WPSU Grief

WPSU Grief Speaking Grief is produced by WPSU Penn State with philanthropic support from the New York Life Foundation.

Speaking Grief explores how we can create a more grief-aware society by validating the experience of grievers and helping to guide those who wish to support them. Speaking Grief is a multi-platform, public media initiative that explores how we can create a more grief-aware society by validating the experience of grievers and helping to guide those who wish to support them. The initiative includes a documentary and website that share diverse representations of grief through candid interviews with grieving individuals and families, whose losses range from stillbirth to su***de, as well as leading grief professionals. It validates grief as a normal, healthy part of the human experience, addresses the importance of support from friends and family, and offers guidance on how to show up for people in their darkest moments.

09/01/2026

“We lost people.”

Kate Suddes, a bereaved parent, reflects on how, after a loss, it can be hard to come back from what doesn’t happen.

In generous moments, grieving people often make excuses for others. They didn’t know what to say. They didn’t understand the loss. They did the best they could.
But grief also brings clarity.

There are moments when “the best you could do” isn’t enough. When silence hurts. When avoidance feels like abandonment. When love asks more of us than comfort.

Showing up doesn’t require the right words. It requires a willingness to sit with discomfort. To reach out even when you’re unsure. To say, “I don’t know what to ask you, but I’m thinking about you.”

One of the most shocking things people experience in the wake of a loss is that, while their world has been flipped upsi...
08/31/2026

One of the most shocking things people experience in the wake of a loss is that, while their world has been flipped upside down, everyone else’s keeps turning.

The bills still need to be paid. The garbage still needs to go out. The kids still need to be dropped off at school.

This disconnect can be jarring and can add to the pain and isolation of grief.

When you’re supporting someone who is grieving, anything you can do to help with the demands of daily life can ease their burden as they struggle to find equilibrium.

So, if you’re able, offer to do their laundry, clean their house, w**d their garden, walk their dog. These seemingly small tasks can make a huge difference.

08/30/2026

“Ride the wave. Bring it back.”

Tyanna Simmons names a reality many grieving parents know intimately. Grief comes in waves. Some moments pull you under. Others carry you forward. And in between, there are children who still need dinner, homework help, and someone to show up.

This isn’t about suppressing grief or forcing yourself to be “okay.”
It’s about letting the feelings move through you and then finding your way back to the present moment.
Back to the rhythm of care.
Back to what still needs you.

If you’re riding waves like this, you’re not doing it wrong.
You’re surviving and loving at the same time.

08/29/2026

Many grieving people are on the receiving end of well meaning advice. The kind that starts with, “You know what you should do…”

In this video, .riordan.jarvis, clinical psychotherapist, author, and podcast host, offers a gentle but powerful boundary for those moments. Advice is often rooted in someone else’s experience, their grief, or something they once read. That does not make it right for you.

Meghan reminds us that intent and impact are not the same. Something can be said with love and still land as judgment.

Naming that difference matters. Saying, “I know you mean this with care, but it’s not landing that way,” allows for honesty without escalation. It protects the griever while keeping the relationship intact.

Grief does not need fixing. It needs respect.




Grief is not one continuous state.The Dual Process Model of Grief, developed by researchers Margaret Stroebe and Henk Sc...
08/28/2026

Grief is not one continuous state.

The Dual Process Model of Grief, developed by researchers Margaret Stroebe and Henk Schut, explains that grieving often involves moving back and forth between two states:
• Loss-oriented, when grief is front and center
• Restoration-oriented, when life, distraction, or routine takes the lead

Both are part of grief.
Both are necessary.

Taking a break from grief does not mean you’re avoiding it.
It means your mind and body need space to function.

There is no right rhythm.
No correct balance.
Just movement, over time.

Grief is unique and there aren’t many hard-and-fast rules about how to support a grieving person. But there are a few:Do...
08/27/2026

Grief is unique and there aren’t many hard-and-fast rules about how to support a grieving person. But there are a few:

Don’t start any phrase of “comfort” with the words “at least.”

For more, visit: speakinggrief.org/get-better-at-grief/supporting-grief/what-not-to-say

Speaking Grief is produced by WPSU with philanthropic support from the New York Life Foundation.

“We’ve been told that grief is a process, but grief is an experience. It’s a set of spiritual, emotional, physical respo...
08/26/2026

“We’ve been told that grief is a process, but grief is an experience. It’s a set of spiritual, emotional, physical responses to a perceived loss. It is a fluid and infinite space; there is no beginning or end.”

Alesia K. Alexander, LCSW, CT, grief loss, and inclusion consultant, is featured in Speaking Grief, a public media initiative that works to create a more grief-aware society.

For more, visit: speakinggrief.org

Speaking Grief is produced by WPSU with philanthropic support from the New York Life Foundation.

08/25/2026

Grief doesn’t magically simplify our relationships.

As Megan Devine reminds us, death doesn’t turn complicated people or complicated relationships into something neat or “beautiful.” What was messy before is often still messy after. And that’s not a failure of love or grief. It’s part of being human.

You can miss someone deeply and also feel relief, anger, distance, or unresolved tension. You can grieve a parent you didn’t feel close to. You can mourn what was and what never was.

There is room for all of it.
Grief doesn’t require purity. It allows complexity.

How would you define grief?
08/24/2026

How would you define grief?

If you think that the mind as having 100 circuits of energy, grief takes up 99 of those. Grief is like your brain turnin...
08/23/2026

If you think that the mind as having 100 circuits of energy, grief takes up 99 of those. Grief is like your brain turning this information over and over and over and trying to find a place where it fits. It’s not going to fit, but your mind is trying to make it so. It’s trying to make this story work out in a way that is acceptable. How do you make this death acceptable? You can’t, but your brain's working on it, which means that you have one unit of energy left for everything else.”

Megan Devine, psychotherapist and author of “It’s Ok That You’re Not OK,” is featured in Speaking Grief, a public media initiative aimed at creating a more grief-aware society.

For more, visit: speakinggrief.org/experts/megan-devine

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