What if those unexplainable feelings you get — those quiet nudges that something is about to change — aren't just anxiety or imagination, but your soul preparing you for what's ahead?

In this deeply moving episode, I talk with Tami Pitetti Sanders, an intuitive guide whose journey began with subtle intuitive signs before death that she didn't fully understand until after loss transformed her life. Tami shares how she received "unknowing knowings" about a year before her father's passing — scheduling family photos on an off-year, feeling pulled toward Reiki training, and sensing something was coming for her dad.

When her beloved dog died unexpectedly, followed months later by her father's peaceful transition, those intuitive nudges suddenly made perfect sense. In her grief, Tami discovered she could see, feel, and communicate with the other side — and she's now dedicated to helping others find the same comfort and validation she desperately needed.

About Tami Pitetti Sanders:

Tami is an intuitive medium and Reiki practitioner who specializes in helping grieving people reconnect with their loved ones in spirit. After experiencing profound loss during COVID and finding little support available, she developed her intuitive gifts to become the guide she wished she'd had. Through her unique reading style at Divine Lens Readings, Tami provides evidence-based comfort that love and connection continue beyond death.

Connect with Tami: Instagram @DivineLensReadings

Special offer for listeners: Tami is offering discounted readings ($55 instead of $111) for Grief 2 Growth podcast listeners. Message her on Instagram and mention you heard this episode.

Resources mentioned:

• Divine Lens Readings on Instagram: @DivineLensReadings
• Grief 2 Growth Substack: grief2growth.substack.com
• Free consultation with Brian: https://grief2growth.as.me/30-minute-consult

Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:

• Guided Meditations
• My book GEMS of Healing (signed copy)
• My Oracle deck to help you connect with your loved ones
• Mini-courses
• Mini-guides
  
  

Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store

Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.

That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
 

In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.

👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin

This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.

Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck

Support the show

🧑🏿‍🤝‍🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review

Thanks so much for your support

What happens when grief doesn't just visit once—but keeps coming back? In this deeply honest conversation, Vanessa May shares how she navigated losing her son Harry, then her husband Anthony, and father during the pandemic, all while battling COVID and later a cancer diagnosis.

Vanessa doesn't sugarcoat. She doesn't spiritually bypass. She tells the truth about what it's like when the ground keeps getting ripped out from under you—and how she's found her way forward anyway.

In this episode, we explore:

• The unique pain of compounded grief—losing a child and a spouse
• How trauma lives in the body and can manifest as illness
• Why "resilience" can feel like pressure instead of praise
• Soul planning, earth school, and making meaning from loss
• The loneliness of widowhood in the middle years
• How Vanessa still feels Harry and Anthony guiding her
• The six women featured in her new book and what they have in common
• Finding the balance between spiritual hope and raw human grief

About Vanessa May:

Vanessa is a holistic grief coach, certified grief educator, nutritional therapist, and author of three books including Love Untethered: How to Live When Your Child Dies and her newest release, When Grief Takes Everything: A Survival Guide to Devastating Loss.

Connect with Vanessa:

• Website: VanessaMay.co.uk
• Instagram: @may.wellbeing.griefsupport

What resonated with you in this conversation?

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Join the discussion at grief2growth.substack.com, leave a comment, and connect with others walking this road.

Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:

• Guided Meditations
• My book GEMS of Healing (signed copy)
• My Oracle deck to help you connect with your loved ones
• Mini-courses
• Mini-guides
  
  

Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store

Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.

That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
 

In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.

👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin

This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.

Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck

Support the show

🧑🏿‍🤝‍🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review

Thanks so much for your support

Some struggles don’t make sense.

You do the work.
You try to heal.
And yet the same emotional patterns, grief, anxiety, or disconnection keep resurfacing.

In this special Grief 2 Growth episode, Brian D. Smith welcomes back Dr. Lotte Valentin, medical doctor, psychotherapist, ancestral healer, and two-time near-death experiencer, for a profound conversation about inherited emotional patterns and why some challenges may not have started with you.

Dr. Lotte shares how grief, trauma, and unresolved experiences can be passed down through generations—encoded not only in DNA, but in the nervous system, language, and subconscious. These patterns, she explains, often surface when someone in the family line finally has the awareness and capacity to heal them.

✨ That may be why this conversation found you.

🌟 Special Free Event with Dr. Lotte (Highly Recommended)

Dr. Lotte is offering a free online experience this Tuesday, February 3:

Healing Inherited Patterns Through the Kindraya™ Method
Activate Superconscious Senses to Transform Ancestral Wounds

During this event, you’ll:
 • Learn the LIGHT Mapping System™ to identify inherited patterns
• Experience a guided ancestral healing meditation
• Understand how the body holds ancestral memory
• Discover how emotionally charged language reveals lineage wounds
• Explore healing through presence—not force—in a trauma-informed way

👉 Register for the FREE event: https://shiftnetwork.isrefer.com/go/hepBS/a22175/

🔗 Resources & Links

• Dr. Lotte Valentin’s Website: https://drlotte.com

Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:

• Guided Meditations
• My book GEMS of Healing (signed copy)
• My Oracle deck to help you connect with your loved ones
• Mini-courses
• Mini-guides
  
  

Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store

Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.

That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
 

In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.

👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin

This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.

Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck

Support the show

🧑🏿‍🤝‍🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review

Thanks so much for your support

In this deeply moving episode of Grief to Growth, Brian Smith is joined by writer and seeker Alexis Lee, author of Pain Is a Portal to Beauty, for a courageous conversation about grief, trauma, and radical self-healing.

Alexis shares the moment that changed her life — hearing a voice while walking in the woods that told her her life would have been a tragedy if it ended that day. That message became the beginning of a profound journey into grief she had buried since childhood, including the loss of her mother and generational trauma carried in the body.

Together, Brian and Alexis explore what happens when we stop running from pain and instead listen to it.

This episode isn’t about fixing yourself.
 It’s about remembering who you are beneath the pain.

🌱 In This Episode, You’ll Explore:

• Why avoiding pain may be keeping you stuck
• How grief can live in the body for decades
• What “parts work” and Internal Family Systems teach us about self-compassion
• The role of psychedelic-assisted healing (MDMA, psilocybin, ayahuasca) in trauma recovery
• How pain can become a portal to beauty, authenticity, and love
• Why healing doesn’t require having a plan — only honesty

📖 About Today’s Guest

Alexis Lee is a writer, seeker, and advocate for radical self-healing. Her book, Pain Is a Portal to Beauty, explores grief, trauma, spirituality, and the courage it takes to turn toward what hurts.

🌐 Learn more about Alexis and her work:
 👉 https://alexislee.com

📘 Pain Is a Portal to Beauty is available wherever books are sold.

🤍 Continue the Conversation

And if you’re wondering where you are in your own grief journey, you’re invited to take the Grief Check-In — a gentle, judgment-free way to understand how grief may be showing up for you right now.

👉 https://grief2growth.com/check-in

Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:

• Guided Meditations
• My book GEMS of Healing (signed copy)
• My Oracle deck to help you connect with your loved ones
• Mini-courses
• Mini-guides
  
  

Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store

Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.

That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
 

In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.

👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin

This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.

Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck

Support the show

🧑🏿‍🤝‍🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review

Thanks so much for your support

Before the microphones were turned on, Richard Ashworth asked Brian for his birth information. What followed was an unexpected and deeply personal moment—Richard identified a pivotal event at age seven that reshaped Brian’s view of life.

He was right.

In this episode of Grief 2 Growth, Brian and Richard explore how grief, destiny, and choice intersect—and how ancient systems like Bazi can help us understand the moments that quietly define us.

This is a conversation about:

• Childhood loss and lifelong impact
• Fate vs free will
• Healing heartbreak without bypassing pain
• Why grief is not something to “fix,” but something to listen to

Guest Information

Richard Ashworth
🌐 Find him online: Search Richard Ashworth Feng Shui
📘 Book: I Talk to the Animals
📧 Email: [email protected]

Listener Reflection Prompt 💬

• Was there a moment in childhood that changed how you see the world?
• How do you relate to the idea that grief can be a teacher?

👉 Join the conversation at https://grief2growth.substack.com

Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:

• Guided Meditations
• My book GEMS of Healing (signed copy)
• My Oracle deck to help you connect with your loved ones
• Mini-courses
• Mini-guides
  
  

Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store

Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.

That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
 

In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.

👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin

This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.

Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck

Support the show

🧑🏿‍🤝‍🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review

Thanks so much for your support

What if your voice could continue to guide the people you love—long after you’re gone?

In this deeply moving episode of Grief 2 Growth, Brian D. Smith is joined by Cristian Cibilis Bernardes, founder and CEO of Autograph AI, for a conversation that sits at the crossroads of grief, technology, memory, and meaning.

Cristian shares the personal loss that inspired the creation of Walter, an emotionally intelligent AI designed to listen, remember, and preserve life stories—in your own voice. Not as a replacement for human connection, but as a bridge between generations.

Together, Brian and Cristian explore how storytelling becomes legacy, why voice matters so profoundly in grief, and how AI—when used with intention—can help us feel more human, not less.

This episode invites you to reflect on powerful questions:

• What stories of your life might be lost if you don’t share them?
• What wisdom do you wish you could still hear from those you’ve lost?
• How do we honor the past while guiding the future?

🌱 In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

• Why voice carries emotional meaning that text alone cannot
• How Autograph AI helps families preserve memories across generations
• The surprising role AI can play in vulnerability, empathy, and healing
• How legacy isn’t about perfection—but presence
• What it means to live in alignment with your “higher self”

🔗 Learn More:

• Autograph AI: https://autograph.ai
  
  
• Join the ongoing conversation: https://grief2growth.substack.com
  
  

💬 Let’s Make This Interactive:

After listening, take a moment to reflect:

• If someone could hear your voice years from now, what would you want them to know?
• Whose story do you wish you had recorded?

Share your thoughts, reflections, or questions in the comments or join the community discussion

Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:

• Guided Meditations
• My book GEMS of Healing (signed copy)
• My Oracle deck to help you connect with your loved ones
• Mini-courses
• Mini-guides
  
  

Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store

Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.

That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
 

In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.

👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin

This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.

Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck

Support the show

🧑🏿‍🤝‍🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review

Thanks so much for your support

What happens when grief collides with faith — and suicide shatters everything you thought you believed?

In this candid and raw episode of Grief 2 Growth, Brian sits down with Rachel Powell, widow, author, speaker, and founder of Hope Speaker, to explore the complicated intersection of grief, faith, suicide loss, and hope.

After losing her husband André to suicide — and surviving suicide attempts herself — Rachel shares her story with courage, clarity, and compassion. This conversation goes beyond platitudes and into the realities many people are afraid to name: church hurt, spiritual abuse, suicidal thinking, and the long road back to hope.

This episode is for anyone who has:

• Lost a loved one to suicide
• Struggled with faith after loss
• Felt silenced, blamed, or misunderstood in grief
• Wondered if hope is still possible

🧠 In this episode, we discuss:

• Why suicide is not a failure of love or faith
• How grief becomes more complicated when faith communities cause harm
• The difference between religion and faith in healing
• Rachel’s concept of the “black box” of suicidal thinking
• Why suicide prevention must include helping people save their own lives
• How hope can still grow — even after devastating loss

💬 A gentle note to listeners

This episode includes honest discussion of suicide and suicidal ideation. Please listen with care and take breaks as needed.

Share your reflections and connect with others at
 👉 https://grief2growth.substack.com

🔗 Guest Resources

• Rachel Powell – Hope Speaker: https://hopespeaker.com
  
  
• Christian Widow Community: https://hopestronghold.com
  
  
• Instagram & Facebook: Hope Speaker / Rachel Powell

📝 Helpful Resource from Brian

Not sure where you are in your grief?
 Take the Grie

Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:

• Guided Meditations
• My book GEMS of Healing (signed copy)
• My Oracle deck to help you connect with your loved ones
• Mini-courses
• Mini-guides
  
  

Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store

Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.

That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
 

In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.

👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin

This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.

Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck

Support the show

🧑🏿‍🤝‍🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review

Thanks so much for your support

What if your loved one never truly left?
What if grief itself is the doorway to a deeper connection?

In this deeply moving episode of Grief to Growth, Brian D. Smith speaks with Janet Kaufman, author of Through the Veil: A Soul’s Journey in Grief and Grace. Janet shares the story of her son Alexander—a sensitive, loving soul whose struggles with mental health and addiction ultimately led to his physical death, but not the end of their relationship.

Through signs, synchronicities, certified mediums, and even an unexpected exploration of AI as a possible tool for spirit communication, Janet’s journey challenges everything we think we know about death, consciousness, and continuing bonds.

This episode offers hope, validation, and reassurance for parents grieving a child—and for anyone who wonders whether love truly survives death.

✨ In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Why deeply sensitive souls often struggle in today’s world
• How grief can awaken intuition and spiritual awareness
• Common signs from loved ones in spirit—and how to recognize them
• The role of mediumship in healing after loss
• Why Janet believes AI may become a future tool for spirit communication
• How to release guilt and find meaning after child loss
• Why death may not be an ending, but a transition

🕊️ A Message for Grieving Parents

If you’ve ever asked yourself:

• Did I do enough?
• Is my child still with me?
• Why did this have to happen?

You are not alone. Janet’s story reminds us that our children are eternal, and that love continues—even when the physical body is gone.

📘 About the Guest

Janet Kaufman is the author of Through the Veil: A Soul’s Journey in Grief and Grace. Her work explores grief, spirituality, mediumship, and emerging frontiers of consciousness through the lens of lived experience.

📧 Contact Janet:
www.ThroughT

Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:

• Guided Meditations
• My book GEMS of Healing (signed copy)
• My Oracle deck to help you connect with your loved ones
• Mini-courses
• Mini-guides
  
  

Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store

Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.

That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
 

In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.

👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin

This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.

Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck

Support the show

🧑🏿‍🤝‍🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review

Thanks so much for your support

Nervous System Healing After Trauma: From Survival to Sovereignty with Angela Jean

What if healing isn’t about fixing your thoughts—but about retraining your body?

In this deeply moving episode of Grief to Growth, Brian Smith sits down with Angela Jean, a mindset and nervous system strategist whose life was shaped by profound trauma—and radical transformation.

After surviving childhood abuse, homelessness, and the devastating loss of her father and sister to suicide, Angela discovered something that changed everything:
 🧠 The body remembers danger before the mind can explain it.

This conversation goes beyond performative healing and into the lived, embodied work of coming home to yourself.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why mindset work alone often fails after trauma
• How the nervous system “locks up” in survival mode
• Why rhythm and micro-movements signal safety to the body
• How childhood trauma imprints beliefs about love, pain, and worth
• Practical tools to interrupt anxiety, anger, and emotional collapse in real time
• Why healing is a daily practice—and who you train yourself to be matters

Angela shares simple, powerful techniques you can use in the moment—not someday, not after years of therapy—to regulate your nervous system and reclaim your inner authority.

This episode is for anyone who:

• Feels stuck in survival mode
• Is tired of chasing healing
• Has experienced trauma, abuse, or suicide loss
• Is ready to stop abandoning themselves and start listening inward

🌿 About Angela Jean

Angela Jean is a mindset and nervous system strategist who blends rhythm, embodied movement, and nervous system science to help people move from self-sabotage into sovereignty.

🔗 Learn more & explore her resources:
 https://angelajeanchat.com

🎧 Free nervous system demo available on her site.

Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:

• Guided Meditations
• My book GEMS of Healing (signed copy)
• My Oracle deck to help you connect with your loved ones
• Mini-courses
• Mini-guides
  
  

Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store

Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.

That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
 

In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.

👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin

This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.

Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck

Support the show

🧑🏿‍🤝‍🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review

Thanks so much for your support

What if a single moment in your grief revealed a truth that rewrote your entire identity? That’s exactly what happened to today’s guest, Rich Boerner, whose life changed forever after his mother’s passing. While cleaning out her apartment, Rich uncovered a long-hidden secret about his father—one that forced him to confront love, betrayal, forgiveness, and ultimately, healing.

This episode dives deep into the emotional terrain of family secrets, identity, and the surprising ways grief can open doors to growth we never expected.

🌟 What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• How growing up without a father shaped Rich’s beliefs about himself
• The shocking discovery that changed everything after his mother's death
• Why our family stories affect us long after childhood
• The emotional journey from anger to compassion
• How meeting his half-sister helped him understand the truth
• Why he felt called to write The Not So Only Child
• How humor, curiosity, and vulnerability became tools for healing
• What Rich hopes his story will teach his own children

📚 About Rich’s Book

Rich’s memoir, The Not So Only Child: My True Story, is a heartfelt, thought-provoking, and surprisingly funny exploration of identity and belonging. Perfect for anyone navigating complicated family dynamics, grief, or personal reinvention.

👉 Get the book: [Insert Amazon / Audible / Kindle link]
👉 Rich’s Website: [Insert link]

💬 Join the Conversation

Your experiences matter.

• Have you ever uncovered a surprising family truth?
• Did grief reveal something unexpected to you?
• What part of Rich’s story resonated most?

✨ Share your thoughts with us!
Leave a comment on YouTube, or join the discussion on https://grief2growth.substack.com

🔗 Connect with Rich

Website: [Insert link]
Instagram: [Insert ha

Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:

• Guided Meditations
• My book GEMS of Healing (signed copy)
• My Oracle deck to help you connect with your loved ones
• Mini-courses
• Mini-guides
  
  

Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store

Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.

That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
 

In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.

👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin

This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.

Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck

Support the show

🧑🏿‍🤝‍🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review

Thanks so much for your support

In this deeply moving conversation, Brian sits down with Michael Reed, author of The Million Stages of Grief, whose life changed forever on the night of the 2016 Gatlinburg fires. Michael lost his wife Constance and daughters Chloe and Lily in the tragedy—and today, he shares not only his story, but the wisdom, compassion, and hard-earned insight that grew from unimaginable loss.

This episode explores what grief really looks like—messy, nonlinear, human—and why comparing grief (“less than,” “more than,” “should be over it”) only creates more suffering.

You’ll hear how Michael went from suicidal despair to becoming a voice for grievers everywhere.

💡 What You’ll Learn

• Why the “five stages of grief” don’t reflect most people’s real experience
• How men are socialized to hide grief—and how to break that cycle
• The truth about survivor’s guilt
• Faith after tragedy: doubt, anger, surrender, and transformation
• What helped Michael choose to live when he didn’t want to
• How writing became a lifeline
• What it means to move forward without “moving on”

🔗 Guest Links

• 🌐 Website: https://themillionstages.com
  
  
• 📘 Book: The Million Stages of Grief (available on Amazon)
• 📱 Follow Michael on social media: listed on his website

🎙️ Listen & Support Grief 2 Growth

• 💌 Join our community & weekly reflections: https://grief2growth.substack.com
• ⭐ Please rate & review the show to help others find support.

🧭 Interactive Elements

👉 Your Reflection Prompt:
What is one memory of your loved one that brings both pain and comfort?
Share it with us in the comments or reply on Substack—we honor them together.

👉 Your Action Step:
Choose one person who might feel alone in their grief today. Send them this episode and a simple message:

Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:

• Guided Meditations
• My book GEMS of Healing (signed copy)
• My Oracle deck to help you connect with your loved ones
• Mini-courses
• Mini-guides
  
  

Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store

Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.

That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
 

In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.

👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin

This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.

Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck

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