Real Talk with Life After Grief Chris

In this week's episode, I talk all about Self Care.  I have spoken loosely about self care over the last few seasons.  I was recently asked, "How Do I Self Care?"  I go into detail about the self care wheel I use.  I also provide a ton of examples with regard to each part of the self care wheel.  

I hope you enjoy this week's episode.  

Cheers & see you on the next episode!

Support the Show.

...

Have you ever heard of a Certified Divorce Coach?  I recently met and had the pleasure of interviewing Debra Doak.  Debbie is a Certified Divorce Coach.  She helps with those hard decisions concerning marriage, divorce, money and life. 

My initial exposure to Debbie was based on a presentation she did about Financial Abuse.  And boy, was I blown away with her expertise.

I was simply amazed with her wealth of kno...

In this week's episode, I share some listener feedback. I was simply wowed at  the folks who reached out to me to share their trauma experiences. I was equally amazed how certain therapies, including EMDR really helped them.  

Some of the listeners I spoke to talked about the gravity of their trauma such as: abuse, molestation, death, addiction, racial trauma and many other forms of trauma. I took solace in the fact t...

In today's episode I want to talk about trauma therapy.  Specifically, one that I have experienced called EMDR.  EMDR is short for Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing.

Let me describe EMDR in layman’s terms.  Imagine  walking past a grassy area and have no emotional response.  Imagine, I walk by that same grassy area and my heart begins to race, I get anxious, I start to get very nervous, my mind starts racing and I start...

Depression is a subject not often talked about by men.  In this episode, I will talk about my experience with depression.  I also talk about how I identified periods in my life where I experienced depression.  With a ton of support and resources at my fingertips, I have a steady flow of positivity that helps me deal with extreme hardship and trauma.  You will hear ongoing habits that I have instilled to help me avoid emotional pitf...

Greetings and welcome to episode 4 of Season 6-Racism and Discrimination

I decided to reboot a previous episode on the subject.  As I have gotten older, and maybe wiser, I understand the traumatic effects of dealing with years of unsolicited biases due to the color of my skin.  

In this episode, I describe some horrible experiences I have had with racism and discrimination.  These experiences have been  both emoti...

Greetings and welcome to Episode 3.  In this week's episode, I use a personal example of a traumatic event to demonstrate its emotional effects.  

I share the many emotional and physical effects of trauma.

I share what trauma looks and feels like.  

My hope is to normalize trauma and shed light on the subject.

I hope you like this week's episode.

Cheers and see you next week.  

...

Welcome back to Real Talk with Life After Grief Chris episode 2. In this episode, I go into further detail about trauma. Listen in as I provide a personal example as well as the emotional and physical effects.

Trauma is not something we create, but something from which we recover.   

I also provide a link, which details the dramatic effects on both the mind and body.  themind.org.uk 

See you on the next...

Welcome back to Real Talk with Life After Grief Chris.  We have made it to Season 6 with a tremendous amount of support.  

This season is all about Trauma.

On the heels of releasing a lot of information at the tail end of Season 5, I thought a natural extension would be a deep dive into trauma.  

As trauma can very emotional and triggering, I am going to be very thoughtful as to any potential guests as I ...

Allow me to Re-Introduce myself..... 

I have been leading up to some very traumatic stuff that has happened in  life. I thought that I should lead up to the next podcast (where I fully disclose) with my initial  introduction before I could no longer hide what transpired.  

Below is what I used to introduce myself on my inaugural podcast. 

I am  both a financial planner to clients and consultant to other f...

Coming on the heels of the first of a 3 part mini-series.  In last week's episode, I shared a surprise that would lead me down a dark path of discovery, highlighting significant traumas early in my life.  

I've been told that my willingness to share will help others. If you are wondering if I received help dealing with these traumas----the answer is yes.  As I advise anyone of my grieving clients to seek the guid...

I have been leading up to some heavy stuff this season.  I have also been told that my willingness to share my experiences with trauma could ultimately help others with theirs.  I am opening up about some of the traumas of my past.  

Infidelity and Child Abuse are often taboo topics.  Unfortunately, I have trauma from both as they overlapped most of my life.  Take listen to my story.  If it resonates, I hope it helps you. ...

Today I had the extreme pleasure of interviewing and learning from Megan Kopka, CFP®, CRPC®.  Megan is wonderful financial planner with a ton of experience in both life and career. 

Megan is also a widow who had the daunting experience of being a caregiver for her husband, while raising two children.  Her ability to not only make it through the experience, but to help others in their journey, is truly remarkable.  I am ho...

In today's episode I talk about grief reminders.  I want to be clear that grief reminders are different than grief triggers.

I explore the technical definition by the Mayo Clinic.

I also use a personal example of a grief reminder that I recently experienced.

I also mention free resources for Grief Trigger support.

If you like this episode, please free to pass this along to any friends, famil...

In today's episode I have the distinct pleasure of RE-Introducing Carolyn Moor.  Although she needs no introduction, Carolyn was the first to introduce me to the idea of Super Survivors.  She is well known as the founder and director of the Modern Widows Club.

Today, I have the honor of picking Carolyn's brain in terms of what made her a Super Survivor.  

We focus on 4 main areas:

Choose Life:  ...

Super Survivors Volunteer! Super Survivors Volunteer!! Super Survivors Volunteer!!!  I have spoken in previous podcasts about the power of volunteering.  In this podcast I talk about 10 definitive benefits of volunteering.  Furthermore, Super Survivors embrace volunteering in the format of striving to help others. 

Here are the 10 benefits mentioned above:

1. Provides you with a sense of purpose
You may be ab...

In this final episode of season 5, I interview my brother, Mike.  His experiences coupled with mine bring our shared experience full circle.  Forgiveness is the key.  Looking at the bright side of life does make things better.  We survived with a lot of trauma along the way.  Our hope is that by talking about the hard stuff, it allows just one other person the ability to change the trajectory of their life.

Please feel fre...

In this episode we explore Brain Fog.  Simply stated, Brain Fog is the brain's way of protecting itself.

Brain Fog  clouds memory function during times of grief, trauma or extreme stress.   Specifically, concentration and  mental acuity are affected.  

I noted having a hard time juggling normal tasks without feeling overwhelmed.  I also seemed to forget things with regularity until the brain fog passed.  

In today’s podcast I have the distinct pleasure of interviewing Lisa McFarland.  If you recall I interviewed Lisa in Season 3.  Lisa is a mother who has thrived through significant grief from child loss, divorce and caring for a special needs child. 

In our conversation today, we talk at length about her uncanny ability to become a Super Survivor. During her explanation you will understand the four areas in which Lisa has ...