Welcome to the When Grief Comes Home podcast. We're glad you're here. This podcast supports parents who are grieving a spouse, partner, or child while helping their children who are living through the loss of a parent or sibling. With personal grief stories and professional guidance, we offer parents practical tips for supporting their child who is grieving while caring for their own grief.

The room gets quieter when pregnancy loss comes up, and that silence can make grief feel even heavier. We open the door wide—talking candidly about miscarriage and stillbirth, why the loss can feel invisible, and how parents can honor a baby’s life at any gestational age without apologizing for their pain. Erin and Colleen share tender personal stories, the origins of our Heartstrings group, and the small, steady practices that bring comfort when words fail.

You’ll hear practical ways to care for yourself in the early days and beyond, from navigating hormonal shifts and the shock of emptiness to setting boundaries around showers and birthdays. We also explore the complicated emotions of future pregnancies—the way joy mixes with fear—and how to create rituals that carry meaning: candles on a “Heaven Day,” planting a tree or rose bush, memory boxes, Molly Bears, and using your baby’s name. For friends and family, we offer guidance that actually helps: show up with meals and gift cards, keep inviting without pressure, remember due dates and anniversaries, and send a simple message that says, “Your baby mattered.”

Parents with other children will find ideas to include siblings in healthy remembrance—letters, drawings, and the “I wish/I wonder” prompts that keep a sibling’s story alive in an age-appropriate way. Throughout, we return to one truth: grief changes, but love remains. If this conversation resonates, subscribe, share it with someone who needs gentle support, and leave a review so more grieving families can find us.

Order the book When Grief Comes Home https://a.co/d/ijaiP5L

Send us a text

For more information on Jessica’s House or for additional resources, please go to jessicashouse.org

Welcome to the When Grief Comes Home podcast. We're glad you're here. This podcast supports parents who are grieving a spouse, partner, or child while helping their children who are living through the loss of a parent or sibling. With personal grief stories and professional guidance, we offer parents practical tips for supporting their child who is grieving while caring for their own grief.

When grieving, we desperately need what therapist Kristi Gaultiere calls "oxygen for the soul" – empathy. Not quick fixes or sympathetic platitudes, but the profound healing that comes through being truly seen in our pain.

In this illuminating conversation, Kristi unpacks why empathy transforms grief by allowing us to breathe through unbearable moments. Research shows that when someone responds to our vulnerability with genuine understanding, our whole body responds – energy increases, fatigue decreases, sleep improves, and our ability to concentrate returns. Without this empathetic connection, we remain isolated in our pain, unable to process our grief effectively.

Kristi walks us through her practical Four A's framework for offering empathy: Ask curious questions, Attune completely to the person, Acknowledge the unique significance of their loss, and Affirm their strength (but only after the first three steps). She clarifies crucial distinctions between healthy empathy and codependency, explaining how true empathy empowers while codependency drains both parties.

For parents navigating their own grief while supporting children, Kristi offers wisdom about self-empathy and befriending our emotions. When we judge or shame ourselves for feelings like anger or sadness, our children learn to suppress their emotions too. By modeling acceptance of our grief, we create safe spaces for our children to process theirs.

Most powerfully, Kristi reminds us that our wounds can become sources of healing for others. Through our grief journey, we develop deeper capacity for empathy – turning our pain into a gift that helps others feel less alone. Whether you're grieving, supporting someone who is, or simply want to become more empathetic, this episode offers practical wisdom and heartfelt guidance for the journey ahead.

Order the book When Grief Comes Home https://a.co/d/ijaiP5L

Send us a text

For more information on Jessica’s House or for additional resources, please go to jessicashouse.org

Welcome to the When Grief Comes Home podcast. We're glad you're here. This podcast supports parents who are grieving a spouse, partner, or child while helping their children who are living through the loss of a parent or sibling. With personal grief stories and professional guidance, we offer parents practical tips for supporting their child who is grieving while caring for their own grief.

In this episode, Erin and Colleen share the powerful concept of "the rule of thirds" in grief support—how a third of people will disappointingly vanish, will provide neutral assistance, and will show up in ways you never imagined.

Beyond practical support, we dig into the emotional quality of relationships during grief. The difference between true compassion versus what we call "silent indifference" can profoundly impact healing. We discuss how to handle well-intentioned but painful platitudes, express your authentic needs, and conserve precious emotional energy by showing up as your true grieving self instead of maintaining appearances.

Order the book When Grief Comes Home https://a.co/d/ijaiP5L

Send us a text

For more information on Jessica’s House or for additional resources, please go to jessicashouse.org