Grief Dialogues: Out of Grief Comes Art Podcast Series

This week's episode focuses on the power of music and sound! Renee Benmeleh, a multicultural vocalist/composer/instrumentalist, founded Sound Nourishment where she leads workshops and events using mindfulness practices, vocal and movement games, and improvised melody/rhythm games. Having found refuge through music and sound to work through her own grief, Renee works lovingly with others who are deep in grief and emotion, and looking to express themselves.  Listen in to hear this incredible story of personal transformation. Renee loosens Halle up with some vocal exercises, shares a snippet of one of her upcoming singles, and gives us all a breakdown of the science behind sound.

What a powerful way to start a Wednesday morning... This episode, the Grief Dialogues duo Elizabeth Coplan and Halle Williams speak with Henry "Hank" Greenspan, a phenomenal playwright, actor, and psychologist (University of Michigan, emeritus) whose work has focused on survivors of genocide. His plays have been produced for radio on NPR and at more than three hundred stage venues worldwide.  Today's grief topic: Genocide. Where (and how) does one even begin to wrapping their heads around this massive level of grief? Hank walks listeners through various perspectives, including those of survivor caretakers, and how grief often carries through generations.  Hank is also a master of creative expression, which is exactly why he has been featured on the Grief Dialogues podcast. His plays and publications manage to capture and translate grief in a unique way, transporting the audience to feel the grief in real time, challenging stigmas and assumptions, and igniting a spark of community and passion within their souls. Keep up with Henry "Hank Greenspan" on his website: https://www.henrygreenspan.com/

Today's podcast topic: finding your freedom! We speak with JoceIyn Jackson Williams, a grief recovery specialist and blogger, about how her blogging about life and loss have helped her navigate her grief. #outofgriefcomesart #blogger #griefrecoveryspecialist #grief #lovedones #lossandlove #griefjourney #podcast #podcasters About Jocelyn Jackson Williams, AKA @mobettajo: Jocelyn is passionate about the world of recovery. She has been helping grievers overcome the pain and heartbreak as a result of a loss in their life.  She is also a Certification Trainer for the Grief Recovery Institute. In a nutshell, she loves to help people become the best version of themselves. Connect with Jocelyn online: https://www.instagram.com/mobettajo       LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jocelyn-williams-mobettajo/ https://twitter.com/mobettajo    https://www.facebook.com/mobettajo

This morning we chat with the founder of Grief Coach, Emma Payne! Grief Coach is a texting service that delivers expert support to grievers, and gentle coaching to friends and family who want to support them, but may not be sure how.  #griefcoach #texts #grief #lovedones #lossandlove #griefjourney About Emma Payne:  Emma Payne is the Founder and CEO of Grief Coach, an innovative service that delivers personalized grief support via text message. Grief Coach combines Emma's passion for mobile technology and engagement, with her deep commitment to providing affordable, accessible, and personal grief support. Emma knows that, while grief is hard, it's a little easier when we have people by our side.   Follow Grief Coach online: https://www.instagram.com/grief.coach/ https://twitter.com/mygriefcoach https://www.facebook.com/mygriefcoach https://www.linkedin.com/company/griefcoach https://vimeo.com/griefcoach

Katherina Thomas is a writer, narrative practitioner, medical humanities researcher and infectious diseases social scientist working with stories as a medium in healthcare. However, she is also a daughter who worked lovingly with her father before his passing to co-author an incredible story. Together, they “boarded the plane” of life through words, creating a treasure she will never forget and have forever.  “Illness is the night side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick. Although we all prefer to use the good passport, sooner or later each of us is obliged, at least for a spell, to identify ourselves as citizens of that other place.” ― Susan Sontag, Illness as Metaphor This episode, Halle and Elizabeth speak with Katherina in depth about her writing journey with her father, and how doctors recognized this process as therapeutic treatment during her father's time in the hospital.  Connect with Katherina Thomas online: Katherinathomas.com Twitter: @klgthomas

This week we are pleased to introduce Robert Pardi, who joins our episode all the way from Italy! In today's episode, we discuss how life is like a mosaic, and we are the artists. What piece of the mosaic represents your grief? Halle and Elizabeth also get into Robert's books, and how his own grief sparked a new journey in his life, and ultimately the exploration of his inner child.   Robert Pardi is a three-time Author, Keynote Speaker, Transformational Life Coach, and Adjunct Professor. After his young wife passed away of breast cancer, Robert re-imagined his life by changing everything to share the many lessons he's learned. He now splits his time between his native New York and his ancestral Italian village Pacentro.   Learn more about Robert: www.robertpardi.com Read his books: https://www.chasinglifethebook.com/ https://www.apimbytale.com/ And follow him online! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-pardi/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robert.pardi.author.keynotespeaker.coach Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert.pardi/

"We all deserve healing!" Rana Awdish is a pulmonary and critical care physician in Detroit, Michigan. She began painting when she was incapacitated after a near fatal illness that left her bed-bound for months. She has no formal art training, and rather enjoys the process of discovery and of being a novice, which she is not as able to be in other aspects of her life. On this episode, we discuss Rana's #griefjourney, #WorkLifeBalance, #momlife, #painting , and #MentalHealth.  Rana, we are so fortunate to have you on our podcast. Thank you for such insightful and thought provoking conversation! -------- https://www.ranaawdishmd.com/ https://muchmoreart.com/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RanaAwdish Twitter: https://twitter.com/RanaAwdish LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rana-awdish-a40362b3/ 

  This week, we're excited to introduce author Cindy Weinstein, of Finding the Right Words: A Story of Literature, Grief, and the Brain. We pick Cindy's brain about processing illness with words and discussing the grief that exists around illness.   And, today is extra special, as it's the 1 year birthday of the book!   Cindy Weinstein is an English professor who wrote a dual memoir with Dr. Bruce Miller, neurologist at UCSF, about her father's early-onset Alzheimer's. She describes her father's illness from the point of view of a daughter and lover of literature and Bruce from the point of view of a son and neurologist. In chapters about diagnosis, word-finding, spatial disorientation, and behavior, the last chapter is about -- memory -- and she is able to recover memories of my father before he became sick. Learn more about Cindy at https://weinsteinandmiller.com   We've included a short excerpt of the book on our stories website www.griefdialoguesstories.com     #alzheimers #outofgriefcomesart #podcast #episode #author #professor #neurologist #griefjourney #griefandloss #birthday #birthdaybook

In honor of National Grief Awareness Day, hosts Elizabeth Coplan and Halle Williams team up with Richard and Catherine from Hearts Need Art on their podcast, Arts For The Health Of It for a very special episode, discussing grief and creating some art! Please take a few extra moments today to explore the Hearts Need Art organization and especially their podcast. They ask important questions like: Why do humans turn to the arts in times of crisis? How do the arts impact our health and well-being? What role do the arts play in the future of society? A special thank you to Richard and Catherine for hosting us on their profound podcast. The work you do within artist communities in relation to healthcare is so very important!  https://heartsneedart.org/podcast/

Meet Sal Marx: a visual storyteller, artist, and patient advocator out of New York City. This week's episode tackles a different type of grief: chronic illness. After years of misdiagnosis and invisibility, Sal turned to art to express her grief and frustrations, earning a M.S. in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University. She helps patients, doctors, caregivers, and other stakeholders to synthesize stories into powerful tools for connection and shared-decision making. Sal notes, “My body and mind has a language of its own, that's non-verbal. It's important to listen to it, I'd rather express my grief that way.” salmarx.my portfolio.com

After a sudden major job loss and multiple traumatic deaths in the family, this week's guest Venise Vinegar traveled to South Africa to find new meaning and purpose. Out of grief truly came art; Venise turned the COVID-19 lockdown into an educational and creative sabbatical and drafted a manuscript for holistic self-help, non-fiction transformational book of 365 days of evidenced-based best practices for finding passion, purpose, and dream jobs. “Life does not wait for you to pick yourself up. You have to move forward. There's still life to live beyond grief.“ Tune in to our 10th episode on the #podcast, Facing Your “Why”!

“…and be true to yourself.” This week we host Mervin Alexander, an unbelievably talented and accomplished actor. While has has performed in Grief Dialogues' plays, he has also blessed stages worldwide and worked with incredible performance institutes. His recent roll in American Son as Lieutenant John Stokes tackles grief head on. Join this week's conversation as we unpack the many layers of grief within the black community, associations and dynamics with the police, understanding how the stage serves as an ice breaker for conversations, and more.

Author Gwen Goodkin chats with us about her writings for Grief Dialogue and her published book, A Place Remote. Gwen Goodkin is the author of the short story collection, A Place Remote, recipient of a Silver IPPY Award. She has won the Folio Editor's Prize for Fiction as well as the John Steinbeck Award for Fiction. She has twice been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Gwen was a featured writer in the New Short Fiction Series, performed in North Hollywood. GwenGoodkin.com

What brings you joy? This episode, Halle and Elizabeth chat with Bonnie Bizzell, an end of life planner, on the importance of advance care planning and honoring of the self during grief.

“Move the grief in your body!” When her husband suddenly died, Claudia Coenen channeled her inner creative and became a creative grief counselor and certified thanatologist. She specializes in developing coping and processing strategies to help families and individuals through life's most challenging transitions. On this episode, Halle & Elizabeth discuss with Claudia how her grief has transformed into a career of helping others, encouraging art expression, and writing resources for navigating grief.

“Grieving, like illness, is a rollercoaster.” This week, Halle hosts Lisa Sniderman, aka Aoede, on the Out Of Grief Comes Art podcast! They discuss Lisa's incredible variety of creations that stemmed from the grief of her chronic illness, the artistic process, and the harsh realities of managing illness daily. Lisa Sniderman's received more than 100 accolades and awards as the artist Aoede, and is author of a powerful new spoken word musical audiobook: "The Grieving Project" (Aug 2020), all while battling a rare chronic illness for 14 years. Music is and art are her lifelines, and she obsessively creates to express, heal and empower others to grieve and thrive. Follow her online: thegrievingproject.com | Facebook: @aoedemuse @aoedemusemusic @grievingproject; IG: aoede.muse, grievingproject; twitter: @aoedemuse; Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/aoede/

PART 2: oops! Technology wreaked havoc! Continue Part 2 of Tara Lynn Marta's interview. “If you have a dream, this is the only moment we have. We don't know if we have tomorrow. Make that dream come true… it's much better than regret.” - Tara Lynn Marta | Tara Lynn Marta joins Halle and Elizabeth to discuss the grief that has inspired her books Look Back To Yesterday and Dreaming Through The Eyes Of God. Follow Tara on Facebook (Tara Lynn Marta, Author) and on Twitter (@TaraLynnMarta)

“If you have a dream, this is the only moment we have. We don't know if we have tomorrow. Make that dream come true… it's much better than regret.” - Tara Lynn Marta | Tara Lynn Marta joins Halle and Elizabeth to discuss the grief that has inspired her books Look Back To Yesterday and Dreaming Through The Eyes Of God. Follow Tara on Facebook (Tara Lynn Marta, Author) and on Twitter (@TaraLynnMarta)

“Anchor to yourself.” - Laura Thoma Award winning playwright and writer, Laura Thoma, shares her personal and unexpected grief story that led her to the theater and launched her career in the arts. The complicated layers and components of her grief have provided her inspiration to create powerful (and wildly successful) scripts that have resonated with audiences all over the world. Laura, we are honored to have you! LauraThomaPlaywright.com @laurathoma (Facebook) @laurathomacoaching (Instagram) @laurathoma (LinkedIn)

Elizabeth and Halle talk about the upcoming holiday, stories of their fathers, and the new Grief Dialogues film, Honoring Choices.

Meet Halle Williams and Elizabeth Coplan, co-hosts of Out of Grief Comes Art. Hear about our series and all the great artists who will be on our show over the next few months!

Interview with poet Paul Taylor-McCartney Read his poem The Choosing  and Unfinished on stories.griefdialogues.com Paul Taylor-McCartney is a doctoral researcher with Leicester University, following a part-time PhD in Creative Writing. His interests include dystopian studies, children's literature and initial teacher education. His poetry, short fiction and academic articles have appeared in a range of notable UK and international publications including Aesthetica, The Birmingham Journal of Language and Literature, Education in Practice (National Association of Writers in Education), Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine, Dyst: A literary Journal, and most recently in Bandit Fiction. He lives and works in Cornwall, (UK). You can find out more about him by visiting: paultm.org

I met Vena Wilson through another Las Vegas therapist when I brought our play, Grief Dialogues, to the Cockroach Theatre in Las Vegas.  The show, in honor of the first responders of the Las Vegas Strip Shooting a year prior, required a therapist for our talk back.  When the original therapist was unable to attend and moderate the post-show discussion, she recommended Vena, and a new professional friendship was born.  Since that day in late September 2018, I've had the pleasure to work with Vena on other projects including a reading of Grief Dialogues: The Book for the Nevada Hospice Care.  Vena is a licensed clinical social worker in Las Vegas, Nevada, with a small private practice Honeybee Behavioral Health. Here Vena works with teenagers and their families on building skillful, healthy, joyful relationships and helping the teenager with taking self-harm or suicide off the table as an option. She finds that the teenage stage of life tends to be a very difficult one, especially so for those with a very sensitive emotion regulation center.  It is only exacerbated by COVID.  Vena teaches her clients about strategies to tolerate painful emotions, handle stress skillfully, and have a better happier relationship with their parents.   Listen in and/or watch as Vena discusses her practice and the techniques that help alleviate tension.  

An update from mental health counselor and coach Peggie Dickens on what's happening in our medical community. What has changed for healthcare providers in the last month?

How funerals have changed in time of COVID

Elizabeth Coplan interviews mental health counselor and coach Peggie Dickens, M.A., LHMC in this inaugural podcast for health care professionals. Peggie Dickens shares her experience with health care providers navigating their way through the current unknowns they're facing during the unprecedented global COVID-19 pandemic, covering her thoughts on the place the mind/body connection will play in healing moving forward.

Mary's story losing both her parents within two years is not uncommon. Hear how this former addict built a strong on a dead bed promise to her mother.

By the year 2009, Tara lost all the people that was close to in her life. She wanted to write a story about loss specifically to share her own experiences of loss and combine it with a fantastical idea of being sent back in time to deal with her grief.

Works of Love is an audio drama about love: the possession of and loss of it.  It centers on recent widower Julian Silver as he re-launches his wife's old show, the eponymous “Works of Love”. Each week Julian reads a new essay about love and one of its variations, be it romantic, familial, fraternal, or existential. Through other's words he strives to remember the reason why we love if the cost is grief. And once again we learn that Out of Grief Comes Art.

PERSONALIZED SUPPORT, DELIVERED RIGHT TO YOUR PHONE Grief Coach is a text-messaging service that delivers personalized content, tips and reminders, to people who are grieving, as well as to the friends and family who want to support them. Find out more at www.grief.coach.

Special Grief Dialogues host Kimberly C. Paul, author and founder of Death by Design interviews Dr. Jane Williams on her book Mysterious Moments: Thoughts that Transform Grief. Dr. Williams shares some of her stories and thoughts on the transformative changes that can occur through "aha" or mysterious moments that can change how we experience our griefs. She explains how isolating grief can make us, but how our thoughts can help change our narratives surrounding the grief process and us heal. Dr. Broadbent is interviewed by Kimberly C. Paul, also a fellow contributor to the book.

Elizabeth Coplan met Noha when they were both on a panel at ReimagineNYC this fall.  Intrigued by the beauty and simplicity of the Noha's idea, Grief Dialogues reached out to the founder for a podcast about https://www.gatheringus.com/. Kimberly C. Paul interviewed Noha, whose large family included planning an of memorials and funerals at her home in Brooklyn, NY.  Noha felt the challenges of organizing family and friends during these difficult times and yearned for a simpler way to mobilize everyone and commemorate loved ones. She created GatheringUS to gather family and friends after the loss of a loved one to support each other and celebrate life together.  In one location, you can locate your community to support you. Set up a free obituary in 30 seconds. Quickly & easily share event details with everyone. Crowdfund for funeral expenses or charity. Create groups to coordinate logistics (food, ceremony, themes).

Rachel Greenberg (Connections of Hope) and Sharon Ehler (Grief Reiki) describe the stories that lead to their writings published in Grief Dialogues: The Book.

Listen in on our MLK Day interview with Karen Vargas. We talk about the differences in grieving and how we are ultimately all the same.

Join Elizabeth Coplan and Dr. Karen Smith, Clinical Ethicist, LCSW, Ph.D., Henry Ford Health System.  She is also VP of the Funeral Consumer Alliance. Dr. Smith provides independent ethics consultations, ethics policy development and ethics education for hospital staff. Her passion is sharing ethics with medical professionals and the community and assisting families during difficult decisions. She specializes in death and dying issues and lecture on a variety of healthcare related ethical issues.  Today on our podcast Dr. Smith talks of her work with families to create memorable dying memories. The concept is that during that awful, but special time when you know you are sharing your last weeks, days, hours with someone that often there is "a time" when things can be reframed, to focus on the pure love between you and the person dying.  At these times I tell families that "THIS will be what you remember MOST about this time" .   It is setting a positive intention to not remember the pain, the tiredness, the overwhelming loss but to focus on the the love, the truly being there, with your loved one.   Sometimes this time is memorialize if possible (even after death sometimes) in a photo of the linked hands of family members over the sheets of their loved one. It may be making a handprint, it may be simply creating a memory of a "good day" where you were able to talk, laugh, or do something together (go outside, to the chapel, a special visitor).       

Ever wonder what to do with your loved ones ashes? Chuck Munat wanted his ashes scattered around the world. More specifically, he wanted his ashes sprinkled in Ireland, on Squirrel Island in Maine, and in Akaroa, New Zealand. After Chuck died, Florrie, his wife and caretaker, took his remains to New Zealand where Chuck was welcomed home by family, friends, and three hundred pairs of nesting little blue penguins. Florrie wrote about her experience in her essay “Coming Home” from our book Just a Little More Time.

Florrie Munat, formerly an English teacher, a reference librarian, and Young Adult book reviewer, describes the six years as her husband's caretaker as he struggle with dementia in her new book Be Brave: A Wife's Journey Through Caregiving. Today on our podcast we asked Florrie more about this journey of love. The chapter titled “The Power of Love” offers a glimpse of Florrie's ability to help us understand the complicated jumble of heartache and letting go.

Have you ever seen Vogue–The Widow's Edition?  Have you heard of the latest Stella McCartney collection–for Widows?  No?  Neither had Kate Ruffing when she found herself a young widow at age 38 she decided to set a new trend–one her deceased husband would approve.

It wasn't suppose to be this way. The vows said ‘til death do us part but that was not for years, decades, a 50th anniversary party.  Listen to Kate Ruffing as she describes how, after 4 years of trying everything she could - rehab centers, detox wards, countless emergency room visits, interventions and therapists–she knew that soon death would indeed part the young couple.

Kate Ruffing, a widow of not quite two years, as she describes what it feels like to be a young widow.  It's nothing like you expect it to be.