How To Deal With Grief and Trauma

You can't go through life without experiencing loss and trauma the question is how do we deal and live with the grief and pain? Join Nathalie Himmelrich, grief expert and author, talking to people who have experienced grief and trauma first-hand. If you want to be inspired by others who traveled through their grief and trauma, found that healing is possible, and came out the other end knowing they can survive and thrive in life after loss. For more info: www.nathaliehimmelrich.com

How To Deal With Grief and Trauma is a health podcast hosted by Nathalie Himmelrich, with 214 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 84.

Nathalie Himmelrich hosts How To Deal With Grief and Trauma, a health show with 214 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #205

  Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month: Dos and Don'ts for Bereaved Parents and Supporters | 205

  Oct 1, 202621 minS20

  Send us Fan Mail 31 Days PAIL Companion: Start here October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, and on 15 October, families worldwide light a candle at 7 pm for the International Wave of Light. In this episode, I look at where this month came from, why pregnancy and infant loss remains one of the most silenced losses, and what both grieving parents and their supporters can do differently. I bring together the 2025 Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness mini-series (episodes 142 to 157), its guest conversations and paired episodes for parents and for supporters, and turn them into two clear lists of dos and don'ts. One for you if your baby has died. One for you if you are standing beside someone whose baby has died. I also share a personal note fifteen years after the death of my daughter Amaya, offer simple ways to mark 15 October, and point you to the exact episodes in the archive to return to, depending on where you are right now. "You do not need the perfect words. What hurts most is not the clumsy sentence. It is the silence." Who this is for: Parents who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth or infant loss, at any time. Partners, grandparents and siblings. Friends, colleagues and professionals who want to support bereaved parents without saying the wrong thing. In this episode: The history of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month and the Wave of Light A recap of the 2025 PAIL mini-series , episodes 142 to 157 Dos and don'ts for grieving parents Dos and don'ts for supporters, including what to say and what not to say Ways to mark 15 October Where to start in the archive Episodes mentioned: 142, 144 to 157 (PAIL Mini Series), 201 Grief and Time. Full list: nathaliehimmelrich.com/pregnancy-and-infant-loss-awareness-mini-series/ Access free resources: nathaliehimmelrich.com/free-resources-hub If this episode helped you, please rate the podcast with five stars and leave a short review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It takes less than a minute and helps other grieving parents find these conversations. Support the show If today’s episode touched you, please share it with someone who might need it. Become a supporter of the show! Starting at $3/month & leave a review . Stay Connected Visit nathaliehimmelrich.com Subscribe to the newsletter for resources and updates Never miss an episode— follow the podcast ! Socials Instagram Facebook Find Support Resources For Grievers – Resources https://nathaliehimmelrich.com/grief-trauma-support/ For Supporters – Supporting someone https://nathaliehimmelrich.com/supporters-resources/ Books – Explore books on grief and healing https://nathaliehimmelrich.com/books/ Support – Offers - free and paid https://nathaliehimmelrich.com/free-resources-hub/

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  Episode #204

  The Questions We Ask About Memory After Grief and Trauma | 204

  Sep 23, 202626 minS20

  Send us Fan Mail Grief and trauma both change how memory works, and almost everyone going through either one ends up asking the same handful of questions. In this episode, we go through eleven of the most common ones: five about what trauma does to memory of the event itself, and six about what grief does to memory of the person who died. For each one, we look at what the research and clinical literature say is happening, so the goal isn't to explain the pain away, but to show these are documented, well-understood responses, not signs something is wrong with you. Chapters 00:49 Most Asked Questions on Grief and Trauma 02:10 Most Asked Questions Regarding Trauma 02:37 Most Asked Questions Regarding Grief On trauma and what people remember: 03:50 Trauma: Why Can't I Remember Key Parts? 05:15 Why Are Some Details Razor-sharp and Others Just Gone? 06:54 Is My Memory Even Accurate, or Am I Making It Up? 09:30 Why Does It Feel like It's Happening Again, Right Now? 10:51 What Are These Images and Sensations That Keep Intruding on Me On grief and the memory of the person they lost: 12:19 Grief: Will I Forget Their Voice, Their Face, Their Smell? Why Can't I Stop Thinking about Them? 15:40 Why Do I Keep 'seeing' Them, or Dreaming They're Still Alive? 17:30 Am I the Only One Afraid That Other People Will Forget Them Too? 19:32 Why Do I Feel Guilty about My Memories of Them, Either Way? 22:00 Why Does the Longing Still Come in Waves, Even Years Later Related Episodes E87 Grief Dreams and What They Can Tell Us with Dr Joshua Black E201 Grief and Time: What 15 Years Taught Me About Loss vs. Grieving Sources and Citations General memory science (Harvard Health): Memory — Harvard Health Memories: Learning, remembering, (not) forgetting — Harvard Health Flaws of normal memory — Harvard Health Trauma and stress (Harvard Health): Protect your brain from stress — Harvard Health, featuring Dr Kerry Ressler, Harvard Medical School Grief and bereavement (Harvard Health): How to deal with grief — Harvard Health, featuring David H. Rosmarin, McLean Hospital How to overcome grief's health-damaging effects — Harvard Health, featuring Dr Eric Bui Getting stuck in long-term grief — Harvard Health, featuring Sue Morris, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Beyond bereavement — Harvard Health On the specific trauma-memory questions: Top questions about trauma, PTSD, and therapy — Dr Valentina Stoycheva, STEPS (Stress & Trauma Evaluation and Psychological Services) Fragmented memories: how trauma can cause memory loss — domesticshelters.org, featuring Dr Edie Zusman Common myths about memory for trauma — Rachel Goldsmith and M. Rose Barlow, University of Oregon On the specific grief-memory questions: The fear of forgetting — Maria Kubitz, Alive in Memory Adults' reactions to bereavement — NCBI Bookshelf, citing Lindemann (1944) and Beverly Raphael Support the show If today’s episode touched you, please share it with someone who might need it. Become a supporter of the show! Starting at $3/month & leave a review . Stay Connected Visit nathaliehimmelrich.com Subscribe to the newsletter for resources and updates Never miss an episode— follow the podcast ! Socials Instagram Facebook Find Support Resources For Grievers – Resources https://nathaliehimmelrich.com/grief-trauma-support/ For Supporters – Supporting someone https://nathaliehimmelrich.com/supporters-resources/ Books – Explore books on grief and healing https://nathaliehimmelrich.com/books/ Support – Offers - free and paid https://nathaliehimmelrich.com/free-resources-hub/

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  Episode #203

  Grief, Shame, and the Soul's Work: A Conversation with Francis Weller Part 2 | 203

  Sep 17, 202631 minS20

  Send us Fan Mail This is Part 2 of the Conversation with Francis Weller. If you haven't listened to Part 1 yet, start here . There are voices in the grief world that stop you in your tracks — not because they are loud, but because they carry something true. Francis Weller is one of those voices. I have followed his work for some time, moved by the depth of his writing and the rare quality of his presence, and I have long wanted to bring him into this conversation. Today, that moment has arrived, and I am genuinely looking forward to what we will explore together. Francis brings to this work something that is not easy to name but impossible to miss — a willingness to sit inside the hardest human experiences without rushing toward resolution, and a gift for language that meets grief where it actually lives. In this episode, we cover 02:37 Trauma and Grief 04:09 Titrating the Trauma to Work With Grief 12:00 Where Did the Interest in Soul, Ritual, etc. Start? 13:44 What Has Claimed Me? 18:03 The Gift 22:22 First Steps to Care For Your Soul About today's guest Francis Weller is a psychotherapist, writer, and soul activist. Author of the bestselling The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief and In the Absence of the Ordinary: Soul Work for Times of Uncertainty , he has introduced the healing work of ritual to thousands of people. His writing and voice have appeared in anthologies, journals, and media such as Anderson Cooper's All There Is podcast, The Sun , Utne Reader , Kosmos Journal , and Ruminate . He is currently completing his fourth book, Facing the World with Soul and Why It Matters . Support the show If today’s episode touched you, please share it with someone who might need it. Become a supporter of the show! Starting at $3/month & leave a review . Stay Connected Visit nathaliehimmelrich.com Subscribe to the newsletter for resources and updates Never miss an episode— follow the podcast ! Socials Instagram Facebook Find Support Resources For Grievers – Resources https://nathaliehimmelrich.com/grief-trauma-support/ For Supporters – Supporting someone https://nathaliehimmelrich.com/supporters-resources/ Books – Explore books on grief and healing https://nathaliehimmelrich.com/books/ Support – Offers - free and paid https://nathaliehimmelrich.com/free-resources-hub/

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  Episode #202

  Grief, Shame, and the Soul's Work: A Conversation with Francis Weller Part 1 | 202

  Sep 11, 202640 minS20

  Send us Fan Mail There are voices in the grief world that stop you in your tracks — not because they are loud, but because they carry something true. Francis Weller is one of those voices. I have followed his work for some time, moved by the depth of his writing and the rare quality of his presence, and I have long wanted to bring him into this conversation. Today, that moment has arrived, and I am genuinely looking forward to what we will explore together. Francis brings to this work something that is not easy to name but impossible to miss — a willingness to sit inside the hardest human experiences without rushing toward resolution, and a gift for language that meets grief where it actually lives. In this episode, we cover 06:00 Becoming Acquainted With the Customs of Sorrow and Grief 07:06 People Feeling Sorrow Differently - Why? 08:38 The Two Primary Sins of the Western World 09:51 Places to Take Grief to 11:19 Grief is Never Far 12:08 Cultivating an Apprenticeship with Sorrow 21:22 My Anchor in Grief 24:09 Learning to Trust Grief 27:04 Every Human is a Carrier of Grief 34:05 What Happens on Grief Retreats? About today's guest Francis Weller is a psychotherapist, writer, and soul activist. Author of the bestselling The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief and In the Absence of the Ordinary: Soul Work for Times of Uncertainty , he has introduced the healing work of ritual to thousands of people. His writing and voice have appeared in anthologies, journals, and media such as Anderson Cooper's All There Is podcast, The Sun , Utne Reader , Kosmos Journal , and Ruminate . He is currently completing his fourth book, Facing the World with Soul and Why It Matters . Support the show If today’s episode touched you, please share it with someone who might need it. Become a supporter of the show! Starting at $3/month & leave a review . Stay Connected Visit nathaliehimmelrich.com Subscribe to the newsletter for resources and updates Never miss an episode— follow the podcast ! Socials Instagram Facebook Find Support Resources For Grievers – Resources https://nathaliehimmelrich.com/grief-trauma-support/ For Supporters – Supporting someone https://nathaliehimmelrich.com/supporters-resources/ Books – Explore books on grief and healing https://nathaliehimmelrich.com/books/ Support – Offers - free and paid https://nathaliehimmelrich.com/free-resources-hub/

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  Episode #201

  Grief and Time: What 15 Years Taught Me About Loss vs. Grieving | 201

  Sep 3, 202651 minS20

  Send us Fan Mail This episode is different. Instead of sitting across from a guest, I am the one in the chair. Fifteen years ago, my daughter Amaya was born at 34 weeks and 5 days — about five weeks early — alongside her identical twin sister, and died two days later after we made the hardest decision of our lives. In this solo episode, recorded on the anniversary itself, I walk you through that week in the NICU — and then through what fifteen years of time has, and hasn't, done to my grief. My intention isn't to dwell on the loss itself, but on the question underneath it: what does time actually do to grief? I share the distinction I've come to rely on with my own clients — that loss is a fact, unchanging, while grieving is a living process that keeps changing shape. I also look at how memory itself works, why some moments from that week are as vivid today as they were then, and why fifteen years haven't erased the sadness — nor should it. "Loss is a fact. It will not change, as much as you want it to. Grieving, however, is a process — and this is why I prefer 'grieving' over 'grief.'" If you're carrying a loss that people expect you to be "over" by now, if you've ever been told time heals all wounds and wondered why it hasn't for you, or if you support someone whose grief doesn't fit a tidy timeline, this episode is for you. Free resources mentioned in this episode are available at nathaliehimmelrich.com/free-resources-hub, including the Beginner's Guide to Dealing with Grief and Trauma. Rate this podcast five stars if it helps you feel less alone. It takes thirty seconds and helps more grieving and traumatised people find this show when they need it most. Support the show If today’s episode touched you, please share it with someone who might need it. Become a supporter of the show! Starting at $3/month & leave a review . Stay Connected Visit nathaliehimmelrich.com Subscribe to the newsletter for resources and updates Never miss an episode— follow the podcast ! Socials Instagram Facebook Find Support Resources For Grievers – Resources https://nathaliehimmelrich.com/grief-trauma-support/ For Supporters – Supporting someone https://nathaliehimmelrich.com/supporters-resources/ Books – Explore books on grief and healing https://nathaliehimmelrich.com/books/ Support – Offers - free and paid https://nathaliehimmelrich.com/free-resources-hub/

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