PODCAST · society
Grief Stories
by Grief Stories
Real people sharing their stories of loss and the insights that help them on their journey with grief.“Helping grief make sense one story at a time”Hosted by Maureen Pollard Maureen Pollard is a Registered Social Worker who has worked in the field of social work since 1991. In private practice since 2011, Maureen is a specialist in traumatic bereavement, helping individuals, families and groups navigate life after losses, including pregnancy and infant loss, child death, suicide loss, homicide loss and sudden or accidental death. Maureen is a certified Compassionate Bereavement Care provider, and she is trained in RTS (Resolve Through Sharing) Bereavement Care.Maureen’s practice areas also include work as a certified Compassion Fatigue Specialist and Educator, supporting front line professionals in building the resilience necessary to survive and thrive in high-stress, trauma-exposed work.
Episodes
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Losing a Twin to Cancer - Monique
Maureen Pollard interviews Monique about her experience of losing her twin to cancer; how hard it was to come to terms with what was happening to her sister's body while watching her deteriorate and how that trauma stayed with her. "It took years after her death for me - I understand that...
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Missy McLean (Registered Social Worker, Community Organizer) on Community Grief
Maureen Pollard interviews Missy McLean, a Registered Social Worker and Community Organizer who works with people impacted by the toxic drug crisis, homelessness and poverty. They discuss the idea of 'Community Grief'. "When someone dies from a toxic drug poisoning, it hits people who use drugs...
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Emily Wisser (Founder of The Grief Collective) on Grief
Maureen Pollard interviews Emily Wisser, Founder of The Grief Collective, about her experiences with grief. Emily lost her father to cancer when she was 19, and she discusses the contrast between enjoying being away at college for the first time, while at home her father was battling brain cancer...
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Losing a Husband to Cancer - Vicky
Maureen Pollard interviews Vicky about losing her husband to myeloma, after surviving prostate and bladder cancer. They discuss the challenge of not having a cancer clinic where they lived, meaning they had to for drive hours back and forth for treatment. They spent so much money on hotels that...
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Losing a Son to Cancer - Betsy (Part 2)
Maureen Pollard once again interviews Betsy about losing her adopted son to cancer. In part 2 of this discussion, Betsy continues to talk about the way that expressive arts was helpful both in the end of her son's life, as well as in Betsy's own grief. "All through the 4 years that he was dealing...
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Losing a Son to Cancer - Betsy (Part 1)
Maureen Pollard interviews Betsy about losing her adopted son to cancer on Mother's Day weekend. They discuss the grief and loss her son had already been through in his young life, and how powerful and beautiful it was for him to then have Betsy by his side, supporting him through his cancer...
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Tracee Dunblazier (Spiritual Empath, Author) on Grief
Maureen Pollard interviews Tracee Dunblazier, a Spiritual Empath, Shaman and award-winning Author of 'Transformative Grief: An Ancient Ritual of Healing for Modern Times' about every day grief. They discuss the importance of dedicated grieving time, of spending time with your grief, whatever you...
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Kailey Bradley (Counselor) on Infertility Grief
Maureen Pollard interviews Kailey Bradley, a licensed professional Counselor in the state of Ohio, who specializes in grief therapy. They discuss a different type of grief - one that stems from infertility and chronic illness. Kailey talks about how she has had to grieve her life, and her future…
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Losing a Wife to Leukemia - Jarie
Maureen Pollard interviews Jarie, author of 'Ride or Die: Loving Through Tragedy, a Husband's Memoir' about losing this wife to leukemia and the challenges of becoming her caretaker as newlyweds, her diagnosis coming a little over a year after they married. "You get swallowed by it, you lose...
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Tahmeed & Jadine (Journalists) on Campus Suicide and Communal Grief
Maureen Pollard interviews Tahmeed and Jadine, Toronto-based Journalists involved in research about communal grief after suicide on University campuses. They discuss their key findings, such as how loneliness is linked to mental and physical health challenges, therefore people who are emotionally...
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Losing Both Parents to Cancer - Ellanne
Maureen Pollard interviews Ellanne Thomson about losing both of her parents, in the span of 7 months, to cancer. They discuss how her mother was diagnosed with Lymphoma back in 2017, before then being terminally diagnosed with multiple brain tumors in 2021, giving a timeframe for her passing....
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Kim Libertini (Co-Founder of The Goodgrief App) on Grief
Maureen Pollard interviews Kim Libertini, Co-Founder of The Goodgrief App - The Social Network for Loss, about her experience of compound grief, and the inability to connect in grief groups and individual therapy until she met an important friend with whom she created this App in order to help...
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Tara McGuire (Author) on Grief
Maureen Pollard interviews Tara McGuire, author of 'Holden After and Before: A Love Letter for a Son Lost to Overdose', about her experience of losing a child to an accidental opioid overdose at the age of twenty-one, and the stages of grief that followed. "[Integration] makes a lot more sense to...
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Holly & Murray (Songwriting for Wellness) on Grief and Music
Maureen Pollard interviews Holly and Murray about a music program that was run for staff at a transitional shelter. This was the pilot for the Songwriting for Wellness program, which has recently launched through Toronto Songwriting School. "One of the most fulfilling developments for us in…
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Mike Bonikowsky (Community Living Dufferin) on Grief
Maureen Pollard interviews Mike Bonikowsky, a caregiver who provides direct support for people living with developmental disabilities, about providing support for individuals with intellectual disabilities who are grieving. "Never underestimate the power of just being physically present with that...
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Mitchell Consky (Author) on Grief
Maureen Pollard interviews Mitchell Consky, Author of Home Safe: A Memoir of End-of-Life Care during Covid-19, about his experience of losing his father to cancer during the pandemic and how he and his family coped with their grief. "I think most of the time when someone we love is dying, there's...
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Mali Munroe (Author, Registered Art Therapist) on Grief
Maureen Pollard interviews Mali Munroe, Registered Art Therapist and Author of Acceptance: A Personal Journey of Self Discovery, about her own experience of losing her father to cancer, and about her work in grief and loss with children. "Oftentimes when people go into it they become isolated…
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Shannon Ortiz (Clinician and founder of Light After Loss) on Grief
Maureen Pollard interviews Shannon Ortiz, a Clinician and founder of Light After Loss at the Hope and Healing Centre about her experiences of loss, grief, and her work in suicide prevention as well as the support for survivors of suicide loss. "Had I not heard those words ['you can heal from...
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Celina Carter (The Reflection Room) on Grief
Maureen Pollard interviews Celina Carter about her work with The Reflection Room. The Reflection Room is an installation by a team of researchers from the SE Research Centre and Memorial University of Newfoundland. They are studying whether reflection and storytelling are positive for people who...
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Chantal Fraizinger (Art Therapist) on Grief
Maureen Pollard interviews Chantal Fraizinger, an Art Therapist, about using art to heal grief. "I would say, at least when it came to my graphic novel thesis ... part of that process also included having a just a bit of a feedback form just to see how people resonated with the work that I did…
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Jon LeFrandt (Founder of ForGrief.Com) on Grief
Maureen Pollard interviews Jon LeFrandt, founder of ForGrief.com and contributor to The Love Always Project, about his own experience of grief and loss and how it helped propel him into a career based on that experience. "Through my various work initiatives, one program that we run is we do a…
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Dean Lambert (The Love Always Project) on Grief and End-of-Life Planning
Maureen Pollard interviews Dean Lambert of The Love Always Project about his own experience with suicide loss and grief, and about how to support people in end-of-life planning. "According to our research, which was a national study we do every year, 100% of consumers who pre-arrange their…
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John Martin (Author) on Grief
Maureen Pollard interviews John D. Martin, author of I Can't Stop Crying and Help Me I Hurt, about grief. "Grief is so much bigger than I had imagined. It doesn't work very well with a formula, it's important to pay attention to what each person is telling you. I think something that I learned...
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Sue Phillips (End of Life Doula) on Grief
Maureen Pollard interviews Sue Phillips, an End of Life Doula from Hamilton Ontario, about the truth about grief, and how you don't have to be afraid to talk about grief or about death. "Birth, we celebrate right, we celebrate, we buy gifts, and we do all kinds of things and have showers and…
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Losing a Mother - Meg
Maureen Pollard interviews Meg about her experience of losing her mother during the pandemic, and the difficulties around visitation and care because of the quarantine protocols, especially while she lived in the United States and her mother was in Canada. Meg talks about the struggles with all…
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Cheryl Bower (Voices Rock Canada) on Grief and Music
Maureen Pollard interviews Cheryl Bower, founder of Voices Rock Canada, about grief, music, and how singing and songwriting can help people explore and process emotions as well as help them to heal. "What I found with songwriting, and also having the courage to sing my songs in company, was that…
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Compound Grief - Susan
Maureen Pollard interviews Susan about her experience of compound grief after facing many significant losses such as her brother-in-law who was her best friend, her husband, her father, and two of her brothers. They discuss the lessons Susan learned throughout the first loss that carried her...
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Losing a Father - Bryan
Maureen Pollard interviews Bryan about his experience of losing his father as a child to gun violence. They discuss the impact of such a confusing loss on his developing brain, how it created a lot of anxiety in him, causing him to become panicky in new situations. Bryan talks about how much the...
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Charles Solomon (Songs Of Solace) on Grief and Music
Maureen Pollard interviews Chris Solomon - curator of Songs of Solace and music industry veteran - about music, grief, and how powerful a piece of music - specifically classical - can be in the grieving and healing process. "...music creates mood, and it opens the door to all sorts of emotions…
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Sara Klinck (Psychotherapist, Music Therapist) on Grief and Music
Maureen Pollard interviews registered Psychotherapist and certified Music Therapist Sara Klinck about music, grief, and the many ways and benefits of using music in end of life care as well as in the bereavement process. "...music can prompt sharing, it can prompt relaxation or reduce negative...
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Losing a Grandfather and a Girlfriend to Suicide - Tom
Maureen Pollard interviews Tom, author of the blog For The Heart Cries, about his experience of losing both his grandfather and his girlfriend to suicide, and his own attempt. They discuss how, because suicide was not talked about and was considered sinful, getting help for those affected by it…
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Losing a Wife - Andreas
Maureen Pollard interviews Andreas about his experience of losing his wife of 35 years. They discuss the anticipatory grief he felt in being ~20 years younger than his partner and having to act as her caregiver through the end of her life: "As I think about it, the aspect of caregiving, the sense...
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Adrienne Pringle (Musician, Music Therapist) on Grief and Music
Maureen Pollard interviews musician and music therapist Adrienne Pringle about music, grief, and the ways people can use music to explore and express emotion, particularly during their grieving process. "There's always that 'aha' moment, that realization, and for some people it's thinking 'well I...
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Losing a Brother to Suicide - Adrianna
Maureen Pollard interviews Adrianna about her experience of losing her brother to suicide. They discuss how, after her father delivered the news about her brother's death, she ended up losing everything she owned - everything but the cat. "All of a sudden I found myself at my father's home that...
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The Truth About Grief: Is grief only associated with the death of a person?
Maureen Pollard interviews Marija Padjen, director for the centre of innovation and campus mental health. They discuss the ways that loss and grief impact us beyond the death of a person, including loss of roles, identity, relationships and material resources.
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The Truth About Grief: Does death end a relationship?
Maureen Pollard interviews Eric Lichtenfeld, a psychotherapist who specializes in grief, trauma and anxiety. They talk about the idea of continuing bonds and how we hold our loved ones close to us after death.
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Losing a Mother to Cancer - Lyss
Maureen Pollard interviews Lyss about her experience of losing her mother to cancer as a teenager, and of losing three pregnancies on her journey to becoming a mother herself. Lyss describes how it felt like these were 'bookend losses' in a way, having lost her mom when she was young only to go...
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The Truth About Grief: Is grief a sign of weakness?
Maureen Pollard interviews Adele Racine, Heart Medicine Woman about the strengths that we find in circle with life as we face and move through the experience and pain of grief and loss.
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Losing a Husband to Drug Overdose - Cheryl
Maureen Pollard interviews Cheryl about her experience of loss after being on a long and challenging road with her husband who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and battled addiction, both of which affected his behaviour and their relationship. They discuss how, for the last year of his life,...
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The Truth About Grief: When grief intersects with trauma
Maureen Pollard interviews Lysa Toye, social worker and expressive arts therapist with a private practice focused on trauma, dissociative disorders and grief. They discuss fact that trauma is different than grief, that both trauma and grief can influence how we are doing and how we act, which is…
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Matt Kowalyk (Musician) on Grief and Music
Maureen Pollard interviews musician Matt Kowalyk about music, grief, and the powerful relationship between the two. "Grief is aimless, grief has no desire to go away on it's own, for me at least, it likes to stick, it lingers. So without processing it, it will live with me forever. So I need to...
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The Truth About Grief: Is deathbed redemption possible? Is it necessary?
Maureen Pollard interviews clinical social worker and social work educator Wendy McGuire about the idea that sometimes we don't get the opportunity to reconnect with someone and heal the wounds of conflict before someone significant in our life dies. We have the opportunity to reframe the…
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The Truth About Grief: People need information and resources at the end of life and in grief.
Maureen Pollard interviews Mary Krause, social media specialist for Crossroads Hospice. They talk about how important it is for people to have permission to talk about their experiences, as well as to have facts about death, dying and grief, allowing them to make informed choices.
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Losing a Mother - Carla
Maureen Pollard interviews Carla about her experience of losing her mother - who she did not have a good relationship with - to a brain aneurysm, and how hard it was to see her in intensive care knowing she was not going to wake up; knowing she would not get another chance to improve their...
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The Truth About Grief: Grief includes losses beyond the death of a person.
Maureen Pollard interviews Kathryn Monaco Douglas, widow and founder of the group Widowed, Not alone. They discuss secondary losses and the many changes that happen for the bereaved person when a person dies.
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Compound Grief - Arlene
Maureen Pollard interviews Arlene about experiencing many significant losses in a short period of time. They discuss the cumulative effect of compound grief, where each loss layers onto the experience of the previous loss and how that alters the healing process. Arlene talks about the challenge…
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Kim Doolittle (Musician) on Grief and Music
Maureen Pollard interviews musician Kim Doolittle about music, grief, and the interlocking relationship between the two. "Music revolves a lot around grief, whether it's broken hearts or a death or whatever it is, there is a lot of songs written about sadness."
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The Truth About Grief: Can you get over grief?
Maureen Pollard interviews Dvora Entin, a licensed social worker specializing in maternal wellness and bereavement care in the Orthodox Jewish community. They discuss the fact that grief is ever-present and ever-changing.
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The Truth About Grief: You don't have to get through the end of life and grieve on your own.
Maureen Pollard interviews death educator, grief counselor and end of life doula mentor Olga Nikolajev about not having to get through the end of life and grieve on your own.
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The Truth About Grief: Is overuse of pain medication an issue at end of life?
Maureen Pollard interviews retired nurse Judi Campion about the challenges and concerns about pain management and palliative care at the end of life.
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Real people sharing their stories of loss and the insights that help them on their journey with grief.“Helping grief make sense one story at a time”Hosted by Maureen Pollard Maureen Pollard is a Registered Social Worker who has worked in the field of social work since 1991. In private practice since 2011, Maureen is a specialist in traumatic bereavement, helping individuals, families and groups navigate life after losses, including pregnancy and infant loss, child death, suicide loss, homicide loss and sudden or accidental death. Maureen is a certified Compassionate Bereavement Care provider, and she is trained in RTS (Resolve Through Sharing) Bereavement Care.Maureen’s practice areas also include work as a certified Compassion Fatigue Specialist and Educator, supporting front line professionals in building the resilience necessary to survive and thrive in high-stress, trauma-exposed work.
HOSTED BY
Grief Stories
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Grief Stories have?
Grief Stories currently has 56 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Grief Stories about?
Real people sharing their stories of loss and the insights that help them on their journey with grief.“Helping grief make sense one story at a time”Hosted by Maureen Pollard Maureen Pollard is a Registered Social Worker who has worked in the field of social work since 1991. In private practice...
How often does Grief Stories release new episodes?
Grief Stories has 56 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Grief Stories?
You can listen to Grief Stories on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Grief Stories?
Grief Stories is created and hosted by Grief Stories.
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