Open To Hope Podcast – Open to Hope
Episodes
Military Loss of a Son: Don Lipstein
22 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Don Lipstein, is a Peer Mentor Support and Training Coordinator for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors of Military Loss (TAPS). Don joined...
Military Loss of a Spouse: Kim Ruocco MSW
15 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Kim Ruocco MSW, is the Manager for Suicide Outreach and Education Programs at The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors of Military Loss (TAPS). ...
Wellness and Grief: Dr. Jane Bissler
08 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Jane Bissler, LPCC, is a clinical counselor and the clinical director for Counseling for Wellness, LLP and Kelly’s Grief Center, a not-for-profi...
Bereavement Support: Dr. Wendy Lichtenthal
01 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Wendy Lichtenthal, PhD is a clinical psychologist who directs the Bereavement Clinic at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. ...
Handling The Holidays After Loss: Melissa Pettignano
25 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Melissa Pettignano is the CEO of MPettignano Enterprises, LLC. One of the biggest losses she had to deal with was losing a family member in the Septem...
A Good Goodbye: Gail Rubin
18 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Gail Rubin, CT, is author and host of the award-winning book and television series A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don’t Plan to Die....
Dating After The Loss of a Spouse and a Child; Guest: Abel Keogh
11 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
At age twenty-six, after the tragic suicide of his wife and the death of their 9 day old baby Abel Keogh unexpectedly found himself a young widower an...
Hope After Loss: Guest Angela Miller
04 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Angela Miller is a writer, survivor, bereaved parent of Noah, and grief advocate who provides support and solace to those who are grieving worldwide. ...
Dr. David Fajgenbaum: Support Network For Grieving College Students
20 Nov 2014
Contributed by Lukas
While a student at Georgetown University, David Fajgenbaum, MD, MSc founded Students of National Students of AMF Support Network, a peer-led grief sup...
Michele Neff Hernandez: Soaring Spirits
13 Nov 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Michele Neff Hernandez is a bereaved spouse and the founding President, and Executive Director of the Soaring Spirits Loss Foundation providing resour...
Sheila Himmel: Changing the Way We Die
06 Nov 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Sheila Himmel is a Psychology Today blogger and the coauthor of Hungry: A Mother and Daughter Fight Anorexia and Changing the Way We Die. Her work has...
Rebecca Soffer: Modern Loss Coping with Grief in a Digital World
30 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Rebecca Soffer is the co-founder of Modern Loss a website geared to young adults addressing the many permutations of loss, from miscarriages to a pare...
Cornelia Cannon Holden: Miscarriage
23 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Cornelia Cannon Holden is a social entrepreneur and educator. Through her company, Mindful Warrior, she is dedicated to helping her clients reach thei...
Jill Smolowe: Resilience In A Time of Grief
16 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Within 17 months award-winning journalist and author Jill Smolowe lost her husband, sister, and mother. Jill, a senior writer for People, desiring...
Elizabeth Heineman: Stillbirth
09 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Elizabeth Heineman is mother of one stillborn and two surviving children. Her memoir of her stillbirth is Ghostbelly (Feminist Press, 2014). She is...
An Artists View of Death, Steven Boone
02 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Artist, photographer, traveler, and writer Steven Boone lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He lost his daughter to cancer when she was nineteen. His award...
Allen Klein: The Healing Power of Humor
25 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Allen Klein discovered the therapeutic value of humor after his wife died at thirty-four. He now shows others how to lighten up loss. He is the autho...
Rosalie Deer Heart: Healing Grief
18 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Rosalie Deer Heart is a veteran of grief who chose to open her heart even wider to love after the sudden death of her teenage son, Mike. She is the au...
Gerry Cox: Grief, Religion and Culture
11 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Gerry R. Cox, Ph.D., is a Professor Emeritus of Sociology at University of Wisconsin- La Crosse. He served as the Director of the Center for Death...
Linda Hunt: Finding Strength and Renewal After Child Loss
04 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Linda Lawrence Hunt’s 25-year-old daughter Krista was killed while volunteering with her husband in Bolivia. She and her husband co-founded the Kr...
Rabbi Daniel Greyber: Friends: Forgotten Mourners
28 Aug 2014
Contributed by Lukas
When Rabbi Daniel Greyber ‘s best friend Jay died at age twenty-five Daniel moved on, keeping his faith, and becoming a rabbi. After losing a se...
Jon Reid: Dealing With Grief and Loss
21 Aug 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Jon Reid is a Professor of Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. He is the president of the Association o...
K. Paul Stroller: Writing a Posthumous Memoir
14 Aug 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. K. Paul Stroller, MD, started his medical career as a pediatrician and currently uses hyperbaric medicine to treat brain-injured children and adul...
Carla J. Sofka PhD MSW: Grief and Technology
07 Aug 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Carla Sofka is associate Professor of Social Work at Siena College in Loudonville, NY. She has research experience in gerontology, grief and los...
Candace Lightner: Death and the Hero’s Journey
31 Jul 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Candace Lightner founded Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in 1980 after the death of her daughter Cari. She continues working both nationally an...
Death and the Hero’s Journey : Candace Lightner
31 Jul 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Candace Lightner founded Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in 1980 after the death of her daughter Cari. She continues working both nationally an...
Navigating Grief and Trials: Kathleen D. Hamilton
24 Jul 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Kathleen D. Hamilton has suffered a number of tragedies including the deaths of her mother and twelve year old daughter. She has coped with a brain-...
The Death Class: Erika Hayasaki’s and Norma Bowe
17 Jul 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Norma Bowe, RN Ph.D. is a tenured Professor in the College of Education at Kean University in Union N.J. She developed the course curriculum for D...
Finances after Loss: Aaron Britz
10 Jul 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Aaron Britz was 6 years old, when he lost his 62-year-old grandfather to a brain tumor. During the days and years that followed he watched his grandmo...
Handling Grief, Loss of Our Parents: Nina Impala
03 Jul 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Nina Impala has both personal and professional experience with bereavement. She has lost both parents and has recruited and trained hospice voluntee...
Julie Saeger Nierenberg: Death of My Dad
26 Jun 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Julie is a writer, editor and author coach. Inspired by the journey of love and release through her father’s end of life. Julie writes to contribute...
Jill Kraft Thompson Rebuilding A Life After Losing Five People
19 Jun 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Jill Kraft Thompson had a life filled with love: an adoring husband, two young precious sons, a devoted mother, and a close extended family. Jill̵...
Brenda Marshall Ph.D.: Death of an Adult Sibling
12 Jun 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Brenda Marshall Ph.D. is a speaker, coach and educator in the field of bereavement. Her interest in providing help to others, who have lost a sibling,...
Danita Ogandaga: Overcoming the Orphaned Spirit
05 Jun 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Danita Ogandaga is the founder Hope Starts Today and the Orphan No More podcast. She lost both of her parents by the age of twenty-one. She teaches on...
Susan Anderson: Abandonment Recovery
29 May 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Susan Anderson is a psychotherapist, speaker and author. She uses her personal experience and research to work with the victims of abandonment traum...
Beth Marshall: Getting Unstuck from Grief
22 May 2014
Contributed by Lukas
When Beth Marshall lost both her parents within a few short years, she searched for light at the end of the tunnel… hoping it wasn’t a train! ...
Steve Siler: Healing Power of Music
15 May 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Steve Siler is the founder of Music For the Soul A Christian ministry using the power of songs and stories as a bridge to hope and healing for those ...
Beth Rotondo: Hope For Those Who Grieve
08 May 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Beth Rotondo has worked in the bereavement for 20 years. She has lost an infant, parent, and sibling. Her losses and expertise have made her a com...
Cendra Lynn: Web Based Grief Support
01 May 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Cendra Lynn Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist, certified traumatologist, and a pioneer in the field of grief and loss. She is the founder of the web s...
Nita Whitaker LaFontaine: Death of a Husband
24 Apr 2014
Contributed by Lukas
After twenty years of marriage, three daughters, and an active career in music and film, nothing could have prepared Nita for losing her husband to ca...
Beth L. Hewett, Ph.D. : Father and Sibling Loss
17 Apr 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Beth L. Hewett understands the pain and anguish of grief. A facilitator and trainer for the National Catholic Ministry to the Bereaved (NCMB). She h...
Audrey Pellicano R.N.,M.S.: Wise Widow
10 Apr 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Audrey Pellicano is a nurse, mentor, educator, speaker, author, mom, wife and widow. Audrey helps clients tap into the power of their minds to hea...
Monique Cerundolo: Dealing With Grief Through Poetry and Quilting
03 Apr 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Monique Cerundolo is a chaplain at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. Twenty-five years ago she started quilting and was attra...
Galen Goben: Coping With the Death of a Parent
27 Mar 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Galen, a Certified Thanatologist, is one of the Grief Support Coordinators for Forest Lawn in Southern California. He is responsible for providing g...
Coping With the Death of a Parent: Galen Goben
27 Mar 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Galen, a Certified Thanatologist, is one of the Grief Support Coordinators for Forest Lawn in Southern California. He is responsible for providing gri...
David B. Gladson, M.Div., CACII: Holistic Living After Loss
20 Mar 2014
Contributed by Lukas
David Gladson is the Bereavement Manager with Interim Healthcare Hospice in Upstate South Carolina. He is a counselor, group leader and clinical super...
Diane Martin Ph.D. CT: Forgiveness
13 Mar 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Diane Martin is a writer, therapist and educator who experienced the loss of her son Sandy to suicide. In her pathway to healing she sought to underst...
Theresa Freitas and Todd Matthews: Missing Children
06 Mar 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Theresa Freitas son Jacob Whitt was 21-years-old when he went missing in 1997. DNA tests confirmed recently that a body buried in a “John Doe...
Beverly Smallwood: Parent Loss-Overcoming Adversity
27 Feb 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Bev Smallwood is a psychologist, professional speaker, and executive coach who knows first-hand the experience of loss. At the age of 9, her 38-ye...
Avril Nagel & Randy Clark: Mending Broken Hearts
20 Feb 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Randie Clark and Avril Nagel are the authors of When Your Child Dies; Tools for Mending Parents’ Broken Hearts. Randie Clark, MA, CCC, is a therapis...
Michael J. Davis: Rituals for Healing
13 Feb 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Michael has been a student of the healing arts for over forty years. In his book Rituals—Light for the Soul he talks about how to make everyday acts...
Tom Zuba: Recovering from Multiple Losses
06 Feb 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Tom Zuba is a life coach, author and speaker teaching a new way to do grief. In 1990 Tom’s daughter Erin died suddenly. His wife Tricia died in 1999...
Jan Smolinski: Missing Children
30 Jan 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Jan Smolinski is the mom of missing man William “Billy” Smolinski Jr, who disappeared Aug. 24, 2004, at the age of 31. Jan has gone on to ...
Lo Anne Mayer: How Personal Journaling Helped Heal My Grief
23 Jan 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Raising six children and studying healing for twenty-five years did not help me soothe the difficult relationship with my mother. Mom’s death catapu...
Kathy Eldon: Celebrating and Remembering
16 Jan 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Kathy Eldon is a bereaved mother, journalist, author, and film producer. She is the founder of Creative Visions Foundation and co-founder of Sanctri, ...
Andrew Morgan: Father Loss
09 Jan 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Andrew Morgan began work on his documentary film “After the End” following the untimely loss of his father in a car accident. This grief pushed hi...
George Herald Jennings: Spiritual Dimensions
02 Jan 2014
Contributed by Lukas
George-Harold Jennings Ph.D. has experienced numerous spiritual events throughout his life. Most recently in reliving the physical death of his sister...
Marsha Maring: Where Was God?
26 Dec 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Marsha Maring is the author of I Know the Secret. On this show Marsha discusses God’s Promises to Care when tragedy strikes. She talks how God ...
Laura Krawchuk MSW, LCSW: Finding Your Way Through Parent Loss
19 Dec 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Laura is a social worker and owner of Healing Concepts, LLC: a counseling practice in West Chester, PA. She is a lecturer at the University of Pennsyl...
Lisa Snyder: Death of a Parent
12 Dec 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Lisa Snyder lost both parents to cancer at 22 and 27. She now works to inspire others through her blog, http://www.LosingYourParents.org; she share...
Charles Sidoti: Practical Strategies for Growing Through Suffering: Bitter or Better?
05 Dec 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Charles W. Sidoti, is a clinically trained, board certified, Chaplain at Cleveland Clinic Health System. Charles is the author of two books, “Living...
Christa Scalies: Healing Grief Through Laughter
28 Nov 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Christa Scalies has experienced the messy, fearful, ugly and soul-wrenching side of grief after losing two friends to suicide. In her e-book, “Suici...
Linda Goldman: Helping Children Deal With Death Guest:
21 Nov 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Linda Goldman is a grief therapist in Chevy Chase, Maryland. She is an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University and Kings College and the author...
Alicia Coppola: Death of a Dad
14 Nov 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Alicia Coppola, actress and writer, is the author of Gracefully Gone, which is based on her beloved father’s and her journals chronicling their jou...
Sharon Wesch: Healing Grief
07 Nov 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Sharon J. Wesch, Ph.D., author, teacher and spiritual healer, has thirty years of experience dedicated to healing grief – it’s her soul mission, p...
Jennifer Rouse: Loss and the Fight for Happiness
31 Oct 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Jennifer Rouse, Woodbridge Va., is the author of Infelicity: Life, Loss and the Fight for Happiness. On this show Jennifer shares with us her expe...
Laurel Rund: Transformation After the Death of a Husband
24 Oct 2013
Contributed by Lukas
It all began in 2009 when a life-changing event would begin the transformation of Laurel Rund into the woman she is today. Never would she have imagin...
Dale Larson: Facing Grief and Loss
17 Oct 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Dale G. Larson, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Counseling Psychology, Santa Clara University, clinician, and researcher, is a national leader in end-...
Daniel Rudofossi: Loss, Trauma and Recovery
10 Oct 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Daniel Rudofossi is a retired Sgt NYPD and licensed Psychologist and Professor. Dr. Dan offers his evidence based approach toward identifying, confron...
Sharon Greenlee: Unresolved Grief
03 Oct 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Sharon Greenlee is a professional counselor and author. She facilitates grief and suicide survivor support groups. Sharon has extensive experience wor...
Abel Keogh: Getting it Together After Loss
26 Sep 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Abel Keogh is author of the memoir Room for Two, the story of the year of his life following his late wife’s suicide and the corresponding death of ...
Steve Harris: Men and Grief: Dating and Re-marriage
19 Sep 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Steve Harris is the president of Creative Edge Communications, a production company in Southern California. He wrote and produced About Tomorrow, an h...
Laraine Gordon, LCSW: Teen’s and Grief
12 Sep 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Laraine Gordon is a therapist, coach, program director, and founder of A Time for Teens. A Time for Teens provides a bereavement camp, seminars, and w...
Rachel Kodanaz: Returning to Work after a Loss
11 Sep 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Since 1996, Rachel Kodanz has spoken nationally on “Grief in the Workplace” as a result of the sudden death of her husband, which left her with a ...
William Martin: Caring For Yourself: Tao Te Ching
29 Aug 2013
Contributed by Lukas
William Martin believes that the ancient wisdom of Taoist thought can help people live in acceptance and harmony, regardless of circumstances. He is t...
Franklin Cook: Dealing with Parental Suicide
22 Aug 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Franklin Cook, whose father died by suicide in 1978, is a consultant, speaker, and trainer in peer grief support. After volunteering as a support grou...
Diane Dettmann: Sudden Death of a Husband
15 Aug 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Diane Dettmann is the author of Twenty-Eight Snow Angels: A Widow’s Story of Love, Loss and RenewaI, a memoir about the sudden death of her 54-year-...
Robin Lentz Worgan: Still Birth
08 Aug 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Robin Lentz Worgan began writing after her first pregnancy ended in miscarriage. The stillbirth of her third child, Margaret, led her to write Journal...
Dorothy Foltz-Gray: Loss of a Twin
01 Aug 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Dorothy Foltz-Gray is the author of five books including With and Without Her: A Memoir of Being and Losing a Twin. A winner of the Tennessee Arts Com...
Courtney Armstrong, M. Ed., LPC/MHSP: Transforming Grief
25 Jul 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Courtney Armstrong is a licensed professional counselor and the author of Transforming Traumatic Grief. In recovering from her own series of sudden lo...
Glen Lord: Your Grief Tool Box
18 Jul 2013
Contributed by Lukas
After the death of his son Noah, Glen Lord joined The Compassionate Friends and now serves on the board. He founded The Grief Tool Box, a resource for...
Sandi Amorello: Irreverent Widowhood
11 Jul 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Sandi Amorello is an artist, author, speaker, serial entrepreneur, and single mother of three. Ten years ago she lost her husband and college sweethea...
Kerie Boshka; Loving Your Life After Tragedy
04 Jul 2013
Contributed by Lukas
After the suicide of her husband, author Kerie Boshka felt a devastation that she thought would destroy her. Desperate and needing to care for her two...
Jesse E. Roberts: Making Sense of Parent Loss
27 Jun 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Jesse Roberts lost both of his parents before he graduated from high school. His church and a special school teacher mentored him. Jesse was determine...
Nate Hinerman Ph.D.: Ending Suffering
20 Jun 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Nate Hinerman is a faculty member at the University of San Francisco and Golden Gate University, where he teaches classes in death, dying, and ber...
Beverly Molander: The Power of Yes Guest:
13 Jun 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Beverly Molander, CSL minister, co-authored The Best Memorial Service for the spiritual, non-religious and unconventional. As radio host of “Affirma...
Judy Schreiber-Mosher, LCSW; Transforming Your Life
06 Jun 2013
Contributed by Lukas
From her husband’s death through her first three years of widowhood, Judy Schreiber-Mosher felt that the world had ended, but over time she foun...
Janet Ramsey: Spirituality and Resiliency
30 May 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Janet Ramsey is Professor Emeritus of Congregational Care Leadership at Luther Seminary, St Paul, Minnesota. She is also a marriage and family the...
AmyJo Mattheis; Loss of Identity
23 May 2013
Contributed by Lukas
AmyJo Mattheis has walked with thousands through the grief of losing a loved one. With the recent death of her father, she has heard the numbing whisp...
Jon Satin; Healing Relationships
16 May 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Jon Satin, along with Chris Pattay, are The Possibility Coaches. Jon is is co- author of the book Living an Inspired, Empowered and Joy-filled Life: 3...
Dr. Coy Cross II: Caring For a Dying Wife
09 May 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Coy Cross II is a retired historian with many published works to his credit, but his greatest achievement in life may be his role as a caregiver t...
Tricia Wolfe: Dealing With Mental Illness
02 May 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Tricia Wolfe’s life seemed perfect. She was married to a successful attorney and the mother of three boys. In 2003, her life changed when her so...
Donna Miesbach: Finding a Spiritual Path
25 Apr 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Donna Miesbach has been on a spiritual path all her life, which led her to extensive study with some of today’s premier teachers of spirituality...
Alice Wisler: Getting Going After Loss
18 Apr 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Alice J. Wisler is an author, speaker, and grief writing instructor. She is the Death of a Younger Child Forum moderator at Open to Hope. In 1997...
Rebecca Guevara: Hero’s Journey Through Grief Transformation
11 Apr 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Rebecca had a business career and was tentatively starting to enjoy writing when her brother, her only sibling, took his life. In grief’s tailwind s...
Kyle Shelton: Dating and Remarriage After Spouse Loss
04 Apr 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Kyle Shelton was born in Alabama and has lived in northeast or central Alabama most of his life. Kyle’s wife Kathy died suddenly due to a drug inter...
Erika R. Barber: Navigating Life Stages Post Sibling Death
28 Mar 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Erika R. Barber lived the first fifteen years of her life as a sibling and has since lived as a sibling survivor. Following her sister’s suicide, Er...
Karla Wheeler: Signs of Hope From Heaven
21 Mar 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Karla Wheeler is a former newspaper reporter and editor who founded Quality of Life Publishing Co. in 1999 to help hospices provide their compassionat...
Laura B. Hayden: Spouse Loss
15 Mar 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Laura B. Hayden spent her childhood in Brooklyn, NY, and her teens in Enfield,CT, where she went on to teach. She and her husband were raising their d...
Barbara Allen: Shatter the Stigma of Death to Overdose
07 Mar 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Barbara is a leadership coach, yoga teacher, writer and bereaved parent and sibling. She lost her son Jim, brother Bill, and niece Amanda to the dis...