Grief Circle with Sammy

On this episode of Grief Circle, I got to speak with Ann and Carly from Camp COPE - a bereavement weekend camp. Ann is the director and has been with the camp since its inception, and Carly is the clinical director and took on the role around 2 years ago. We got to speak about the opportunities COPE provides for children to come together with other kids in their situation and just "be kids" while also acknowledging what makes them different from other kids. It's also important to note COPE has a caregivers retreat at the same time as the kids camp, right across the river, which is great because often times guardians can be overlooked in these situations. Listen to hear more! The link is attached below to find out more about Camp COPEhttps://www.copefoundation.org/camp-cope/

On this episode of Grief Circle I got to speak with two representatives from OUR HOUSE Grief Support Center NYC (website linked below), Casey and Brady. The three of us got to speaking about the amazing programs that OUR HOUSE offers for not only children who have just lost someone close to them, but also family programs that focus on the adults and kids as a unit. Programs like this are rare in this world which is why the work at done here is so amazing. We also spoke about their father who passed away when they were young and how that has affected their past and future lives.

Welcome back to Grief Circle in 2026! In this episode I had the pleasure of speaking with Shruti Trivedi, a life coach who helps mothers that recently suffered a miscarriage or who lost their baby to complications. Shruti had some spectacular insights on how to help the unborn child's siblings understand what loss. Not only did she give great tips for young children who may not know what death is, she also gave some advice to mothers on how to handle this profound loss in their life.

Welcome back everyone! It has been a while since I have been active and I am thrilled to be back and better than ever with guest Michael Cholbi, a philosopher at the University of Edinburgh who explores grief and the human relationship with death. On this episode we got to speak about how grief, especially in children, can be looked at through a philosophical lens. One of my favorite things we got to speak about was how grief can be considered as an "identity crisis" and of course, we got to hear some of his favorite metaphors for grief. To learn more about Michael Cholbi and his work check out his website linked below. https://michael.cholbi.com/

On this episode I had the pleasure of speaking to Diane Namm, a picture book author who has published countless books throughout her career. However, there is one book of hers that especially caught my eye: What Happens After? This picture book is so special because rather than serving as an instruction manual for teaching kids how to grieve, it draws from Namm's personal experience with loss and offers gentle guidance to young readers. The words beautifully capture what it means to grieve as a child, while the illustrations work alongside the text to tell the story visually. To learn more about What Happens After? check out the link attached to the episode. ⁠https://whathappensafter.store/⁠

On this episode of Grief Circle, I got to speak with Sabrina, a recent graduate at Villanova. I found myself in contact with Sabrina after a TikTok of hers landed on my "For You" page, where she was telling her grief story. Sabrina unfortunately lost her mom on her second day of college, which as you can imagine, was not an easy loss to take. Tune in to hear how she got through grief even when the odds were stacked against her.

On this episode of Grief Circle with Sammy, I got to speak to Esme H who lost her father to bile duct cancer in her teenage years. Esme and I got to speak about all the various ways her and her family cherished the time they had with their father throughout COVID, what his presence meant to those around him, and how they keep his legacy alive. Listen along to hear about the wonderful ways Esme has been able to remember her dad!

Big news viewers... I'm heading to college! I am here today to speak about what that means for the future of Grief Circle with Sammy. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere! I plan on continuing Grief Circle no matter where I end up because it is such an important resource for all the kids and teens out there who are going through loss. During this episode I also speak a little about all the emotions and thoughts that come up to mind as I get ready to embark on this next journey of my life, especially as someone who has lost his father.

On this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking to Liam, a 15 year old boy from Connecticut. Liam lost his father at the age of 13 to a car crash, and ever since Liam has dedicated all his passions such as baseball and finance to his father. Liam shares how just because there is a death in your life, it doesn't mean you have to sulk -- you should turn the death into something good. Liam published an article in the "Sober Not Subtle" blog that you all should read, its attached to this episode!https://sobernotsubtle.com/2025/03/05/overcoming-grief-a-teens-perspective-on-loss-and-growth

On this episode, I had the privilege of talking to Dr. Robert Accordino, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Weill Medical College of Cornell University about childhood grief in the hospital with patients. Dr. Accordino taught me so much about how pediatric patients with terminal illness often find themselves grieving their parents loss of themselves, before they have even died. We also spoke about different ways that grief can be expressed outside of a therapists office, such as with art, physical activity, playing, etc. Listen to hear more about Dr. Accordino's fascinating insight into childhood grief!

Hey fellow teens, usually these episodes are for you, however, today I decided to mix it up a bit. Todays episode is for the parents, guardians, and caretakers of grieving kids out there. On this episode I discuss what you as a caretaker can do to help your child through their grieving process. The answer might surprise you...

On this episode I got to talking about something I like to call my frame of reference. This idea was first introduced to me from my late therapist Dr. Bubrick when we talk about the college admissions process. Frame of reference in grief is a mindset, it is a mindset that challenges us to talk about how sad something really is, in terms of other sad things that can happen in our lifetime. Many times kids who have lost a parent or sibling at a young age have a frame of reference that allows them to see events such as a bad grade or college rejection as not sad; this comes from their loss at a young age that has manipulated their frame of reference to see the world from a "happier" POV. I hope you all enjoy!

On this episode I share with you all my reflections and thoughts on the tragic sudden loss of my therapist, Dr. Jerry Bubrick. Dr. Bubrick is survived by his two kids, who he always spoke about with such light in his eyes. Dr. Bubrick had a very profound impact on my life for the brief time that I knew him and I wanted to share some of my thoughts with you all to honor him. I frequently talk about how I was prepared for the death of my father due to his terminal illness, however, Dr. Bubricks death came as a total surprise to me, which is why I feel his story should be shared and cherished even more so. Thank you Dr. Bubrick for all the kids you have helped.

On this episode I spoke about where we start the grief process immediately after the loss of a loved one. I discuss my own model of grief that guides us through a process of teaching that there really is no one special place to start in the grief process, especially as a kid. If there is one thing you take away from this episode, it is that we start our grief journey at our own personal point, and nobody can tell us where to start.

Happy 35th episode of Grief Circle with Sammy! On this episode I got to speak with Jessica Correnti, a child life specialist, who founded Kids Grief Support. Jessica is also the author of manny illustrated children's books on grief, including the ABC's of Grief! Jessica and I spoke about what led her to become a grief specialist and what her role is like in helping her clients overcome and deal with grief as kids. We speak about how Jessica noticed that we weren't doing enough to help kids with grief and noticed a change had to be made. Listen along to find out more!

On this episode I had the honor of speaking to Haleh Shoa, an archivist based in LA. Haleh archives families memories of digital and analog photos, along with any artifacts into observable "exhibitions" for the families to look back on. Haleh has an interesting perspective as her work can be a tool to grieving kids to be able to look back on memories with their loved ones who are no longer with them. Listen to our interview to hear about making your own family archives can help with grief.

On this episode I had the pleasure of speaking to Dr. Marissa Slaven who is a palliative care doctor who helped in the founding of the Children's Grief Foundation of Canada. This organization is an amazing non-profit that works to give grants to families in need who need hep in supporting their kids who are coping with loss. They also help to provide education initiatives around Canada. Listen to this episode to hear about some of the most common things that the organization gets grant requests for (hint: it involves horses)!

Join me on this short episode as I talk about something that I have waned to talk about for a long time: the grief that kids must deal with during this terrible conflict. In the wake of the anniversary of October 7th, I found it necessary to talk about the feelings, that I can only even begin to hit the top of the iceberg of, that the kids who have lost people in their lives to this war feel.

This episode I had the pleasure of speaking to Jessica Fein, author of Breath Taking. At only 17, Jessica's daughter Dalia died of a rare genetic disorder, leaving behind her siblings and parents. I got to speak to Jessica to hear the perspective of losing a kid young as well as what it was like for Dalias siblings to lose a kid. At the end we exchanged one of my favorite parts of speaking to guests: learning about their favorite grief metaphor.

Welcome to episode 30! I cannot believe it's been 30 episodes of grief circle. That's a lot of time reflecting that you all have done with me and I thank you for it. For this episode I wanted to reintroduce myself and my story for all my new viewers. I also wanted to take the time to reflect on the highlights of Grief Circle over these past 30 years and talk a little more about my future goals for the podcast.

On this episode I speak on something that I think a lot of children who lose someone have to think to themselves which is, "How old is too old?"; its something that I know I find myself asking a lot. In my opinion what this means for grieving kids who have lost a parent or sibling is: how is my grief different than those who have lost an 84 year old grandparent. This is something that we really mentally fight with in our heads, and something I speak a lot about this episode.

On this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking to Annie Orenstein who is a full-time tech employee, but on the side has taken up the trade of writing about grief. She has recently published the book Always a Sibling: The Forgotten Mourner's Guide to Grief, about her brother who died in Afghanistan. We got to speaking about how oftentimes kids are the forgotten mourners when it comes to losing a parent or sibling. The two of us got to exchange some of our metaphors for grief and talk about our experiences being the forgotten mourners.

On this episode, I come to you all with one of my recent grief thoughts which is that it's very important that as kids we maintain our dead parents our sibling's relationships with others in order to keep their memory alive. It's our dead loved ones friends who knew them in a different way than we do, and it's crucial to keep that part of their memory alive and well.

On this short episode, while I have no guests, I got to speak a lot about opinions. While you may think that's a weird topic for a podcast about childhood grief, you'd be wrong! Often times in households where there is a loved one missing from the child's life, we find ourselves deciding the opinions of our missing loved ones. However, at the end of the day, we never truly know what our loved ones would have wanted, and its important to be careful how we use our passed-on loved ones' legacies as kids or to kids. So listen along to hear my opinions on the opinions of our dead loved ones.

During this episode, I had the honor of speaking to Kate Mohan who is a therapist affiliated with Cope with School. Cope with School is an organization that aims to help kids deal with issues that can be affecting their lives in school, one of the main ones being the death of a loved one. Kate shared with me what a normal therapy session looks like and how she helps kids figure out how to... cope with school from a grieving perspective.

In this episode, I got to speak to the staff of Emma's Place which is a grief center on Staten Island. Emma's Place not only has bereavement groups for kids but they also have for adults as they are focused on a whole family approach. They aren't just limited to grief circles, they also have educational support for schools and businesses as well as events that they plan for the whole community. Emma's Place is the true definition of a community of people who come together to help strengthen each other. The full care support that they have for the kids they care for is truly inspirational and one day I hope that there will be more grief centers like Emma's Place. To learn more about Emma's Place, find the link below: https://emmasplacesi.org/

In this episode, I got to speak to Matthew Burgess who is a children's book author based out of Brooklyn, NY. In 2023, he published Sylvester's Letter a book that covers childhood grief. Matthew and I had a great conversation on how books such as the one he recently wrote play a huge part in developing children's sense of grief and overall emotion. We also spoke on what goes into making a book about grief for kids, something that requires a lot of self-reflection by the author. For more reading on Matthew and Sylvester's Letter I have attached a link below: https://www.matthewjohnburgess.com/

This episode I had the honor of meeting with Jill Cohen, a grief counselor based in NYC. Jill told me about her opinions on how grief is different in kids than in adults and also how not all kids express grief in the same manner. We shared our analogies of how grief is in kids, mine being a cell, hers an ice cream sundae. Jill also shared how her experience as a train thanatologist has helped her be the best grief counselor she can be. Listen to hear some great advice on how grief manifests in kids.

Welcome back to Grief Circle! On this episode, I update you all with the current state of my life: college application season. College essays often have us dig back into our lives and think to ourselves, how have we gotten to where we are? This reflection can be nerve-racking for anyone, however, for children who have lost a loved one, this reflection can be very tough. I talk about how I have dealt with sorting through my memories while crafting my college essays.

Enjoy this brief update of me giving some quick updates about how I have been handling grief in my life. I talk about how I have been dealing with grief, especially during a day such as Fathers Day. I also talk about how I have handled grief as I have just started my position in a cancer research lab.

On this episode of Grief Circle with Sammy I spoke with my sister Isabel who was only 8 years old when our dad passed away. She talks about her recent experiences with what it was like not having her dad at her bat mitzvah, which is a pretty big experience for young Jewish girls, and an event which her father couldn't be at. Listen along to hear her story!

Just me in this short episode, however, I talk about something very important. Letting your single or widowed parent date someone else. As grieving children we often get caught in the idea that our parents dating means that they are replacing our other parent, however, this is anything but the truth. Our widowed parent is just trying to find happiness in the world, just as any other person deserves. Listen to hear my perspective as a kid who had to learn to feel comfortable with his widowed mother dating someone.

On this episode, I got to speak with Emma, a junior at Pace University. Emma was only 10 years old when her dad died of sever coronary artery disease. She had no time to say goodbye to him as her family had no clue he even had the disease. One day her brother walked into a bedroom and saw her dad lying on the floor, he tried to wake him up, but he wasn't able to. Listen to hear her story on what it was like dealing with such an immediate death in only the 5th grade.

In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Tory who is a 24-year-old English teacher in Japan. Tory's dad died when she was 18 years old after a 10-month fight with lung cancer. The age of 18 is a very formative age for most people as they are heading off to college and figuring out what they want to do with their lives, now image what this pressure is like after you just lost a parent. Tory talks to me about how she has navigated grief through her time all around the world in Kansas, Canada, and Japan. Listen to hear more about her story.

I wanted to keep this episode brief since I have no guest, however, this episode is about how we shouldn't compartmentalize death. Death and grief are not something that should be left behind or left in 1 "bucket" of your life. It's okay to incorporate death into your work at school, into your conversations with friends, and your daily thoughts. At the end of the day, it's all in honor of your loved one.

While I have no guest this episode, I do sharing some interesting stories and tips about how we need to make death less about us. Often times we feel the need to make our loved ones death about us, but the real story we should be sharing is about our parent, sibling, or friend who is now dead. It can be tough as a kid to put your self in the rearview mirror and change your actions to be about someone else, however, doing this will make you feel better in the long run when you are thinking about how you have honored your loved ones memory.

This episode is a MUST LISTEN! I got to speak with Dr. Lucy Kalanithi, the widow of Dr. Paul Kalanithi, author of When Breath Becomes Air. Some background on Paul, "Paul Sudhir Arul Kalanithi was an American neurosurgeon and writer. His book When Breath Becomes Air is a memoir about his life and illness with stage IV metastatic lung cancer. It was posthumously published." Paul and Lucy decided to have their daughter Cady when he was sick, Cady is now 9. Lucy gave some great stories, tips, and advice on what it has been like raising a daughter who has virtually no memory of her father, only the photos and stories of him. I highly recommend you read the book and hear more about this amazing families story.

In this episode, I speak about how an "adventure" that I recently took gave me a lot of perspective on how we as grieving kids and adults should act in a world where we don't know people's backgrounds. Listen to hear my point of view on how to look at the world from the perspective of a grieving child.

This episode I had the pleasure of meeting with Lyla P. Lyla is a junior in HS and she suddenly lost her mother at 12 years old. Lyla was only in 6th grade and she shares with us her experiences as a young girl who lost her mother too soon. Listen to hear how Lyla has taken on young-adulthood and all the tips she has for children who have lost a loved one too early.

In this episode, I met with Chloé Richards who is currently a student at NYU pursuing a Masters in Journalism. I was introduced to Chloé as she is writing a paper on childhood grief. I was honored to be interviewed for her paper and then we got to speak a little. Chloé lost her dad at 10 and therefore her story is very relevant to the show. Listen to here how her paper and her life story intersect and have taught her great life lessons.

In this episode, I got to speak with middle school guidance counselor, Allison Holtman. I had the pleasure of asking her about how grief fits itself into a kid's life, especially in a school environment. As you can imagine, it is very difficult for a grieving child to go back to school after losing a parent or loved one. Ms. Holtman was able to provide significant insight on what this timeline and emotional rollercoaster looks like for a kid in school during such a tough time in their life.

In this episode there is no special guest, however, I go through the process of summarizing what brought me to make this podcast. My journey to this podcast is one of self-realization (or a series of them). The episode continues with me giving my thoughts on how grief is special to children in its own weird way, while I am no psychologist (by any means), I still do have opinions on how grief shows itself in us kids. Take a listen!

In this episode of Grief Circle with Sammy, I interviewed Dr. Elena Lister who is a childhood and adult psychiatrist specializing in grief. I got to here about her perspective on grief as well as how she gets to help children going through the grief process after they have lost someone. Dr. Lister provides great advice so listen along to hear about tips on how to handle grief in your life.

On this episode of Grief Circle with Sammy, I interviewed a senior at my school named Dylan. When she was in 8th grade she got the devastating news that her friend named Laurel Griggs had died due to a sudden asthma attack. Dealing with the death of a parent is hard, but imagine dealing with the death of a friend your age at only 13 years old, The moral of the story is that its not easy. Laurel was an incredibly talented girl with a bright future ahead of her, read more about her at the link below https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurel_Griggs

In this episode, I come to you all solo with no guest and speak about how grief shapes my perspective of the world and allows me to be a better global citizen because of it. I may sound a little overly philosophical and harsh, however, please know that it comes from a place of great understanding of how many who are like me deal with grief.

Today I met with Emma, a girl who lost her dad to brain cancer at only 13 years old. Emma and I know each other as our moms are in a widows group together - however - this was our first time actually meeting! Tune in to see how the two of us have dealt with things as little as Instagram posts to learning how to drive a car without our dads.

In this episode, I spoke to my close friend Zach who also lost a parent to cancer when he was young. Listen to this episode to learn more about the teen grieving experience and how both Zach and I handled having a parent with cancer in our lives. Also, if you would like to be featured on the podcast, drop your name and email or phone number in the suggestion box and I am happy to reach out to hear your story!

In this episode, I talk about my experience with handling death and grief after I had met with death in my life. When my father died at 12 it was tough to deal with grief, however, I am getting better with it as time goes on. Listen to hear my timeline of grief. Stay tuned for next week's first guest!

Welcome to Grief Circle! Listen to this episode to find out a little more about who I am and about my mission with this podcast. I am excited to share my story and experiences as well as others in the community experiences. Grieving is difficult and I am here to share my story to make YOU feel not alone in this process. Stay tuned for more interviews and stories about grieving and death as a teen because trust me, it's a tough process, but it gets better in the end!