What Now? On the threshold of life, death, and grief.

Regular listeners will remember back in season 2 when Mary-Frances O’Connor joined us to discuss her groundbreaking book The Grieving Brain. For those who haven’t had the chance to hear this episode (S2E9) it is worth the time. 

In this episode, we are very pleased to have Mary-Frances return to discuss her follow-up book, The Grieving Body. In this conversation, we explore how grief is experienced in our bodies—specifically the hea...

In this episode we have the great privilege to speak with Christopher Rhoden. We recorded our conversation on April 4th 2025. Twenty-one days later, on April 25th, Chris died of glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer of the brain. We are so honoured to have met Chris and share this time with him and we offer our sincere condolences to his family and friends. 

At this point in Chris' journey his cancer was quite advanced and can be ...

We're thrilled to welcome grief expert, trauma psychotherapist, and author Meghan Riordan Jarvis to the podcast. In 2024, Meghan released her book Can Anyone Tell Me? Essential Questions about Grief and Loss. Developed from both personal and professional experience—especially after the heartbreaking loss of her mother—Meghan set out to find a book that could answer the many questions grief brings. When she couldn’t find one th...

We are thrilled to once again have the opportunity to speak with Dr. MaryCatherine (MC) McDonald. Listeners will remember MC from Season 2 Episode 2, When Grief and Trauma Meet, when we spoke with her about her book Unbroken, The Trauma Response is Never Wrong. MC is back to speak with us about her soon-to-be-published second book, The Joy Reset, Six Ways Trauma Steals Happiness and How to Get it Back.

MaryCatherine speaks about cul...

The relationships we have with our pets has changed over the past several decades. The attachment we share with our pets has elevated their position to where they are often considered a valued member of the family. In this episode we speak with Dr. Lianna Titcombe, Palliative Veterinarian and Melanie Savage, Registered Social Worker specializing in pet loss.  

Lianna and Melaine are both pioneers in their respective fields. Lianna s...

We are honoured to be speaking with Dr. Sheldon Solomon, one of the founders of Terror Management Theory (TMT). TMT suggests that the dawning of the awareness of our own existence is quickly followed by the awareness of our eventual and inevitable demise. This awareness of being alive and knowing it, creates a state of awe and wonder. Conversely, the awareness of our mortality also causes us to experience dread, anxiety and terror....

The death of a child is a traumatic event for any parent and a death by suicide carries its own unique challenges. As Sharon MacLeod shares her story, we hear a difficult journey of a family’s struggle to support, manage and seek help for their exceptional yet complex son Alexander. We are honoured to have Sharon join us and thank her for her openness and courage. We hope this recording honours Alexander’s life; as David Kennedy of...

In Season 2 we offered "The Written Word": which was an episode dedicated to sharing poems, lyrics and quotes that speak to us. We had positive feedback from the original episode, so we decided to do it again this season. We hope some of these words will resonate with our listeners and we welcome your feedback!    

Have feedback about the podcast? Have an idea for a future episode? Get in touch with us: whatnow@hospicepete...

In this episode we engage in a lively discussion with our colleague and friend, Dr. John Beamish. Together, we explore what it means to face our own mortality and work toward finding moments of acceptance and peace with the inevitable reality of death. Our conversation explores how we and John have worked with death anxiety and grief within ourselves over the years. It's a treat to have Dr Beamish join us and we thank you for ...

People often speak of the importance of dignity at the end of life.

Sometimes the medicalization of illness interrupts being seen in our full humanness which erodes our sense of dignity.

In the first episode of 2025, we speak with Dr. Harvey Chochinov, physician, author, researcher, and developer of Dignity Therapy, who shows us how to put dignity front and center in the process of caring for those living with a life-threatening illn...

In this last episode of 2024, the co-hosts offer support, compassion and suggestions for navigating the holidays. 

It’s often not the most wonderful time of the year, especially for those grieving and living with illness. Have a listen or pass it along to someone who needs a little extra support during this month. Our blessings to all our listeners. 

We’ve got some great episodes lined up for January 2025, please c'mon...

In a previous episode, we discussed how guilt and grief are frequent companions on the journey. Anger can also be a frequent traveler. 
In this episode, we discuss the protective and helpful role of anger, how to go beneath anger to other feelings, and offer suggestions about what to do if you find yourself stuck in your anger. Being in the presence and feeling the effects of another’s anger can also be challenging. For those s...

In this episode we have the honour of speaking with members of the Birrell family who share their insights after the death of their 8-year-old son and brother James in 2001. 
Our conversation focuses on grief and its long-term impacts on families. The Birrells aid us in understanding grief from the parental and sibling perspectives. Pam, Syd and Rebecca are transparent and honest in sharing the difficult and sometimes dangerous...

In this episode, Harrison's mother, Shannon shares their family story of Harrison's significant yet short life. With incredible grace and generosity Shannon shares what life was like for her and her husband as they rode the emotional and physical ups and downs, joys and sorrow, treatment and recovery and eventual death of their first child and little superhero, Harrison. It's a heart heavy and important story, gracef...

In this episode we interview a friend and colleague of the hosts: Tracy Condon. Tracy is a registered social worker with many years experience supporting women and their partners through perinatal loss. This is an arena of grief we often don't speak about and is often not acknowledged.
In this conversation, Tracy's passion, care and commitment shine through and she encourages listeners to extend compassion to themselv...

In his book Cancer Confidential, Dr. Charles Hayter draws on his years of experience as a radiation oncologist and writes something accessible, interesting and readable. 
In our discussion Dr. Hayter addresses the difficult and sometimes misunderstood subject of cancer and radiation treatment. For those currently going through, or those who will be undergoing, radiation treatment this is a sensitive, personal and informative di...

We open Season 3 with the great privilege of speaking with Dr. Kerr about his work and research into the dreams and visions of the dying. Through interviews with over 1,400 dying patients Dr. Kerr’s research reveals that the pre-death dreams and visions of the dying can be life altering experiences offering resolution of relationships and peace in the dying process.

Dr. Christopher Kerr is the CEO and Chief Medical Office...

In this short episode the co-hosts take time to reflect on the second season of the podcast.  We review the teaching and learning that occurred because of the amazing guests throughout this season.  Also discuss feedback from listeners and what resonated for them and a few tidbits about what is to come in season 3 - recording is already underway!  Please listen to the end so that you can hear the co-hosts gratitude for the team tha...

A diagnosis of a potentially life threatening illness throws us into a world of hard questions and a myriad of decisions that need to be made.  Our decisions can find us ruminating on issues and double guessing ourselves and if we don’t achieve the desired results we are often left feeling responsible and guilty about the outcome. In this episode we examine some of the questions that arise and decisions that need to be made from th...