself what you need.

• Meditation is a fantastic way of interrupting a thinking pattern that no longer serves you.

• Grieving is strictly connected to our overall health.

• Someone’s death can be traumatic to you. Deal with the trauma of the loss.

• Susan and Michelle share how they dealt with the pain of grieving initially.

• No matter what you are going through, it will become a precious part of your healing journey and personal growth.

• Death can also become a gift.

• Try a little slice of gratitude, it will make you feel better.

Resources

Tendrilsofgrief.com

Email Susan: [email protected]

The Magic, Rhonda Byrne

Meet Michelle Pfile

Check Michelle Pfile’s website

Follow Michelle on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube

Listen to Michelle’s podcast: In Total Alignment

Susan, your host, welcomes Donnalynn Riley to today’s episode, Donnalynn has been coaching business people to become masters of their communication, relationships, and success for over a decade. From a career on Broadway to being the CEO of a multimillion-dollar corporation, her journey helped her understand and create strategies for managing emotions and surpassing every goal. Featured on FOX, ABC, NBC, and CBS, Donnalynn is now on a mission to inspire 42 million people to prioritize their joy and emotional well-being so they can show up as the best version of themselves!

Key Takeaways:

• Donnalyn shares her grief story that began many years ago but was recently re-edited with the death of her husband.

• Donnalyn talks about how hard it was for her to function through grief.

• Donnalyn lost her husband and sold her house in less than four months, she shares the ups and downs of an intense and terrible time in her life.

• First, Donnalynn put all her belongings in storage until she found a time when she knew what to do. She speaks of the emotional value of certain objects, and how her relationship with them is not the same; it evolves with her grief process.

• Are you willing to go through emotions rather than sitting in them? Do you feel that your suffering honors someone’s death?

• Climb the emotional scale towards having more joy.

• To Donnalynn it was essential to find something to believe again.

• Give yourself permission to let go of what does not serve you anymore.

• When you have massive changes in your life, your identity shifts with them, and you end up wondering who are you now, leading the path for a new version of yourself.

• Just breathe! Fill your lungs, notice it, and pay attention to the air coming in and going out.

• Donnalynn explains a practice that can help you shift your energy when you feel overwhelmed.

Resources

Tendrilsofgrief.com

Email Susan: [email protected]

Meet Donnalynn Riley

Follow Donnalynn’s blog

Follow Donnalynn on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

Susan, your host, welcomes Stephanie Zito to today’s episode. Stephanie is an Intuitive Soul Purpose Coach who sees right through the stories and blocks that hold clients back from their desired success. Through intuitive insight and channeling their soul guides, she helps clients quantum leap and make the shifts to decide for their freedom and happiness.

Following her Master’s in Conflict Analysis and Resolution, she worked in corporate teambuilding and provided transformative experiences for groups and teams in the wild. As a certified yoga and meditation instructor, Stephanie uses the power of yoga, breathwork, and meditation as transformative tools for her clients. Stephanie is also a transformative speaker, best-selling author, and This Passionate Life podcast host. Her mission is to help her clients find their inner spark and the freedom and healing of following their intuition.

Key Takeaways:

• Stephanie shares her grief story that started when she lost her spiritual/soul guide.

• Stephanie discovered her soul purpose through her journey and guidance from her exceptional mentor, who passed away.

• People can take what they need from psychic readings.

• Stephanie talks about the difference between a psychic medium and just a psychic.

• Grief is an aspect of love; we grieve because we love.

• Stephanie describes the steps people can take on their own to connect with their loved ones who have passed away: Use your senses, connect with something the person owned, connect with your elevated feelings of love, and enunciate your questions to your loved one.

• Stephanie talks about channel writing.

• Susan shares her experience with signs coming from her beloved Paul.

• With patience and time, you will find the connection with those who passed through love and trust.

Resources

Tendrilsofgrief.com

Email Susan: [email protected]

Meet Stephanie Zito

Visit Stephanie’s Website

Follow Stephanie on Instagram, Insight Timer, and Facebook.

Listen to This Passionate Life Podcast

Access valuable tips to trust your intuition and take aligned action with my Activate your Intuition Workbook ($97 value), available to Tendrils of Grief listeners for free: https://bit.ly/theintuitionguide

Susan, your host, welcomes Catherine McNulty to today’s episode, this time not as a guest but as a coach specializing in grief. In this episode, Susan and Catherine answer listeners’ questions on grief as fellow grievers and share their insights and tips on navigating particular aspects of the grief journey.

Key Takeaways:

• Testimony: Losing a 16-year-old daughter to suicide and dealing with people’s questions can be retraumatizing. Her mother finds herself avoiding talking about her daughter to prevent these saddening and disruptive questions. Feedback: - Guilt and shame are triggered by these comments, making the grieving process much harder. Sometimes people ask questions just to feel it won’t happen to them. - Speak your truth! There is nothing impolite about educating people about what hurts you, setting boundaries, and guarding them. - You can always walk away from an uncomfortable conversation, and protect your energy. - Show the world who your daughter really was, and be inspired by your grief to honor the person you love! - Find your community and connect with more people.

• Testimony: A widow who has lost her husband to cancer is having problems communicating with his family that, while he was alive were disengaged, but as soon he received the diagnosis, got close and overly involved, disrupting the time between her and her husband. Now that he has passed, they want his things, that his widow wants for their children, who were always there for their father, in health and in sickness. She wishes to maintain the relationship because these are his children’s grandparents. Feedback: - Do not feel bad for the way you feel! You are angry and resentful, you are entitled; it is your husband and the father of your children who passed away, don’t give away anything that is going to hurt your heart. - Release your anger and resentment to them as a gift of love to yourself (not to them). - Set boundaries, grieve on your terms, following your timing; this is your story and no one can tell you what or how to be and do you! - It is OK to be distant from the parents of your husband, you can allow them to be part of the children’s lives (depending on their age) without having to be involved in situations that are not good for you (it is also an opportunity to model healthy boundary setting to your children.) - Do what feels good to you!

Resources

Tendrilsofgrief.com

Email Susan: [email protected]

Meet Catherine McNulty

After losing her infant son in 2011, Catherine embarked on a journey to do more than survive grief. The loss forever changed the trajectory of her life and sent her looking for meaning and purpose in the life she was given. She channeled the love for her son into her own healing, self-growth, and personal empowerment. Today, she has created a framework for grief that disrupts conventional ways of looking at loss. She challenges her clients to step outside of a victim mindset and regain control of how they navigate grief. She teaches how to grow through grief and encourages speaking openly about grief to break down the walls of silence around grief. Catherine lives in San Diego with her family where she speaks, writes, and offers coaching to those who want to do more than just survive grief. She is a board member of Empty Cradle and volunteers at Miracle Babies and the Ronald McDonald House. Her business, Grief INSPIRED supports those who are grieving and guides them to create a new normal that honors the ones they’ve lost.

Visit Open to Hope

Visit Grief Inspired on YouTube

Susan, your host, welcomes Trish Springsteen to today’s episode. Trish is a Creative Marketing Consultant, a multi-national award-winning mentor, speaker, award-winning international bestselling author, and WebTV host, specializing in creative solutions to Get Known and Be Seen, making it easy for your clients to find you.

Founder of the Purple Unicorn® Marketing Academy, Trish works with people to find the gold nuggets in your business to promote and market themselves. The best person to speak about your business is YOU!

Trish believes in her clients until they believe in themselves. From her personal journey, Trish knows how powerful confidence and self-belief can be. Trish is the author, co-author, and contributing author of 19 books, including Forever Changed By Suicide.

Key Takeaways:

• Trish shares her grief story which began on a particular day that started as a normal day and turned into tragedy when she lost her son, Craig, to suicide.

• Trish talks about the healing power of crying and the consequences of restraining crying.

• There are no accurate timelines.

• Repressing your emotions is causing your dis-ease.

• For people to remember her son’s name was very important to Trish, she wanted his memory to stay alive.

• Grandparents not only lost their grandson by suicide but were also left to support their daughter in a situation that totally exceeded them.

• Trish lost Craig and, with him, the possibility of having grandchildren.

• Trish shares the tradition she started on Christmas, which involves setting up a small memory tree instead of a Christmas tree, where she hangs stars with the names of those she has lost, honoring their memories.

• Trish talks about her book, Forever Changed by Suicide, a compilation of testimonies of people sharing their memories and grief processes.

• Trish acknowledges that there is a pain that lives with her and will never leave her side.

• “I feel for you” sometimes are the only right words you can tell someone who has lost someone to suicide.

• Everybody’s journey is different, keep that in mind, it is OK to feel how you feel; it is OK to grieve.

Resources

Tendrilsofgrief.com

Email Susan: [email protected]

Meet Trish Springsteen

Visit Trish’s website

Follow Trish on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn

Schedule a Complimentary Conversation with Trish