Restorative Grief with Mandy Capehart
by Mandy Capehart
A grief podcast for people learning to live with grief, loss, and change. Grief educator, somatic practitioner, coach, and bestselling author Mandy Capehart explores death and other losses, life transitions, burnout, estrangement, faith shifts, identity changes, and changing capacity. Through honest conversations, practical grief tools, humor, real stories, and whole-person support, Mandy offers a more honest approach to grief and healing, helping you understand what you're experiencing, meet yourself where you are, and carry what matters without losing yourself.
Episodes
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264. Why Self-Care Stops Working After Grief
“The goal was never to become our old selves again. The invitation is to build a life that can hold the person we’re becoming.” What if self-care stops working after grief because we’re asking it to do a job it was never designed to do? In this episode of Restorative Grief, we’re exploring why…
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263. Practicing Good Grief with s.e. smith
"We need to live in a culture that supports that instead of running away from it." What happens when we stop treating grief as something to overcome and start treating it as something worthy of our attention, care, and community? In today's episode, I'm joined by journalist, essayist, and author...
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262. Grief Doesn't Just Break Hearts - It Breaks Routines
"The laundry was never the problem. The laundry was a reflection of something else." We often expect grief to break our hearts. We don't expect it to disrupt our routines. In this solo episode, I explore one of the most common and misunderstood experiences of loss: the way grief changes our...
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261. Beyond Control - Grief, Health, and Agency with Dr. Lucy McBride
"You can't solve uncertainty, but you can empower people with tools and information to navigate it." What happens when grief, illness, caregiving, or unexpected change disrupt the life you thought you'd have? Dr. Lucy McBride, physician, patient advocate, and author of Beyond the Prescription,...
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260. For Many of Us Who Grew Up a Little Feral
"Grief does not require us to become less independent. It gives us an opportunity to become less alone." If you grew up a little feral and learned early how to take care of yourself, grief can create an unexpected challenge: learning how to receive care without feeling like you've lost yourself.…
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259. The Uninvited Guests of Grief with Dr. Jennifer Dall
"When I began to recognize that one step forward, two steps back was part of the work, it was part of the process." What if the moments that feel like setbacks aren't signs you're grieving wrong? In today's conversation, I'm joined by Dr. Jennifer Dall, a grief-informed neurodivergence…
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258. Talking About Suicide (Without Getting It Perfect): The Awkward Conversation That Can Save A Life
“We accidentally communicate that their feelings are something to be argued with instead of something to be witnessed.” What do you do when someone you love says something that makes you wonder if they might be suicidal? Most of us were never taught how to have this conversation. We’re afraid of...
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257. Everyday Grief - Finding Humanity in the Ordinary After Loss with Leslie Harter-Berg
"No one is actually grading you on your grief." What if the pressure to be "strong" is keeping you from being honest about what grief actually feels like? Today's conversation is with Leslie Harter-Berg, author of You're So Strong: On Grief and Letting Go of My Favorite Compliment. After the…
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256. The Grief of Life Transitions
"Maybe that is what these seasonal transitions are really offering us. Not a chance to get back to normal, but a chance to become more honest about what is changing." What if some of the grief in your life is coming from a transition you actually wanted? In this episode, we are talking about the...
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255. Why Bad Poetry is Good for Grief with Margaret Bryden
"Living a full life, living a beautiful life, means learning how to carry grief." What if grief isn't something we're meant to get over, but something we're meant to learn how to carry? In today's episode, I'm joined by therapist and author Margaret Bryden to explore the intersection of grief,...
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254. High-Functioning Grief: The Life of Saying “I’m Fine”
“I’m fine” is often less a truth and more a reflex that pulls us away from what we actually feel. What if that phrase is quietly shaping how you move through grief, stress, and relationship without you realizing the cost? Beneath it, self-abandonment can start to look like stability. Today’s...
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253. The Sediment of Untouched Sorrow with Francis Weller
“The invitation has always been towards a descent.” Grief is a core human faculty that requires skill development rather than simply passing through. This week, we’re exploring these skills through the lens of an apprenticeship of sorrow with author and teacher Francis Weller. Francis’ work…
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252. A Restorative Practice for Days When Hope Feels Far Away
"Gratitude does not require us to appreciate suffering. Sometimes gratitude simply invites us to notice what is present alongside suffering." What if gratitude was never meant to replace grief, but to sit beside it? In this episode, I'm sharing the story of one of my last visits with my…
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251. Tethered to Hope with Adriel Booker
"Most of us spend far more of our lives in the middle than we expect." What happens when grief is not tied to a single event, but to a season of becoming? Today, I'm joined by writer and author Adriel Booker, whose newest book, Tethered to Hope, explores the liminal spaces of life. Those moments...
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250. 9 Wake-Up Calls of Grief and How to Heal from Them
What if the small, everyday signals you’re ignoring are actually wake-up calls from your grief? In this episode we talk about how grief doesn’t always show up in big, obvious ways. Sometimes it shows up as irritation, loss of motivation, dreaming of a different life, or even constant planning. We...
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249. How the Enneagram Makes it all a Little More Understandable with Tyler Zach
"Grief isn't always about losing what was. Sometimes it's grieving what you thought would be." What happens when grief collides with personality, parenting, and identity? Today I'm joined by Enneagram teacher, author, and Type-ish founder Tyler Zach for a conversation about infertility, adoption,...
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248. Things I Wish I'd Known Before My Mom Died
This is not for you to make a list of things to handle, but for you to witness my story alongside me while you remember what matters the most here and now. Grief changes the way we move through the world after we encounter loss, but it can also inspire us to move with intention while we are in…
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247. The Signs All Around Us with Jenny Robinson Clark
“I don’t want to stay in my grief. I know I’m going to carry it with me, but I don’t want to stay in the sadness.” What does it look like to stay connected to someone you love after they die? And how do we make space for grief without losing ourselves inside it? Today’s conversation is with...
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246. Parenting Through Divorce and Grief
“You are not responsible for removing your child’s grief. You are responsible for the environment you help create.” What if parenting through divorce didn’t require you to make everything okay, but instead invited you to understand what is actually yours to carry? This conversation holds space…
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245. Reclaiming Agency While Grieving with Kyle Kittleson
What does grief need from us - time, understanding, or something else entirely? In this episode, I’m joined by Kyle Kittleson, host at MedCircle, to explore what it means to live alongside grief rather than trying to fix or outpace it. We talk about how loss shapes the way we listen, why grief...
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244. Avoiding Advice When You Walk Beside Grievers
Have you ever sat with someone who is grieving and felt completely unsure what to say? If so, you're in good company! This week, let's talk about how the awkward silences you fear are an offering of solace and care for your beloved grievers. Get comfortable with the uncomfortable; that's where…
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243. Becoming a Grief Ally with Aly Bird
“Becoming a grief ally isn’t about having the perfect words—it’s about cultivating the humility, courage, and self-awareness to show up with compassion when someone you love is living through loss.” When grief enters the life of someone we care about, many of us freeze. We worry about saying the...
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242. Why Your Enneagram Type Didn't Prepare You For This
"What will you do when all your self-awareness isn't making a difference?" This is more common than you suspect, because learning alone doesn't move the needle in our search for the path toward wholeness. This week, we're talking about how the Enneagram is a helpful tool for language of what…
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241. How Stories Shape Grief and Identity with Kaitlin B. Curtice
“Sometimes grief isn’t just about losing a person. It’s about losing the story we thought our life would follow.” The stories we inherit shape who we are, but they aren’t always meant to stay. In this conversation, Kaitlin B. Curtice, author of Everything Is a Story: Reclaiming the Power of…
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240. Living With Grief: Transforming Loss Into Awareness and Healing
“Grief is not something to get over. It is something to carry with awareness, intention, and openness to transformation.” In this episode, we explore what it means to live with grief rather than move past it. Through a restorative framework of sight, insight, action, and healing, we consider how...
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239. Above The Clouds with Jon Hill
“There’s a moment in grief when you realize the story didn’t end… it just changed shape.” In this episode of Restorative Grief, Mandy is joined by filmmaker and Emmy-winning producer Jon Hill, whose feature film Above the Clouds was born from the loss of his father and shaped over thirteen years…
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238. Staying Present Without Drowning: Grief in an Age of Doomscrolling
“Much of what we experience while scrolling the news is actually grief trying to move through the body.” How do we stay present to the world’s suffering without being swallowed by it? In this episode, we explore the very real tension of living everyday life while absorbing constant global…
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237. For the Weary with Becky McCoy
"I was in survival mode, and I needed to be really honest about it." What if the reason your spiritual life feels impossible right now is because you’ve been handed tools that were never designed for your grief? Today’s conversation is a tender one. I’m joined by my friend Becky McCoy - writer,...
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236. Why Making Sense of Grief Can Make It Harder
Our safety doesn't come from certainty. When grief breaks the story we thought we were living in, our minds naturally go looking for explanations. In this episode, we explore why we reach for certainty when life stops making sense—and how that instinct can lead us into stories that promise safety...
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235. Holding Space at the Edge of Goodbye with Darnell Lamont Walker
“There is something sacred about being with someone at the end of their life. It’s like standing at the edge of the ocean, being pulled in and out by the tide, knowing that something larger than yourself is at work.” In this episode of Restorative Grief, we’re joined by death doula and…
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234. When Grief Breaks Your Personality
What if grief isn’t breaking you but interrupting a strategy that can no longer protect you? Grief can make us feel unrecognizable, but what if it’s not breaking you? Maybe it's just interrupting the strategies your nervous system has relied on to feel safe, secure, or connected. In this episode,...
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233. What Our Grief Repeats with Dr. Tony Iezzi
What if the moments that trigger us in grief are not setbacks, but invitations to notice the themes shaping our responses? This week on Restorative Grief, Mandy sits down with clinical psychologist Dr. Tony Iezzi, co-author of Reenactments, to explore how grief often shows up through repeated...
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232. Online Grief Support: How to Find Help You Can Trust
What’s really holding you back from reaching out for grief support? In this episode we explore common worries about online support, from cost and trust to vulnerability and access. We talk about how leaning into fear can reveal what your grief truly needs and how small steps toward support can be...
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231. Make Sense of Your Story with Adam Young
"The work of grief is to necessarily walk the walk of sorrow." What if your grief isn’t something to get over—but something your body is trying to make sense of? Adam Young, therapist and author of Make Sense of Your Story, joins us to explore how our stories live in the nervous system, why...
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230. Your 90-Second Self-Care Tool (No Journaling Required)
What if journaling isn’t the right doorway for you, but your body still needs a way to release what it’s holding? In this episode, we explore a simple 90-second voice memo practice that lets emotions move without needing to be written down, analyzed, or saved. We talk about how speaking engages…
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229. Anxiety as a Teacher with Sara Billups
“Even if we don’t usually think of anxiety as a guide, we can start noticing it, sitting with it, and building simple practices that help us navigate life’s tender moments.” Anxiety isn’t something to conquer—it’s a companion that shapes our bodies, spirits, and communities. In this conversation,...
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228. Care, Intention, and Reciprocity: What We Really Want In Our Relationships
What are we really asking for in our relationships, even when we say we just want love or respect? In this episode, we explore how care, intention, and reciprocity shape the way connection actually feels in our bodies and in our day to day lives. We talk about how to notice when these qualities…
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227. A Bright and Borrowed Light with Will Anderson, featuring Courtney Kampa
"What does it mean to carry someone’s life forward when they are no longer here?" Musician Will Anderson reflects on love, grief, and the art that carries a life forward. He shares the process of bringing his late wife Courtney Kampa’s final poetry collection, A Bright and Borrowed Light, to…
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226. Safety in Your Own Arms
What would it mean to become a safe place for yourself in the midst of grief, overwhelm, and uncertainty? This week, we explore how often safety is sought outside of ourselves and what begins to change when internal steadiness is cultivated instead. It reflects on limits, rest, and the quiet…
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225. Living In The Low with Justin McRoberts & Scott Erickson
Have you ever found yourself in a season that feels like “the low” — where everything familiar slips away, and you’re unsure whether to climb out or simply sit still for a while? This month, we're exploring that tender space with authors Justin McRoberts and Scott Erickson, co-creators of In the...
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224. Finding Solid Ground After a Shift in Beliefs
This work is not about resignation. It is about presence. Deconstructing faith brings losses that go far beyond belief changes. In this episode, we explore the grief of losing certainty, community, roles, and a sense of belonging, and how these losses live not just in our thoughts, but in our...
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223. The Lost Voice with Greta Morgan
"In silence, I can unmatch from all of the noise that isn't mine." After starting a dream career as a touring musician in her teens, Greta Morgan faced a threat she never saw coming - the loss of her voice. In 2020, Greta's high fever from Covid caused a diagnosis of spasmodic dysphonia…
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222. Defensiveness as a Grief Response - How Fear-Based Values Disrupt Connection
We become more ourselves by allowing who we are becoming to arrive—and trusting that the parts we let go were never wasted. In this episode, we explore defensiveness not as a flaw, but as a grief-informed response designed to protect former versions of ourselves who carried us through pain. Links…
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221. When Love Feels Far Away - Enneagram Wisdom for Estrangement with Jackie Contessa
What if personal growth doesn’t mean becoming someone new, but learning to stay steady in who you already are? This week, Mandy sits down with Jackie Contessa, certified Enneagram coach and founder of Table for 9 Coaching, to talk about how the Enneagram offers stability through the ever-changing...
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220. Crossing the Threshold - Restoring Ourselves at Year’s End
Crossing into the new year isn’t about escape. It’s about emergence. When everyone else wants you to add new hobbies or build new dreams because it's the rolling over of the calendar year, I just want to see you feel whole again. This week, we're talking about how to make space for our whole…
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219. Nourishing Our Souls with Jennifer Otsuki
Where do you begin to recover when your whole world crumbles and takes your sense of self with it? Jennifer Otsuki knows that before you can begin, you must slow down and be nourished. After losing her restaurant in 2020 and shortly after, her partner and sous-chef Andrew, Chef Jennifer…
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218. Empty Chairs and Full Hearts: Navigating Holidays After Loss
What does ‘making room’ look like for you this holiday season? In this episode, we explore how to navigate the holiday season when our hearts are holding absence and how to create intentional emotional space for ourselves in a time of year saturated with expectation. Whether your loss is recent…
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217. Staying Connected Without Losing Yourself - Grief, Narcissism, and Repair with Sterlin Mosley
"They do not have capacity to give you that empathy because they cannot tolerate it within themselves." Sterlin Mosley wants you to experience relational repair with others but particularly, with yourself. When we are navigating grief, exploring the characteristics of narcissistic behaviors…
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216. Consistency Over Intensity - Why Slow Grief Work Matters More Than Big Breakthroughs
Grief can feel like a force demanding an equally intense response. But what if healing asks for something softer? This week, we're tackling the promise of huge transformational change in grief work that all the coaches in the world seem to be offering. You don't need to be overhauled; you're not…
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215. From Burnout to Alignment - Neurodivergence, Resourcing, and Restorative Healing with Michele Oelking
"Dysregulation puts us into a state of compression, not expansion. This is how we can back to growth." It's time to move beyond survival of burnout and into intentional and integrative living. Michele Oelking is the founder of Souljourn Coaching & Consulting and today, she joins us to explore how...
About this show
A grief podcast for people learning to live with grief, loss, and change. Grief educator, somatic practitioner, coach, and bestselling author Mandy Capehart explores death and other losses, life transitions, burnout, estrangement, faith shifts, identity changes, and changing capacity. Through honest conversations, practical grief tools, humor, real stories, and whole-person support, Mandy offers a more honest approach to grief and healing, helping you understand what you're experiencing, meet yourself where you are, and carry what matters without losing yourself.
Hosted by
Mandy Capehart