10 Grief Podcasts To Tune Into
When going through something as life-changing as loss, it can be helpful to remain open to all available resources to help find the comfort, community, and validation needed to move through your grief and toward healing.
You might look to a support group, a creative project, a good book, a trusted friend, a counselor, or even a podcast.
It might not be the first resource that comes to mind when you think about coping with grief, but a surprising number of podcasts are entirely devoted to death, dying, grief, and loss.
Here are a few worth checking out.
When death is treated as an “off-limits” topic of discussion, grief can be incredibly lonely and isolating.
The Dougy Center for Grieving Children & Families presents “Grief Out Loud” as a space to discuss death plainly, learn from others’ experiences, and hear from some bereavement professionals.
Michael Cruz Kayne covers all aspects of grief—from the expected sad to the surprisingly funny—with various comedians, friends, and other guests.
There’s a reason they say “laughter is the best medicine,” and this podcast proves that point over and over.
In a similar space to “A Good Cry,” Grief Cast’s goal is to provide community and candor to those part of “the club no one asked to join.”
Host, Cariad Lloyd, describes their podcast: “My goal right from the beginning was that I wanted it to be a podcast that, when it stopped, you didn’t feel worse.”
Hosted by two mental health professionals, Eleanor Haley and Litsa Williams, “What’s Your Grief?” seeks to “demystify” living after loss in a straightforward way that’s easy to digest.
The tagline on this podcast reads:
“no tilted heads.
no soothing tones.
just real world grief talk.”
The Mindfulness and Grief Podcast
This podcast is hosted by Heather Stang, an accredited yoga therapist, author, and thanatologist (think, death-positive movement expert).
Whether you already have a mindfulness practice and would like to use it in your grieving or want to try meditation for the first time, this podcast could be a beautiful place to start.
All There Is with Anderson Cooper
Broadcast journalist Anderson Cooper physically and emotionally goes through everything his family members left behind after their deaths.
This is a deeply personal journey, yet it also has plenty to say about grief, love, and laughter to anyone going through loss.
If you’ve ever given a breezy “fine, thanks” when asked how you are, this podcast is here for you. Author Nora McInerny invites her guests to answer the question “How are you?” fully and honestly.
This can help us feel less alone during difficult times and may even encourage us to answer honestly the next time someone checks in on us.
Dying, death, loss, and grief can be really scary topics, in part because we just don’t talk about them freely.
Co-hosted by Licensed Mental Health Counselor Diane Brennan, the goal of this podcast is to open up the door to difficult conversations and to provide useful information about grief and loss—inviting the listener to become more curious and less afraid of sometimes scary topics.
Hosted by a bereaved mother who lost her son to suicide; this is a suicide-grief-specific podcast. There is a mix of conversations with mental health professionals and others grieving a loss from suicide.
The main message of this podcast is that we must learn to live alongside our grief, not “get over” it.
Nancy Saxton-Lopez and Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, authors of the bestselling book The Pet Loss Companion, host this podcast and discuss all the joys and sorrows that come along with sharing our lives with beloved animals.
If you find that listening to grief and loss-focused podcasts are helpful, remember there are still plenty more out there worth exploring. Binge series, pop into a few episodes, or skip the ones that aren’t right for you.
Not a fan of sitting still? Try pairing your podcast with another activity– coloring, knitting, going for a nature walk, baking, or anything that is healing, restorative, or feels good.
Remember, podcasts are just one of many ways to help cope with loss and grief. This is about using the resources that work best for you.
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