Writing Your Resilience: How Lisa Ellison Cooper Turned Grief Into Purpose Artwork

Persistence U with Lizbeth

An award-winning author turned Lifetime TV movie subject, host Lizbeth Meredith works to tame trauma and increase resilience leveraging the power of persistence.Created for and by survivors and strivers, Persistence U podcast with Lizbeth hosts guests willing to share from the heart to both inform and inspire. Whether they've published a first book after 70, or slowly re-entered life after a crushing setback, they'll tell who and what helped. Because big goals and obstacles are no match when you have a good community.

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Persistence U with Lizbeth

Writing Your Resilience: How Lisa Ellison Cooper Turned Grief Into Purpose

August 13, 2025 • Lizbeth Meredith • Season 5 • Episode 190

How do you keep going after unimaginable loss? In this heartfelt episode of Persistence U, grief educator, podcaster, and writer Lisa Ellison Cooper shares how the devastating death of her younger brother launched her into a journey of deep grief, self-exploration, and ultimately, healing.

Lisa discusses how writing became a lifeline—first as a way to process pain, and then as a tool to connect with others. Today, she uses her experience to support fellow writers navigating difficult personal narratives, offering workshops and coaching rooted in empathy and resilience.

Whether you're grieving, supporting someone who is, or learning to write through your pain, this conversation offers both comfort and clarity.

You Will Learn:

Why grief often disrupts the writing process—and how to work with it, not against it
How community and mentorship play critical roles in healing and creative growth
Practical tips for writing your personal story with emotional safety and power

More About Lisa Ellison Cooper:

Connect with Lisa at lisaellison.com.

Lisa is a grief educator, essayist, and speaker whose work has appeared in Hippocampus, Kenyon Review, and The New York Times. She teaches writing classes on grief, healing, and resilience and believes storytelling can bridge the deepest divides.

Join Lisa's upcoming class, Free Your Writing Voice, Fuel Your Motivation, which will begin on September 18, 2025: https://lisacooperellison.com/free-your-writing-voice-find-your-motivation/

Lizbeth’s links

Want to comment on the show? Connect at Lizbeth's author/podcast Facebook page

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Lizbeth's memoir Pieces of Me: Rescuing My Kidnapped Daughters can be ordered where books are sold, and is now a TV movie, #Stolen By Their Father on Lifetime.

Lizbeth's second book, Grounded in Grit: Turn Your Challenges Into Superpowers is available to order wherever books are sold!

Tilka Faces the Odds, One Man at a Time, new release novel https://books2read.com/u/4j760X