Latest / The Living Loss | Navigating Invisible Grief & Identity / 14 | RP: Living with Hidden Grief: An Introduction and a personal update.
Transcript
- Daiana, LMHC: Hi everyone, it's Daiana Before we get into today's episode, I just want to share a personal update. There is no easy way to say this for me. My dad recently passed away and because of this, I'm going to be taking a few weeks away from counseling, from my counseling practice and the podcast to give myself time to grieve and to be present with my family. I want you all to know that I have a wonderful support system around me. I'm not going to be able to counsel for the time being, but I'm actually hoping to go back to the podcast really soon. I love, love this podcast. love this show and I love our conversations so much. coming back to the podcast will not only be a distraction, but a real support for me. As for my practice, I don't have an exact timeline yet, but I want you to know that when I am back to counseling, it will be because I'm fully ready to hold space and to show up for my clients at the level that I have always dedicated to their care. Over the next few weeks, you will be getting some new episodes with Cassandra and a guest, as well as a few fundamental reruns from our archive. And today, we're going to take it way back, not that way back, right? But way back to the beginning of the year when we talked about types of grief. As a mental health counselor, I often talk about the psychology of loss, but being in the thick of it is a stark reminder of just how much work our minds are going through behind the scenes. Psychologically, grief is so much more than profound sadness. It is a massive cognitive reorganization. When we lose someone, our brain literally has to remap. its understanding of reality and figure out how to exist in a world where that person or that thing or that stage of life is no longer physically present. This cognitive load is exactly why early grief comes with so much exhaustion, brain fog, and forgetfulness. Your brain is working overtime to process the absence. It's also why grief doesn't look just one way. Whether you're dealing with anticipatory grief, disenfranchised grief, or ambiguous loss, what you're experiencing is valid. Your mind and your body are doing the best they can to adapt. I also want to mention that grief is not to be compared. The loss of a pet, the loss of a parent, the loss of a friend, the loss of a job, the loss of a dream. They're all losses. just like when something is traumatic to one person may not be traumatic to another. Similar, right? And this is really important for me to always talk about in this podcast about these losses to give it space so that we share and we don't keep these things to ourselves and continue to suffer in silence and alone. I hope revisiting this conversation on different types of grief brings you some clarity and comfort today. Thank you so much for your grace, your understanding, and for being a part of this community. Here's today's episode.