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ManTalks Podcast

David Kessler - Finding Meaning In Grief And Loss

ManTalks Podcast

Connor Beaton

Education, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness, Relationships, Society & Culture, Mental Health

4.8591 Ratings

🗓️ 22 July 2024

⏱️ 59 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Talking points: grief, loss, relationships, masculinity, anger I met David at a psychotherapy symposium a while back, and it wasn’t long before we were sharing some of the things we’ve grieved. He just has that calm yet strong presence. He’s also, of course, an absolute expert therapist. We dig into everything loss in this episode; how the 5 stages actually work, what death does both for and to us, and much, much more. This is absolutely an episode to share with someone you feel could use it. (00:00:00) - Intro, do men and women grieve differently, and the toll of not grieving (00:06:34) - Why unprocessed grief manifests as anger, anxiety, and more (00:11:10) - What brought David into grief work, the five stages, and where people get stuck (00:24:43) - On the loss of David’s son (00:32:12) - Does grief reshape identity, and the different ways of moving through it (00:35:50) - How to move through grief, and discerning when to “live again” (00:42:51) - David’s take on death denial, living currently, and how death challenges our assumptions (00:50:43) - The sixth stage of grief, and the nuances of meaning after loss David Kessler is one of the world’s foremost experts on grief and loss. His experience with thousands of people on the edge of life and death has taught him the secrets to living a happy and fulfilled life, even after life’s tragedies. He is the author of six books, including the new bestselling book, Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief. He co-authored two books with Elisabeth Kubler Ross, including On Grief and Grieving updated her 5 stages for grief. His first book, The Needs of The Dying received praise from Saint (Mother) Teresa. David’s personal experience as a child witnessing a mass shooting while his mother was dying in a hospital helped him begin his journey. For most of his life, David has taught physicians, nurses, counselors, police, and first responders about the end of life, trauma, and grief. He facilitates talks, workshops and retreats for those experiencing grief. However, despite his vast knowledge on grief, his life was turned upside down by the sudden death of his twenty-one-year-old son. It inspired him to write his newest book, Finding Meaning. David’s volunteer work includes being an LAPD Specialist Reserve for traumatic events as well as having served on the Red Cross’s disaster services team. He worked for over a decade in a three-hospital system, and was even trained for bio-terrorism events and epidemics/pandemics.  Connect with David -Website: https://grief.com/ -Book: Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief: https://grief.com/sixth-stage-of-grief/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamdavidkessler/ -Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IamDavidKessler/ -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/davidkesslerongrief *** This episode is also brought to you by BetterHelp. Easily match with a therapist who can help you through the tough times and empower your best self. Visit BetterHelp.com/mantalks today to get 10% off your first month Pick up my book, Men's Work: A Practical Guide To Face Your Darkness, End Self-Sabotage, And Find Freedom: https://mantalks.com/mens-work-book/ Check out some free resources: How To Quit Porn | Anger Meditation | How To Lead In Your Relationship Build brotherhood with a powerful group of like-minded men from around the world. Check out The Alliance.  Enjoy the podcast? If so, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or Podchaser. It helps us get into the ears of new listeners, expand the ManTalks Community, and help others find the tools and training they’re looking for. And don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify For more episodes, visit us at ManTalks.com | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

All right, David, welcome to The Man Talk Show.

0:10.4

How are you doing today?

0:12.0

I'm really excited to be with you here today.

0:14.8

Likewise. Likewise. I'm very grateful and honored to have you here.

0:18.4

For those that are listening, I met you at the, what's it

0:22.1

called, the site networker earlier this year. And it was- The therapist conference in D.C.

0:27.9

Massive, massive therapist conference in D.C. And it was interesting timing because I think that it was

0:35.3

about three or four, I guess it was maybe four weeks after my mom had passed.

0:40.1

And, you know, your work is all around grief and loss and how we sort of traverse that territory.

0:46.5

And you had some very, just being in your presence, I think was very helpful.

0:51.3

And hearing your story and sharing in that was very, very helpful.

0:55.2

And then kind of diving down through your work and referring your work to my family and, you know,

0:59.7

seeing how your work is supported everyone. And so I'm very excited to have this conversation.

1:05.3

Let's start with, let's just start with the basics. very broad. Do men and women grieve differently?

1:13.8

Yes. I think that women very much are comfortable with talking about their feelings,

1:22.8

and I think when they get too intense feelings, they're much more used to discussing and trafficking in

1:30.8

that world. I think for men, we're just not raised to deal with those intense feelings. And,

1:38.4

you know, many times we've had a history of pushing feelings down, and that sort of works for the everyday,

1:47.0

you know, day-to-day feelings, and then you get to the intense ones of grief and becomes kind of

1:52.2

hard to hold them down.

1:53.9

Yeah, I find that men, we generally try and distract from the grief.

1:58.9

You know, it's like you go through the hard breakup, you have,

...

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