Episode 227: Restorative Grief with Mandy Capeheart

Mandy Capeheart is a trauma-informed grief coach, author, and podcast host. She specializes in the intersection of grief and faith to serve grievers and grief supporters toward growth and self-awareness. Her focus is on facilitating meaningful value-centered conversations and guiding faith-based communities to create helpful healing environments and avoid spiritual bypassing and platitudes. 

Mandy’s work is rooted in personal experience, having lost more loved ones than she can list, and during today’s episode, she shares how she distilled the wisdom she learned along the way into her book, Restorative Grief. Along with sharing her story here today, Mandy offers her insights on being a grief supporter, responding to platitudes, and navigating the discomfort so many of us feel when we relate to those in our lives who have recently lost someone. 

We touch on sharing stories about lost loved ones and why secondary losses are so painful. This conversation also explores the pivotal role of a grief supporter, along with the three categories of supportive people to prioritize having in your life while you grieve. Tune in today for some unmissable insights from today’s amazing guest. 

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

• How Mandy Capeheart started a career in supporting grievers in their healing journey.
• How her own experience informed her contribution to the book. 
• Mandy’s changing relationship with platitudes and what she recommends to grievers.
• Why it is so uncomfortable for most people to be around someone who has experienced a loss.
• How Mandy’s coaching work shifts when she is working with or without the context of faith.
• What the role of value work is in Mandy’s counseling practice.
• How denial can work as a built-in safety mechanism. 
• Recognizing numbness without shame.
• Distinguishing between grief and mourning.
• The difference between moving on and moving forward.
• Transitioning from acute grief to subtle grief.
• Value alignment and the false binary of negative and positive experiences.
• The need to share stories about people you have lost.

Transcript: Here

Additional Resources:

Joan Halifax: https://www.joanhalifax.org/

Brene Brown: https://brenebrown.com/

Mandy Capeheart:

Website: https://www.mandycapehart.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mandycapehart/

Podcast: Restorative Grief with Mandy Capeheart

Book: Restorative Grief

Sharon Spano:

Website: sharonspano.com

Facebook: facebook.com/SharonSpanoPHD

Instagram: instagram.com/drsharonspano/

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sharonspano/

Book: thetimemoneybook.com

Contact: sharon@sharonspano.com

Twitter: twitter.com/SharonSpano

The Other Side of Potential Podcast: sharonspano.com/podcast/