November is Children's Grief Awareness Month.
Remember the last time you tried to talk about grief and suddenly everyone left the room? Hosted by Jana DeCristofaro and produced by Dougy Center, Grief Out Loud® is opening up this often avoided conversation because grief is hard enough without having to go through it alone. We bring you a mix of personal stories, tips for supporting children, teens, and yourself, and interviews with professionals. Platitude and cliché-free, we promise!
October 30th, 2026
When Emily Bolcik's boyfriend, Dan, died suddenly in 2021, her world split into before and after. In the before, she and Dan were on the precipice of exciting life adventures. In the after, Emily found herself navigating the shock of his death, the trauma of finding his body, and a world that seemed to expect her to move forward before she could even begin to understand what had happened. Emily is the author of I Found My Boyfriend's Dead Body on the Floor and Then Tried to Be Polite and Never Bring It Up Again. In this conversation, she talks about the messy, complex, and often unexpected realities of grief: feeling embarrassed by the depth of her pain, finding connection with people who have experienced similar losses, and learning how to be present with someone else's grief without trying to fix it. She also reflects on how creativity, humor, spirituality, and her volunteer work at Dougy Center with children who are grieving continue to shape her life.
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As more opportunities for non-traditional grief support arise, it's no surprise that many of them are happening in historically marginalized communities who have not felt relevantly supported in those read more...
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Pierce Freelon is a GRAMMY® nominated musician, author, and educator. He is also a son, a father, a husband, and an astute observer of life and grief and everything in between. Pierce was a caregiver read more...
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When Kelly S. Thompson and her older sister Meghan were children, they were close. Meghan was Kelly’s protector and constant as they moved around as a military family. Things shifted when Meghan hit a read more...
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Jamie Thrower is a Queer death doula, end-of-life educator, and grief guide in Portland, OR. She is also the founder of the Queer Grief Club which provides inclusive non-traditional grief support offe read more...
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Grief Out Loud® is supported in part by the Chester Stephan Endowment Fund in loving memory by the estate of Theodore R. Stephan.
Dougy Center, through the Grief Out Loud podcast, is committed to learning from and sharing diverse perspectives on grief experiences and grief support. The views expressed by podcast guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Dougy Center, its staff, or its Board of Directors.