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Nathalie Himmelrich

Inspiring Hope | Finding healthy ways of Grieving | Writer

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podcast

Shannon Traphagen on Vulnerability and Loneliness as a Widow | Episode 36

April 17, 2023 By Nathalie Himmelrich Leave a Comment

Shannon Traphagen

HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA is completely self, funded, produced, and edited by me, Nathalie Himmelrich.
Consider making a small donation to support the Podcast here. Thank you! 

Today on the podcast I am speaking with Shannon Traphagen about the loss of the love of her life and best friend from brain cancer. She so beautifully describes feeling rudderless and lost after having spent all her adult life with her husband. Before her husband’s diagnosis, they were on the road to adoption but due to his illness, they also lost that option. Shannon slept downstairs on the couch for a year to avoid the loneliness of the bedroom she had shared with her husband and the baby’s room across the hallway. She slowly worked her way back into embracing her life and now helps others through her podcast. Shannon speaks about vulnerability and loneliness, a topic she feels is not discussed enough in grief. 

About this week’s guest 

Shannon Traphagen, MSW, is a published author, motivational grief & loss speaker, patient advocate, and host of The Game On Glio Podcast. A show centered around the stories of brain cancer patients, caregivers, doctors, researchers, therapists, and grief and loss journeys. With a background in magazine publishing, social work, and modern media, Shannon is also walking through her own grief journey after losing her 45-year-old husband to Glioblastoma two years ago. She now helps others through her podcast and her own experiences, bridging the gap in communication between patients/families, widows, and the medical community. She is also the founder of Traphagen’s Trail Ride 4 Brain Cancer, a cycling fundraiser which has raised over $30,000 to date for brain cancer clinical trials. 

Shannon’s links:

  • Website
  • IG @gameongliopodcast
  • LinkTree

Topics discussed in this episode

  • Miscarriages
  • The diagnosis of brain cancer of her husband led to the loss of adoption in the process
  • The death of her husband from glioblastoma
  • How to come to ‘I’m ok with this (loss)’ 
  • Vulnerability and loneliness
  • Secondary losses
  • Finding resilience through creating meaning

Resources mentioned in this episode

  • Podcast episode with Amber who also lost her husband from brain cancer

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. 

Filed Under: podcast, child loss, grief support, grief/loss, partner loss, trauma, widow/widower Tagged With: adoption, brain cancer, brain cancer research, game on glio podcast, glioblastoma, grieving, loss of adoption, podcast, reslience, secondary loss, vulnerability, widow

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

October 31, 2022 By Nathalie Himmelrich Leave a Comment

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.

Filed Under: podcast, grief support, grief/loss, loss of parent, trauma Tagged With: depression, driving driving crash, drunk driving, growing up without a mother, magic of ilfe, magic of life foundation, michael gershe, mother loss, podcast, suicidal thoughts, suicide

NEWS: Podcast coming soon!

May 30, 2022 By Nathalie Himmelrich 8 Comments

I am excited to let you know that I have been working diligently on my podcast for the last few months and it is ready to be released in June.

The podcast is called: How to deal with Grief & Trauma. I interview people like you, and together we find out how everyday people deal with their specific loss experience and how they deal with the potential traumatic aspect of it.

Stay tuned for more information by signing up here.

Help me choose – mint or grey?

Which one of the two podcast covers from above do you prefer?

Please write a comment below and let me know: mint or grey?

Ask this question!

If you like, let me know what questions you would like me to ask the interviewees.

Filed Under: podcast Tagged With: grief and trauma podcast, how to deal with grief, how to deal with trauma, interview grief trauma, podcast

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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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