The Grief Sessions #1: Swimming in a Sea of Unknown - Lessons from the Deep End with Dr. Robert A Neimeyer
"We are all soft bodies in a hard world..."
We begin a five episode series called "The Grief Sessions" with the extraordinary Dr. Robert A Neimeyer. Together he and Susan talk about the many manifestations of grief which include the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, or the loss of a relationship, but also the collective and seemingly unending losses we are currently experiencing through the global health and cultural crises we find ourselves in at this moment in our history.
Dr. Neimeyer likens the experience to running a marathon, where we are all in the race whether we chose to be or not, and we must find a way of moving forward, despite not knowing the course, without roadmaps, and without knowing where or when we might hit the finish line.
It is a sobering thought.
However, the conversation is not without hope. Despite being able to see the finish line, we know we will eventually cross it. What will we have learned about grief, about ourselves, about each other, once we arrive?
Meet This Episode's Guest
Dr. Robert A. Neimeyer
Robert A. Neimeyer, Ph.D., is Professor in the Department of Psychology, University of Memphis, where he also maintains an active clinical practice. Neimeyer also serves as Director of the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition, which offers training and certification in grief therapy.
Since completing his doctoral training at the University of Nebraska in 1982, he has published 30 books, including a series of volumes on Techniques of Grief Therapy and Grief and the Expressive Arts, the latter with Barbara Thompson, and serves as Editor of the journal Death Studies. The author of over 500 articles and book chapters, he is currently working to advance a more adequate theory of grieving as a meaning-making process, both in his published work and through his frequent professional workshops for national and international audiences.
Neimeyer served as President of the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC), and Chair of the International Work Group for Death, Dying, & Bereavement. In recognition of his contributions, he has been granted the Eminent Faculty Award by the University of Memphis, made a Fellow of the Clinical Psychology Division of the American Psychological Association, and given Lifetime Achievement Awards by both the Association for Death Education and Counseling and the International Network on Personal Meaning.
