Latest / The Living Loss | Navigating Invisible Grief & Identity / Hearing Loss & Hidden Grief w/ Vanessa Branch 1|22
Transcript
- Cassandra, LMHC: Hello friends, I'm Cassandra Harris Towner. Daiana, LMHC: And I'm Daiana Bernard. Cassandra, LMHC: And as licensed mental health counselors, we're unpacking the quiet, complex griefs that don't come with a funeral. Because you can't heal what you don't acknowledge. Daiana, LMHC: Welcome to the Living Loss Podcast. We're so glad you're joining our conversation as we name these losses and create a meaningful path forward together. Please subscribe and share this episode with a friend. It helps us grow this community and reach others who need to know that their grief is valid. Let's dive in. Cassandra, LMHC: Before we bring in our guest, we talk about quiet losses on this show, and today we're looking at the hidden grief of hearing loss. We often focus on the physical or medical side of losing a sense, but we rarely talk about the emotional exhaustion of trying to navigate a world built for the hearing. Daiana, LMHC: Exactly. From a clinical perspective, this brings up a profound identity crisis and disenfranchised grief. Disenfranchised grief is the daily strain of listening fatigue, the isolation of feeling left out of conversations, and the visible pressure to minimize our struggles to make others feel comfortable. It hurts because it threatens our core human need for connection and belonging. today we're gonna bring in someone who truly understands this journey. Cassandra, LMHC: Our guest today is Vanessa Branch, a proud mother of two and a passionate advocate for the heart of hearing community. her journey with sensory neural hearing loss began the age of seven. Today she wears a hearing aid in her left ear and a cochlear implant in her right, a life-changing technology she received in 2019. As a woman of color, Vanessa spent many years of trying to fit in before learning to embrace her differences as strengths. Today she is a case manager, an advanced bionics mentor. and the founder of National Hard of Hearing Forum. Vanessa, welcome to the show. Daiana, LMHC: Yay. Vanessa Branch: Hi, ladies. Thank you, thank you, thank you, ladies, for inviting me to your podcast. And definitely this is a topic not just hearing loss but ⁓ in general that is so rarely discussed and talked about because people aren't comfortable with it. And if the more we talk about it, the more we can really unpack truly what is within us. Daiana, LMHC: Absolutely. And I love that you just said that as well, because when you started your forum that you're gonna talk to us about later, I thought about how much information I was learning from you and how we don't talk about it and most of us don't know about it. And that's why today I am really looking forward to hearing your story. And your journey is a journey from wanting to fit in to belonging. And I would love for you to share where did this all begin for you, that knowing that something was changing in your life. Vanessa Branch: ⁓ it started very young. sometimes we don't give them enough credit that when things change in their life ⁓ truly changes and reshapes who they are. It started out when I was seven and ⁓ my first grade teacher, you know, God thank you for keeping her alive. She's still alive to this day. yes. ⁓ And ⁓ time turns her back to write on the chalkboard ⁓ she noticed that I missed completely whatever she was talking about. So she asked my parents to definitely a hearing test because she sensed something was not was off. And and behold, come to find out that I did have severe hearing loss in my left ear and profound hearing loss in my ear. We'll talk about later the spectrum of hearing loss. hearing loss is is on a this on a spectrum. So it there's no one size fit all. however as a young child, I know what that was. So they ⁓ me with H and aids back in nineteen eighty nine, nineties. By then when I researched hu the hearing that I got behind the ear, which is this one that I'm ⁓ Cassandra, LMHC: Mm-hmm. Daiana, LMHC: Mm-hmm. Vanessa Branch: that was revolutionary he and aid technology. It was only ten years old and any child with severe to profound hearing loss, that is what they wore. but I didn't realize my life was gonna change dramatically ⁓ with these devices. And ⁓ when realized okay, I also needed more assistance in school. I noticed that I am not like the others. When you're kids, you know, we all want to fit in. That's the that's the key. You wanna make friends, you wanna play with others. But now I am responsible for these things are not cheap. ⁓ no no, these Q and aids are not cheap. So here am a seven year old responsible for something that's five thousand dollars each. So, ⁓ it was like Daiana, LMHC: Mm. Vanessa Branch: my life change. I had to be responsible for this this thing that I had to put in my ears every day. ⁓ I had a new routine. It was kinda like the person that I hoped to be was slowly fading away as a seven year old. And then ⁓ I got real confirmation, unfortunately, when I had twins ⁓ bullies who for whatever reason this is unfortunately ⁓ a core memory. I remember they punched me in the stomach in the hallway. ⁓ indicating, ⁓ you're the teacher's pet ⁓ the teacher's always paying attention to you because by then I had to provide them with ⁓ what is called assistant device, listening device. So the teacher would wear the microphone and I would wear like a little box like I had to strap to myself. Technology has has definitely improved. from the nineteen nineties. But it was yeah, but if it was kinda like exposing me to like, ooh, look at look at this one, look at this one. obviously I told the teacher and whatnot, but that moment taught me I'm like everybody else ⁓ and, know, gonna like me for who I am. So I learned early on, Daiana, LMHC: I don't know. Vanessa Branch: Grieve anything that I ever wanted to be. And so now this f this is where the phrase ⁓ developed in in my head. fit in as much as possible. And I have carried that phrase ⁓ well into my adulthood, unconsciously too, until I found and ⁓ created the National Hard of Peter and Boom. but I did not realize for years for a long time that that's how I operated. ⁓ fitting in ⁓ as a child it the reality just because fitting in is not necessarily ⁓ who you are. Cassandra, LMHC: Do you feel like that muted a lot of who you are, having the need to f fit in and be what all these other people kind of expected you to be? Vanessa Branch: Yes. I was a lot of expectations ⁓ put on me and it of like, okay, I can't be the person that I wanna be, so but in order to make everybody happy, I had to fit into this thing, this fitting box that everybody said I could be. I am so grateful that my parents they were very encouraging. ⁓ but sometimes I I realize I never got a chance to truly sit down and sit with myself to say, Okay, what is this? What's happening? It w I was always on the go, go, go, go, go to make sure I took care of my hearing aids ⁓ ⁓ that I hear every that's when I started to realize I was working twice as hard to make sure I heard everybody, that didn't fall behind, that I was keeping on top of conversations and and feeling left out and be those type of behaviors that we as children trying to adapt that we learned over time. such as kind of like laughing it off when we think hear something but we want to be part of the conversation. Nodding ⁓ when we still don't know what you're saying but we're like, okay, th those behaviors are those are long and going behaviors just because we all want to fit in, we all wanna be part of a conversation, but how do we do that knowing that we're still missing out? Daiana, LMHC: And I can see how you didn't have an opportunity to get to know yourself because your whole existence was trying to fit in to your with your peers, the world around you. And that way you weren't able to look at what does Vanessa like to do? What does Vanessa not like to do? ⁓ Or, know, what are your preferences? What are what things do you enjoy? ⁓ Vanessa Branch: Mm. Right, mhm. Right. And even though like like I said, I'm grateful my parents as well this is now a teaching moment to show that you still can do it, that you still can achieve whatever it is that you want to achieve. but it like now I have to prove to the world. It's no longer because I just want to, it's because well if they say no, well I'm gonna show them and ⁓ that's still a mentality I have but it's also like is that for you ⁓ is that to show them? And don't necessarily need to perform for them because at the end of day, ⁓ you're gonna be you are, who you wanna be. Daiana, LMHC: When did that belief start to shift into Hey, why am I even doing this? Do I even want to do this? Vanessa Branch: In middle school, know, after the death of my mom, that took a turning point as to she was my rock. And I like, everything I did up until she passed away until when I was eleven, I would always to her, she would give me advice, she would do this and that for me. So now that she's no there, it was like, So who am I? I I leaned on to my mom for a lot of things but now that's when the question came in. Who am I? Who am I without my hearing aids? Would they still like me without my hearing aids? why am I performing for them? ⁓ And don't even ⁓ notice the hard work that I'm putting in just to have a simple conversation. And it it I it the kept going in my life like Who am I? Who am I? then I ⁓ during that time I became ⁓ a very what's the word? A very ⁓ angry sad depressed teenager. Mom passed away and then my dad remarried somebody that we barely so a lot was happening during my middle years, middle school, high school years. And ⁓ in that mist i it was like a lot of who am I, where do I fit in, where do I belong? Because ⁓ I was raised in a predominantly white neighborhood and everybody saw the bubbly side of me but nobody knew that I was still fighting that ⁓ that battle, that struggle inside me. It was to the point where I had one ⁓ friend, I was part of the National Honor Society and she was like, ⁓ my God, no, you're one of us. You know, you're not black. You're one of us was like the last that I checked. so was another question. Yeah, the the back then there was a lot of things that were just said freely that we wouldn't nowadays. but that also started another question, like if okay, do they really see me? And that also compounded on top of do they really see me? Daiana, LMHC: Wow, Vanessa, there's there's so much complexity in your story of losses. When you're a child, ⁓ all want to be is part of a group. And and it as we grow older as well, I it's our human nature to want to be in community, to have a community, to be, to belong. Vanessa Branch: Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Daiana, LMHC: And then you have this life-changing event where you notice that now you need assistance in hearing and that and it's visible and everyone sees it. And kids think that you have preferential treatment that you're the teacher's pet. So now they're looking at you as that, like that's your identity and that's how they treat you, like you're taking something away from them. And middle school and high school are hard, period. Vanessa Branch: Yes. Nobody ever talks about that. Like, you know, on top of just trying to go into puberty Daiana, LMHC: Because you're de your Yes. Your developmental stages. Mm-hmm. Yes. Cassandra, LMHC: Terrible. Vanessa Branch: Yeah. Yeah. Daiana, LMHC: Yeah. And to lose your mom at such a young age and that pivotal time of your body changing as well. And of course you depended on your mom. You were a kid and she was everything and and she was your anchor. And for that to be gone, it's the pain of grief, which a child experiences differently. It's so much confusion and and you can only experience grief at that time your capacity and what you believe it is and what you're thinking of it. Vanessa Branch: Bueno Daiana, LMHC: And at times it was able to quiet down the fitting in part. But then there were times that it it made it even louder because now who am I in this world? Just continue to resurface and resurface. I, can how sorting all of this out, makes sense why this is a a journey, lifelong Vanessa Branch: Mm. Daiana, LMHC: And then there's a big changing event when you become a mom that changes everything. So tell us about that season. ⁓ Vanessa Branch: ⁓ yeah. that season I was terrified because my first pregnancy was not planned. So was in college. I think guys knew and ⁓ it just like okay, what what I'm not ready for this and I'm still trying sort myself out. I'm in college, I'm trying to figure out what ⁓ what do I even wanna do in college. And I thought about the different options that were available but it was a no brainer for me. I was like, you know what, God bless me with this pregnancy I'm gonna stick through it. And so I'm so glad. Becoming a new mom really transformed my my mindset because now I'm going from all about me to now I'm bringing a human being into this world and don't have the time I don't wanna say I don't have the time, my focus, my priority changed. And while I was still in in school, I was like, you know what? I'm going to do this. I'm going to walk across that stage. I'm going to graduate college because I know in order to provide for my child I'm gonna need a degree. And I everybody against me who was saying, you know what, even my father was like my father's a pastor, so you can pretty much tell how that went down ⁓ tell telling ⁓ Daiana, LMHC: Yeah. Vanessa Branch: ⁓ he at one point almost stepped down from being a pastor because he thought I ruined his life. That's a whole nother story, for a whole nother yeah, for another ⁓ Yeah. Daiana, LMHC: we will have you back for that. And side note, ⁓ when you say like we already knew, it's because Vanessa and I went to undergrad together. Vanessa Branch: Yes. ⁓ it was kinda like, okay, ⁓ I ⁓ to f I had to figure this out. Like now becoming new mom, it wasn't about me anymore. And then it to the where everybody thought they knew ⁓ best for me and this is where I'm taking a step back and I said, I have to take charge. n these these people are no longer invited into deciding who am. 'Cause you know, when you're by yourself you take little opinions from everybody, you take everybody's experiences and you you try to reshape yourself. But now when you realize you're growing a human being, there is no room for error. In my mind, I was like, I I need to figure out how this is gonna get done. my father wanted for me, he told me to quit college and then that he was gonna marry you know, my child's father and I looked at him like, no, that's not happening. because I said, schooling, I need to finish that schooling. And sure I was able to graduate a year later ⁓ but I almost the point where I almost didn't graduate because poor baby I I caught meningitis after I birth. So was pretty much on part time schooling and then during that time ⁓ I looked at this little baby that I gave birth to and I was like I'm gonna have to show everybody that I can do this. But now this is not performance. Now this is a whole nother level. This is like, I need to do this for me ⁓ to show myself. Yeah, you're hard of healing, so what? You be you know you're a mom and show them what it's like. And ⁓ that definitely changed my whole perspective. and ⁓ my mindset who am Cassandra, LMHC: Do you feel like there was a lot of underestimation of your abilities as you were growing up and through your early adulthood? Vanessa Branch: ⁓ my God, yes, Cassandra. It was like every stigma in the book was thrown at Daiana, LMHC: Yeah. Vanessa Branch: me. It was like, Are you sure you can do this? I was in almost pretty much almost every after school club that there is. I was in gymnastics and and people were like, I I could see in the corner of my eye when I on the beam and people are like, ⁓ my god, she's wearing here and it's like, How does she hear the music? Like, mm. ⁓ did gymnastics. I was in the color guard. Like the girls with the big flags in the ⁓ football field with the band. I was one of them. that last too long because it was just that wasn't for me. But at least I can say I tried it and I it, but it wasn't my thing. so it was out there definitely people looked at me kind of surprised. I'm always getting that look like, okay. Yes. So what's the problem? ⁓ then I get this a lot, Cassandra, LMHC: Mm-hmm. Daiana, LMHC: Yeah. Vanessa Branch: ⁓ just because the way I talk very ⁓ professional, very proper. They're ⁓ my god, you speak so well for a deaf person. Cassandra, LMHC: Oof. Vanessa Branch: What does that mean? You know, and I get that's where the stigma comes in, right? That's where ⁓ they have a picture of somebody who's deaf. When I say I'm hard of hearing means I have hear I'm hearing enough to have a conversation with you, but I still need assistance with devices. So definitely it was a lot of like stigmas that I had to ⁓ break through. ⁓ Daiana, LMHC: Mm-hmm. And within ⁓ there is also stigmas within the communities of and hard of hearing, whether there's ⁓ a use of technology or not and ⁓ all that all entails. Can you tell us more about that part? Vanessa Branch: Yes, yes. didn't realize it my ⁓ middle school, high school just because I w I grew up in the hearing community and so I was sheltered. ⁓ But once I got out and especially a mom, I people started signing to me once they I have hearing aids ⁓ and I had to I lip read. So li I lip read very well and I had to explain to them ⁓ I don't know sign language. And I would get different results. Some people would be like, ⁓ okay, no problem and then I would get people would who give me stink face so Daiana, LMHC: Yeah. Vanessa Branch: Okay. And it was like can't help how I grew, you know. ⁓ when I grew up ⁓ immediately ⁓ put hearing aid on me and then put me in mainstream schooling. they were about to put me in special education, but I took like one of those tests in first grade, they tested me in first grade and I scored a third grade level. Daiana, LMHC: Yeah. Vanessa Branch: So they were like, ⁓ well yeah, so she don't belong in special education. She's fine. I did not have access to American Sign Language. just because back in the nineties it was either you were deaf, completely deaf, and then they would put you into like a special American sign language school, or you ha you were hard of hearing like me. But people and ⁓ children like back in the nineties did not come through far in between. As far as I grew up, I was the only person who wore hearing aids who was like me. I wanna say there was one other person in high school, but that was it. yeah, the deaf community definitely I found ⁓ like during my adulthood like there is this animosity some between ⁓ within each other just because ⁓ if you were a hearing device it's kind of looked down upon. So in the deaf community you have the capital D, deaf, which ex which is like identity. So I do not ⁓ identify as a capital D. I identify as a lowercase D, which means I deaf in my right ear, but medically. so the D deaf community ⁓ when they in captured in their culture and their identity. ⁓ They do language, they go to they have a whole college for the deaf c ⁓ community. ⁓ And so that what we mean by distinction. a lot of people with the cochlear implant out, ⁓ they feel that the ⁓ feels threatened. and we like us, people with ⁓ cochlea implants and who are hard of hum, we definitely want to send that message that that is not the case. it is just another option for those who are de who are born deaf, whether they want to choose to have a device for the rest of their life, to hear sounds, or ⁓ parents can ⁓ not to take ⁓ cochlea implant route. and grow up with sign language and that's perfectly okay. It gives us who are born deaf, who it gives us with hearing loss options. The more options, the better. Who wouldn't want that, right? Mm-hmm. Daiana, LMHC: Mm-hmm. Cassandra, LMHC: It's interesting. I'm hearing a lot of isolation throughout your story. I'm hearing a lot of like I stand stood out so I felt almost alone and I was underestimated and all these different things, which adds to the grief of having to live this life that you didn't ask for, having to ⁓ these experiences that you didn't know were there. Like you said, at seven years old, everything changed drastically for you. Vanessa Branch: Mm. Cassandra, LMHC: So as you've moved through your life and as you've met people and gained people and lost people and had different experiences, how have you found a safe community for yourself? How have you built this community for yourself? What are steps that you've taken ⁓ you to where you're at today? ⁓ Vanessa Branch: ⁓ you're so right, Cassandra, it is a very lonely journey because especially as a woman of color, I don't see anybody like myself I have nobody to relate to. Mm. I remember asking that question. Why I don't see anybody like me. And that question of grief, where I had to be like, Well, I'm just gonna have to fit in. I'm gonna have to just fit in with the community that I'm surrounded by. And it's isolating, very lonely because even though I put a smile on my face, like they always say, You never know what a person is dealing with on the inside. We don't know the challenges that they have to go through behind closed doors. as a as a young black girl, you know, I was just taught to assimilate. So that's a very hard habit and behavior to break ⁓ that was the only way that I can protect myself, the only way I could kind like felt seen a human being and try to talk proper and I took speech when I was in second grade so I I had a if it wasn't for the speech that I took, I'd be talking with a lisp. So ⁓ I've learned to and as I go along. But it's without it is without ⁓ challenges and and being lonely and yes, grief and losing of that I didn't know that I needed. And that's when we talk about now coming into It's like, wow, that little girl lost so much. And I said I would never want anybody to feel that. And once I had my cochlear implant surgery and I'm walking around much like a billboard with it on, I've had people of come up to me and say, ⁓ my God, ⁓ I've never seen anybody with it on. How did you it? And questions, people ca started asking me questions, this and that. ⁓ And had those people of color too ⁓ ⁓ who have audiologists that they go to regularly don't give them that type of information. And I said, ⁓ no, no, no. This is not an information that should be kept under wraps. Everybody should have access to this. whether you know, you're black, purple, red, green, whoever. and when especially to working in the field that I work in as a police manager, in does sometimes have its consequences to the point where I burnt out at work and then I didn't even know the symptoms of burnout. Like I was just knowing that I just couldn't no longer concentrate after an eight hour work day. And you as a person who is hard of hearing, your brain is doing ⁓ multiple tasks more than normal person would. You have to Make sure that you are hearing correctly, that you're a ⁓ that you're participating in the conversation correctly, and that you get the cues right and that you laugh at the right moment and you get the joke and this and that. And so by the time an eight hour workday, we are drained. somebody had mentioned it and I didn't realize there's a such thing as listening and concentration fatigue. And I said, ⁓ well that's me. ⁓ And that's when I started the wheel started turning and I said and I can only imagine others who are also have hearing going through this. And I said, people of color definitely, you know, with the people coming up to me and I said, That's it. Because whenever you start a new business or something like that, you always want to know what it is that the society needs. And when I and when I did my research There was no resources for just the people who are ⁓ who have hard of hearing. There's plenty of resources for the deaf and I'm not knocked in the deaf community. I always say that just because, you know, I don't want them coming after me. but where is the space for those who are hard of hearing? Because we're we're in the middle. We we ⁓ we have hearing loss but not enough to be in the deaf community. But Daiana, LMHC: Yeah. Vanessa Branch: we have hearing loss so to but we don't fit in the hearing community. So I always consider us to be like the middle child. Yeah, yeah. like we're there ⁓ yeah, just go go tag along with your older brother. Like I said we have a voice too. Nah, I'm gonna start this new s just new organization for us, by us and with us. And that's how the National Hard of Human Forum was born. Cassandra, LMHC: That's amazing. I love that you saw the need and you stepped forward to fill that need. That's beautiful. How has that been going? How's the National Hard of Hearing Forum going for you? Vanessa Branch: Mm. ⁓ when I first started, ⁓ a lot of people did recognize it was like, ⁓ wow, that is true. Like while we're always grouped with the deaf community, but we have our own resources, our own limitations, that deaf community cannot fulfill. and so I highlighted those those differences and a lot of people started stepping forward and they were like, That is me. And a lot of people of color said, That is me and I said, you are seen. I said and when I talked to a lot of them, a common theme kept reoccurring. It was like ⁓ I thought I was the only you know, that looked like this. I thought was the only one that was hard of hearing, that was going through this. I felt alone. And I said, I we all we all have that feeling. ⁓ I said, You are alone. I said we are all out there looking for each other grasping for straws so that we can come together. And I said, you know what, this community is where we're gonna come together. And whether just getting a new cochlear implant I can navigate you through that and I've been through that experience and ⁓ and whether you're wearing a hearing aid, I've worn aid all my life. I can navigate through through that experience as well. was given a choice to whether I wanted to become ⁓ what they call it, bi bineural, meaning I would get another cochlear implant on my left ear. And I said, you know what, I'm not gonna do that just because it is very rare ⁓ and I have a rare opportunity to s to be in both worlds, device wise options. So I'm gonna take that opportunity to definitely on it. because You know, it is it is unheard of where somebody wearing two different types of devices in their years. Daiana, LMHC: Yeah, it is. I that is the that's a beautiful ⁓ culmination to your story creating the community, creating what you always wanted or needed for someone to see you and say she's like me, although you didn't have that. And that could be so healing for you as well. Vanessa Branch: Mm-hmm. Mm. Ya. Mm. It really was. I didn't like I say, I didn't realise my seven year old little girl was like, Yay, I'm seen. You know, it's me, that's me. and I tell people that. I said, you know, that's okay to to say, ⁓ wow, the little girl in me, that little kid in me is feels seen, feels relieved, feels like she gets me. you're not alone. Daiana, LMHC: Mm-hmm. Vanessa Branch: and and that this is what this journey, this community, this heart of hearing community is about I accommodate all those from mild hearing loss to profound hearing loss. ⁓ and we help them identify what you identify as. So if you identify as a capital D def culture, great. I'm gonna find resources where that you can find that community. ⁓ you identify as the lower lowercase D, medically, come on in. ⁓ and you know, talk about your experiences, what is that like for you? ⁓ And how do you to reshape and you see yourself? And I think that's another thing that they we forget that at any point in time in your life, you can reinvent yourself. You can you can ⁓ you can reinvent yourself. You can step of that role that you've been stuck in for so long and say, you know what, I'm not doing it anymore. ⁓ ⁓ Become this new that you've always wanted to be and be happy. ⁓ Daiana, LMHC: That. I love that. And that's a great segue to our favorite part of the show. ⁓ And as we up this conversation, we're going to move on to the living loss lessons. This is where we bridge everything we've talked about today with tangible takeaways that you can use right now. Cassandra, LMHC: lessons aren't about fixing the pain, but about finding a way to carry with it. Sometimes it's a tool to practice and other times it's reflecting on the meaning you've built from a loss you've never asked for. It's the strength you've gained even in the midst of the hard stuff. Daiana, LMHC: Vanessa, is there one or two living loss lessons that you've learned through your journey that our listeners could hold on to this week? What would that be? Vanessa Branch: ⁓ definitely acceptance. your hearing loss is definitely not the end of who you are. It is not the be all end all. It is just another part of your life. And when you get to a point where you're able to say, you know what, this is me. and proud of me. life becomes much easier ⁓ I remember the pivotal moment where I said, ⁓ my God, I accept me for my limitations. I've worn hearing aids and and then by the time I had my sur my surgery for my cochlear implant. but it didn't it took until I was burnt out at work. And then I sat I was ⁓ unemployed for about a year. And I was like, you know what? I I'm gonna this is it. I was like, if nobody advocates for me, I gotta advocate for me. that's where the acceptance came in and then I started going on and telling people, Look, I'm hard hearing, ⁓ need accommodations. And are like, Okay, no problem. It was that fear that was holding me back. And once I tackled that fear, acceptance comes and then life life goes on. So another life lessons definitely that I would definitely recommend is that hearing loss comes with pain. There's no doubt about it. especially those who are late in death in their adulthood. You've been hearing ⁓ your life and next thing you know whether it is through traumatic accident injury or through age, like my ⁓ elderly father ⁓ He has some hearing loss, he's still in that denial phase. learned, especially with the so many things in my life that I've learned since I was young, to turn that into a gift, to turn that into a strength, to turn that into service for others. Because when others see that, ⁓ it's not just them, we ⁓ able come together more as a community. Cassandra, LMHC: Thank you. Thank you for that. That was beautiful and honestly something that we needed to hear. Vanessa Branch: ⁓ Daiana, LMHC: Thank you so much, Vanessa. Thank you for sharing ⁓ your story giving us so much strength and hope and acknowledgement of the pain and ⁓ all of the that come in between and creating what's missing out there. Vanessa Branch: Yeah. Daiana, LMHC: And thank you to all of our listeners for being a part of our circle today. If you want to connect with Vanessa, check out the National Hard of Hearing Forum ⁓ at their website or follow them on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Blue Sky. It is all the show notes. And Vanessa has linked her incredible free ebook on listening and fatigue. And that's also in show notes for you. Remember. That by sharing this episode, you're helping us reach someone else who's carrying their loss in silence. Let's keep growing this community together. Subscribe, follow, share with a friend, and know that your story matters. Cassandra, LMHC: And just as a reminder, this podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. While we are therapists, we're not yet your therapists, and this does not replace professional mental health care. If you feel like you'd like to speak to someone, please reach out to a professional near you. Thanks so much, Vanessa. We're so glad that joined us today. Daiana, LMHC: Yes, thank you so much. Vanessa Branch: Thank you ladies.