Amber Jeffrey on her anger in grief and discovering what really matters in life

Amber Jeffrey is a celebrated podcast host and online community facilitator. Her work & podcast, The Grief Gang,specialises in grief, breaking down the stigma of it, one conversation at a time. One of the great innovative changes that has swept through the grief community in recent years-- through access to social media--is the voice of bereaved young people. This younger generation tends to be more honest about their experience. In doing so improve our understanding of what it is like to be ‘a griefster’ leading to better support. In this energetic and at times funny conversation between Amber and I, you will hear the warmth of our friendship, that has created deep trust and allows Amber to explore aspects of her grief that she has never explored publicly before. In this episode, we talk about: When and how someone dies has a huge impact on the impact of their death. How anger is a natural but often unvoiced aspect of grief – it can cause havoc - and yet shutting it down can also cause harm. How the pain of loss for the person who has died, which links to the intensity of the love – can block adapting to the loss. Explore the existential question of whether we can turn pain to purpose, or sometimes just let tragedy be a tragedy. How the relationship with the surviving parent can be impacted – when they ‘move on.’ The unvoiced and taboo thought many have ‘did the wrong parent die?” How pre-existing fault lines in family systems can be ignited, in Amber’s case, racism. How grief can change one’s perception of what matters and give freedom to enjoy the sheer preciousness of life. Support links: CRUSE: https://www.cruse.org.uk/ CHILD BEREAVEMENT UK: https://www.childbereavementuk.org/ GOOD GRIEF TRUST: https://www.thegoodgrieftrust.org/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices