Eps 506: Navigating grief that can show up during the teen years with Sascha Demerjian

Joyful Courage for Parenting Teens

It’s a tough topic this week - parental grief. Sascha Demerjian is here from The Grief House and beautifully intertwines personal stories with information.

We don’t only grieve for people that we’ve lost. Sascha explains that we also grieve for expectations, narratives, & ideas - sometimes beliefs we didn’t even realize we were holding. We talk about how meaningful it is to have somewhere safe for the messiness of grieving and how we can resist wanting to jump in and fix things when others are hurting. It comes back to trusting the process. Remember that when our adolescents “launch,” they aren’t done growing & learning - they keep growing all through adulthood, just like we do. Grief doesn’t end, but bringing it to light & sharing with a community makes a big difference.

Takeaways from the show

• We get to witness our teens’ stories & narratives, not create them
• Letting go of some beliefs in favor of a better relationship
• We grieve for ideas & expectations, not just people we lose
• Holding deep faith & trust that our adolescent’s lives are going to unfold just the way they are supposed to
• “Don’t make it worse”
• Working through your grief & worries with a therapist
• Enabling vs. empowering
• Grief doesn’t end
• Bringing things out to the light & the power of community

For more show notes, including transcripts, visit our website here.

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