Nathalie Himmelrich

Inspiring Hope | Finding healthy ways of Grieving | Writer

grief support

Nathalie with Sharna Southan on the Changes Needed in Pregnancy Loss Support | Episode 21

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Sharna Southan
Sharna Southan

Today on the podcast I’m speaking with Sharna who I’ve come to appreciate as a force for change in regard to the support offered to women in dealing with their pregnancy loss, a passion we have in common.

Talking about her missed miscarriage Sharna shares:

…never experienced contractions before so I didn’t know that’s what I was experiencing until I got to the hospital until they told me then what was going on. They also told me that one in four pregnancies ends in loss and I was like: “Well, then why do I feel like I’m the only one? Why is there not enough information? Why does no one talk about this?” I felt like I was living under a rock, like where have I been my whole life to not know about this?

Sharna Southan

About this week’s guest

Sharna Southan is an ICF-certified coach, a mum to her rainbow baby, a business owner and a wife. She followed her heart and soul into business after her own pregnancy loss in 2017. Sharna firmly believes that our adversity gives us an opportunity to grow.

She founded The Institute of Healing through Pregnancy Loss supporting loss parents with her transformative Pregnancy Loss recovery method and teaching her signature Pregnancy Loss Practitioner™️ Certification Program.

Check out Sharna’s Instagram here.

Topics discussed in this episode

  • Dealing with the loss of her father at the age of nineteen, led to depression, anxiety, panic attacks
  • Missed miscarriage and the trauma of miscarrying
  • Feeling isolated in not knowing that 1 in 4 pregnancies ends in loss
  • Lack of information and support on what miscarriage means emotionally, and physically and what it may require in care
  • Finding help through professional support

Resources mentioned in this episode

Links

–> For more information, please visit Nathalie’s website.

–> Subscribe to the newsletter to receive updates on future episodes here.

–> Join the podcast’s Instagram page.

Thanks for listening to HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA. If you’d like to be updated on future episodes, please subscribe to my newsletter on Nathalie Himmelrich.com

If you need grief support, please contact me for a FREE 30 min discovery session.

HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA is produced and edited by me, Nathalie Himmelrich.

Support this Podcast

To support this podcast, please rate, review, subscribe to, or follow the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you.

Remember to keep breathing, I promise, it will get easier.

Nathalie with Katja Faber on Continuing Living While Grieving After Homicide Loss Part 2 | Episode 20

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Katja Faber

Today on the podcast I have the pleasure to delve deeper with Katja Faber, who has been a guest on the Podcast in Season 1. If you haven’t already, go check out her episode which has been one of most downloaded and listener showed a clear interest to know more.
Among other things, today Katja and I speak about the important topic of victim blaming and defamation, the changes in personality due to dealing with such a traumatic loss and the loss of innocence.

Katja shares:

I cannot image that however much I have come to accept the reality, that I’m a loss mother I will ever accept that Alex is dead. These are just two things that I can know for myself that this is something I am now. That my son does not live anymore, I still struggle with. And I always will.

About this week’s guest

Katja Faber is the mother of three children. Following her 23-year-old son’s murder in Switzerland, she used her legal training to work closely with lawyers and the State Prosecutor to secure justice for her dead son. Through her writing at Still Standing Magazine and other grief-related publications she hopes to break the taboo of homicide loss and child loss. She runs her own fruit farm and is an advocate of ecotherapy as a means of finding healing following traumatic loss. Katja is a certified Compassionate Bereavement Care® counselor through the Center for Loss and Trauma in partnership with the MISS Foundation and the Elisabeth Kubler-Ross Family Trust.

Make sure to listen to the podcast to the very end as there are some gems to be found there. I am sure you will enjoy and learn from today’s episode.

Katja’s Links:

Topics discussed in this episode

  • The challenges of being in court, both as a grieving mother and as a plaintiff
  • The invaluable support of friends and family
  • Victim blaming and defamation
  • The changes in her personality
  • The loss of innocence

Links

–> For more information, please visit Nathalie’s website.

–> Subscribe to the newsletter to receive updates on future episodes here.

–> Join the podcast’s Instagram page.

Thanks for listening to HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA. If you’d like to be updated on future episodes, please subscribe to my newsletter on Nathalie Himmelrich.com

If you need grief support, please contact me for a FREE 30 min discovery session.

HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA is produced and edited by me, Nathalie Himmelrich.

Support this Podcast

To support this podcast, please rate, review, subscribe to, or follow the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you.

Remember to keep breathing, I promise, it will get easier.

Nathalie with Michael Gershe on the Loss of His Mother Through a Drunk Driver | Episode 17

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Michael Gershe

Michael started with loss very early in his life when his mother got killed in a car accident leaving behind two boys and their father. Michael was 8 weeks old at the time and magically recovered after having almost all the bones in his tiny body broken. 
It took Michael a big part of his life to figure out how to deal with grief, depression, and suicidal thoughts at the same time while creating a legacy by offering programs to create awareness in young people about drinking and driving.
Michael shares how working with a therapist helped him look at the ways in which he had modeled avoiding his feelings of grief and what tools supported him in overcoming his suicidal thoughts.

Michael says:

She hit me pretty hard the very first day when I was going in there thinking I’m going to talk about my aunt and my father’s death. Her first question was: hey let’s talk about your mother’s death and how that impacted all your relationships. I was like… I was stunned. I was like there’s a knockout punch. I didn’t want to talk about that even at age 47 I still didn’t want to really talk about that in-depth, but she was right, I had to.

Michael Gershe

About this week’s guest 

Michael Gershe is a survivor of a drunk driving crash that killed his mother and nearly himself when he was 8 weeks old. Despite breaking almost all his bones in the crash, he went on to become a collegiate swimmer, comedian, speaker, author, college educator, and photographer. With over 25 years of experience on stage, Michael has presented his programs at schools, colleges, military bases, courts, and even a TEDx talk.  He uses humor, audience participation, and his story for an educational and inspirational message. In 2015 he founded The Magic of Life Foundation, a non-profit organization, that helps his mission of eliminating impaired driving making communities safer, and empowering people to make better choices in life. In 2019, he published his memoir, The Magic of Life: A Son’s Story After Tragedy, Grief and a Speedo. 

His website: The Magic of Life Foundation 

Topics discussed in this episode

  • Loss of mom, father, and aunt led to the understanding of what had been modeled about dealing or not dealing with grief 
  • Suicidal thoughts, depression
  • Learning about healthy ways of grief, and anger, instead of hiding the pain
  • Drunk driving – wanting to make a difference through his programs 

Resources mentioned in this episode

  • The Magic of Life Foundation  
  • EMDR Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

Links

–> For more information, please visit Nathalie’s website. 

–> Subscribe to the newsletter to receive updates on future episodes here.

–> Join the podcast’s Instagram page.

Thanks for listening to HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA. If you’d like to be updated on future episodes, please subscribe to my newsletter on Nathalie Himmelrich.com

If you need grief support, please contact me for a FREE 30 min discovery session.

HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA is produced and edited by me, Nathalie Himmelrich. 

Support this Podcast

To support this podcast, please rate, review, subscribe to, or follow the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you.

Remember to keep breathing, I promise, it will get easier.

Nathalie with Lisa Boehm on the Loss of Her Teenage Daughter | Episode 16

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Lisa Boehm
Lisa Boehm

Lisa Boehm heard a knock at the door just as she had gone to bed, and it was the police coming to let her know that her teenage daughter had died in a head-on collision.
Lisa tells us how she picked up the pieces of her shattered life and how she found ways to thrive and not just survive. From getting support from other moms in her community she now offers support to grieving moms.  

Lisa says:

I think I learned a lot from other grieving moms who were further down the path. Sometimes it was just little snippets that they would say or different things… They gave me hope and I think learning that everybody copes with grief differently, that little nugget right there was enough to carry us through.

Lisa Boehm

About this week’s guest

Lisa K. Boehm’s life changed forever when her daughter died suddenly in a car accident. She quickly discovered that our society struggles with death, loss, and grieving and has made it her mission to change that. In her book Journey to HEALING: A Mother’s Guide to Navigating Child Loss, she shares her experience with grief and how it intensified her love for her daughter. Now she focuses on gratitude and living intentionally as a way to honour her daughter’s memory. Lisa is an author, speaker, and certified grief educator who helps bereaved moms move beyond the pain to find peace and purpose.

Website: www.griefsupportformoms.com

IG @griefsupportformoms

Topics discussed in this episode

  • The loss of her teenage daughter Katie
  • Suicidal thoughts and anger
  • Surrounding herself with other women in the community
  • Journaling as a resource to deal with grief
  • Differences in grieving styles among family members
  • Teenager’s grief/sibling’s grief

Resources mentioned in this episode

Links

–> For more information, please visit Nathalie’s website.

–> Subscribe to the newsletter to receive updates on future episodes here.

–> Join the podcast’s Instagram page.

Thanks for listening to HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA. If you’d like to be updated on future episodes, please subscribe to my newsletter on Nathalie Himmelrich.com

If you need grief support, please contact me for a FREE 30 min discovery session.

HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA is produced and edited by me, Nathalie Himmelrich.

Support this Podcast

To support this podcast, please rate, review, subscribe to, or follow the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you.

Remember to keep breathing, I promise, it will get easier.

Nathalie with Sharon Ehlers on Dealing With Suicide | Episode 13

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Sharon Ehlers Dealing with Suicide

Today Sharon Ehlers and I dive into the topic of loss by suicide. We both share how we dealt with losing close people who took their own lives. 

Sharon has lost multiple people in her life, two of which died by suicide. She shares so generously about all the tools and resources she found along her way that helped her deal with the losses after she realized that she wasn’t coping at all with the first loss of her best friend Joy. Attending to her grief and learning about death opened things for Sharon she wouldn’t want to miss and she says: 

The one thing that has changed that I wouldn’t want to miss is the fact of finding what feeds your soul. Certainly, as an intellectual person, it’s been about work all of my life and achieving to the point of craziness. And so now it’s like, what feeds your soul, and, in many cases, it may not be what you currently do. It may not be your work, maybe something else. And finding that is important.

Sharon Ehlers

About this week’s guest 

Sharon Ehlers’ grief and trauma journey began when her best friend as well as her former fiancé both died by suicide within two years of each other. Then her beloved Dad died unexpectedly from a fall. She was confused about why so many people either avoided her or didn’t want to talk about these events. Sharon tried to make sense of it all on her own, but “grief brain” made it tough to figure out what resources were available to help her. 

After years of struggling, Sharon conceptualized a multidimensional approach to grief and loss using Reiki and other spirituality-based tools. This eventually became her successful book, Grief Reiki® – An Integrated Approach to the Emotional, Physical and Spiritual Components of Grief and Loss. She also co-authored Grief Diaries: Surviving Loss by Suicide a finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Book Excellence Awards, and the Best Book Awards. 

Besides being an award-winning author, Sharon is also a Master Grief Coach Grief, Death Midwife, Reiki Master Teacher, and Medical Reiki Master. She has three beautiful children and lives in Los Angeles, CA. Her best lesson in life is: “Miracles do happen.”

Sharon’s Website: www.grief-reiki.com 

Topics discussed in this episode

  • Suicide: Sharon’s best friend Joy and ex-partner John both died by suicide
  • The death of Sharon’s father 
  • Dealing with the topic of suicide and the grief and trauma following a suicide
  • Trying to understand suicide and depression
  • ‘How did it happen?’ – the repercussions of this question 

Resources mentioned in this episode

Links

–> For more information, please visit Nathalie’s website. 

–> Subscribe to the newsletter to receive updates on future episodes here.

–> Join the podcast’s Instagram page.

Thanks for listening to HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA. If you’d like to be updated on future episodes, please subscribe to my newsletter on Nathalie Himmelrich.com

If you need grief support, please contact me for a FREE 30 min discovery session.

HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA is produced and edited by me, Nathalie Himmelrich. 

Support this Podcast

To support this podcast, please rate, review, subscribe to, or follow the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you.

Remember to keep breathing, I promise, it will get easier. 

SPECIAL Podcast Episode: Nathalie with Chris on Grief Eleven Years Later | Episode 12

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Nathalie with Chris on Grief Eleven Years Later | Episode 12

Today I speak with my ex-husband and the father of our children. We reflect on eleven years since the death of our younger twin daughter A’Mya. In doing this we are spending time speaking about her, honoring her place in our lives, and, as I’d like to see it: spending time parenting her.

Our conversation was moving and opened my eyes to parts of Chris’ grief that I wasn’t aware of.

Chris says the following about his personal experience of grief:

It is a constant thing; it never goes away. It often pops up in little moments, sometimes catches you unexpectedly and all of a sudden, it’s like: Oh, I wasn’t thinking about these things and here it is. And I think that will happen all my life. You know, there’s going to be all sorts of key moments in Ananda Mae’s life where I’ll be wondering what would have been like two of them, what would A’Mya have been like. How would she have been? I think that’s natural.

Chris Young

I, Nathalie cannot say this often enough:

I think that is so important for people to understand that this is not something that goes away. It’s just like my mother she will always be my mother and there are key moments that I miss her more and then key moments where it is less present. But this is not going to go away because she’s dead. Part of her not being here present physically is a topic, the same way as for me, for you, for Ananda Mae, it’s a topic that her sister is not growing up with her.

Nathalie Himmelrich

About this week’s guest

Chris and Nathalie are the parents of Ananda Mae and A’Mya, twin girls who do not grow up with each other. As their parents, they do their best at raising one here on earth and the other in the beyond, wherever that is.

Topics discussed in this episode

  • What we both remember from our story of loss and trauma
  • Individual differences in grieving and dealing with grief
  • Ongoing grief, what that looks like eleven years later
  • Parenting the non-physical child
  • Sibling’s grief

Resources mentioned in this episode

Links

–> For more information, please visit Nathalie’s website.

–> Subscribe to the newsletter to receive updates on future episodes here.

–> Join the podcast’s Instagram page.

Thanks for listening to HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA. If you’d like to be updated on future episodes, please subscribe to my newsletter on Nathalie Himmelrich.com

If you need grief support, please contact me for a FREE 30 min discovery session.

HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA is produced and edited by me, Nathalie Himmelrich.

Support this Podcast

To support this podcast, please rate, review, subscribe to, or follow the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you.

Remember to keep breathing, I promise, it will get easier.

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    Nathalie Himmelrich

    I accompany people therapeutically as a holistic counsellor and coach.

    I walk alongside people dealing with the challenges presented by life and death.

    I’m also a writer and published author of multiple grief resource books and the founder of the Grieving Parents Support Network.

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