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
- Grief Education Program: The Grief Recovery Method
- Death Midwife Program: Sacred Crossings
- Learn More About Reiki: International Association of Reiki Practitioners
- Medical Reiki: Medical Reiki International
- Suicide Loss Support Group: Didi Hirsch Suicide Prevention & Counseling (Los Angeles)
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.
