In this deeply human episode of RESILIENT A.F., Blair Kaplan Venables sits down with writer and award-winning memoirist Casey Mulligan Walsh for a conversation that does not flinch from life’s hardest chapters. Casey shares her layered journey with grief: being orphaned at 12, losing her brother, navigating a painful divorce, and the devastating death of her son, Eric, in a car accident.

Together, Blair and Casey explore what it means to live inside uncertainty, why resilience is not about fixing pain, and how community and belonging can quietly save us. The conversation weaves personal story with wisdom, including Casey’s reflections on the “neutral zone” and the teachings of Pema Chödrön. If you have ever wondered how to keep going when the ground disappears beneath you, this episode is for you.

Casey opens up about being orphaned at age 12, the death of her brother, and the resilience required to survive constant upheaval. These early losses planted the seeds for her deep understanding of grief, belonging, and adaptation. Shae shares the heartbreak of losing her son, Eric, during the same period as a long and contentious divorce. She speaks candidly about the shock, disorientation, and strength it took to survive that season, and the role community played in holding her up.

One of the episode’s most powerful moments centers on uncertainty. Casey introduces the idea of the neutral zone: the uncomfortable, in-between space where the old life is gone, and the new one has not yet formed. Rather than rushing through it, she invites listeners to stay, breathe, and trust the process.

If this episode resonated, please share it with someone who is living in the in-between. Leave a review. And remember: resilience does not mean having answers. Sometimes it simply means staying present long enough for the next breath.

Listen now to this episode of RESILIENT A.F. and join the conversation on grief, uncertainty, and what it means to keep going.

Gift from Casey: The Full Catastrophe Bonus Content, including 5 Ways to Support Those Who Grieve/Resource List, Spotify Playlist, Excerpt, and Reading Guide - https://linktr.ee/caseymulliganwalsh

Sponsorship opportunities: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15oZsxAigvb6e4wbAmvW_El_1_laeyK4shMY1md6zVWI/edit?usp=sharing

Subscribe to our Substack: https://theglobalresilienceproject.substack.com/

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About the Guest:

Casey Mulligan Walsh writes about life at the intersection of grief and joy, embracing uncertainty, and the nature of true belonging. Her award-winning memoir, The Full Catastrophe: All I Ever Wanted, Everything I Feared, was released from Motina Books in February 2025. She has written for The New York Times, HuffPost, Next Avenue, Modern Loss, The Manifest-Station, Hippocampus, Barren Magazine, and numerous other literary magazines; her essay, “Still,” published in Split Lip, was nominated for Best of the Net. She is a founding editor of In a Flash literary magazine and serves as an ambassador and Board member for the Family Heart Foundation. Casey lives in upstate New York with her husband, Kevin, and too many books to count. When not traveling, they enjoy visits from their four children and ten grandchildren—the very definition of “the full catastrophe.”

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In this deeply honest episode of RESILIENT A.F., Blair Kaplan Venables sits down with Dr. Jason Newell, a licensed clinical social worker, researcher, and single father, to explore what resilience really looks like when life hits hard on multiple fronts.

Jason shares his personal journey through co-parenting after his wife’s affair, raising his daughter with intention and compassion, and navigating the recent loss of his father to cancer. What makes this conversation especially powerful is how Jason bridges his academic research on resilience with his lived experience, revealing what happens when theory meets real life grief.

Together, Blair and Jason unpack the quiet, often overlooked truth about resilience: it is not built through grand gestures, but through small, consistent acts of self-care and self-compassion, especially for those in helping professions.

This episode is a must-listen for therapists, coaches, caregivers, single parents, and anyone learning how to hold grief while still showing up for work, family, and themselves.

If this conversation resonated with you, share it with someone who is quietly holding too much. And remember: resilience is not about doing more. Sometimes, it starts with a glass of water and a deep breath.

Sponsorship opportunities: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15oZsxAigvb6e4wbAmvW_El_1_laeyK4shMY1md6zVWI/edit?usp=sharing

Subscribe to our Substack: https://theglobalresilienceproject.substack.com/

Buy our books: https://theglobalresilienceproject.com/books/

About the Guest:

Dr. Jason Newell received his B.A. in Psychology from Auburn University and an M.S.W. and Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of Alabama. Dr. Newell is a licensed independent clinical social worker (LICSW) and a private individual practitioner (PIP) with an endorsement in clinical and social casework. Dr. Newell has been in the fields of social work practice, research, and education for over nineteen years. His research and specialty areas include clinical social work practice with the mentally ill; treatment of anxiety, trauma-related, and mood disorders; self-care and professional resilience, practice with veterans and military families, and child welfare.

Links:

https://jasonmnewell.com/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/jason-m-newell-pelham-al/717094

https://titles.cognella.com/doing-men-s-work-9798823333030

https://cup.columbia.edu/book/cultivating-professional-resilience-in-direct-practice/9780231176583/

⚠️ Content Note: Some episodes may contain themes that could be distressing. Please take care of yourself while listening, and don’t hesitate to seek support from a mental health professional if needed.

About the Hosts:

Blair Kaplan Venables is a British Columbia-based grief and resilience expert and coach, motivational speaker and the Founder of The Global Resilience Project. Her expertise has been...

In this deeply moving and unexpectedly warm conversation, Blair and Alana sit down with Emmy-nominated television producer and ghostwriter Samantha Rose to talk about grief, suicide loss, creativity, and the complicated ways we stay connected to the people we love after they die.

Samantha opens up about writing her award-winning memoir, Giving Up the Ghost, which chronicles the loss of her mother to suicide and the surreal, tender experience of channeling her mother’s voice while writing the book. What started as a way to survive grief became a path to reclaiming her own voice after years of helping others tell their stories.

Together, the three explore the strange overlaps between grief and creativity, the pressure to “do grief correctly” (spoiler: there is no correct), and the quiet magic that shows up when we give ourselves permission to listen.

Yes, they also talk about signs from beyond, vivid dreams, spiritual tattoos, ghostwriting secrets, and that unforgettable moment they all met at a grief conference involving a sound bath and a choking incident. Because grief is heavy, but laughter still finds a way in.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode

1. What it’s like to write a memoir after losing a parent to suicide
2. How channeling a loved one’s voice can be healing, grounding, and terrifying
3. The complicated identity shift that happens when your parent dies
4. The emotional intimacy of ghostwriting and why it mirrors grief work
5. Vivid dreams, spiritual experiences, and staying connected after loss
6. Gentle, honest advice for anyone grieving a parent lost to suicide

This episode holds space for the complexity of suicide grief with care, honesty, and compassion. If this topic feels tender for you, please listen gently and take breaks as needed.

If this episode resonated, share it with someone who needs permission to grieve out loud, write it out, or trust the voice that’s been quietly waiting inside them.

Grief changes us. Stories help us survive it. And sometimes, giving up the ghost is exactly how we find ourselves again.

Sponsorship opportunities: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15oZsxAigvb6e4wbAmvW_El_1_laeyK4shMY1md6zVWI/edit?usp=sharing

Subscribe to our Substack: https://theglobalresilienceproject.substack.com/

Buy our books: https://theglobalresilienceproject.com/books/

About the Guest:

Samantha Rose is an Emmy award-winning television producer and a New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling ghostwriter of nearly twenty titles, some that have been selected as Reese’s Book Club and Target Bookmarked Picks and featured in the Wall Street Journal, Oprah.com and Harper’s Bazaar. She is the principal of Yellow Sky Media, an editorial agency in Petaluma, California, where she lives with her son. Her newest release, Giving Up the Ghost, was awarded “Best Memoir” at the 2025 San Francisco Book Festival, and is her first book written under her own name.

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