Cover of Grief is the New Normal: S3E22 Navigating Dementia Caregiving: Insights from Beverly E. Thorn, PhD

Grief is the New Normal: S3E22 Navigating Dementia Caregiving: Insights from Beverly E. Thorn, PhD

Grief is the New Normal: S3E22 Navigating Dementia Caregiving: Insights from Beverly E. Thorn, PhD

Listen for free

View show details

Season's Savings | 0.99 €/month for 3 months

5.99 €/month thereafter - terms apply. Cancel monthly.
Before I Lose My Own Mind: Dementia Caregiving, Sequential Grief, and Planning Ahead (with Beverly E. Thorn, PhD) Dr. Heather Taylor hosts Beverly E. Thorn, PhD, a clinical health psychologist, chronic illness author, and certified end-of-life doula, to discuss dementia caregiving and grief. Thorn shares how her long career helping people cope with chronic pain intersected with her husband Walt’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 2013 after early concerns in 2004, leading her into caregiving, bereavement, and eventually writing a personal trade book, Before I Lose My Own Mind: Navigating Life as a Dementia Caregiver. They explore “sequential” (anticipatory) grief, isolation and abandonment caregivers often feel, exhaustion and guilt, survivor’s guilt, and the value of honest end-of-life planning and clear directives to reduce later decision burdens. Thorn describes supports that helped, the importance of hiring help sooner, teaching others how to help with specific requests, and offers free caregiving resources at drbeverlythorn.com plus Substack and Facebook. 00:00 Grief Is Not A Problem 00:24 Meet Beverly Thorn 01:24 Caregiving Becomes Personal 03:23 Writing The Caregiving Book 05:51 Sequential Grief Explained 09:33 Planning End Of Life Wishes 12:36 Remembering Walt 16:14 Caregiver Support Systems 23:14 Asking For Practical Help 25:03 Asking Without Guilt 26:02 Survivor Guilt Begins 29:14 Honoring Walt Forward 31:05 Signs And Glimmers 33:15 Grief After Death 35:45 Memorials On Your Terms 37:52 Dementia Planning Basics 41:55 Caregivers Not Alone 43:23 Where To Find Beverly 45:30 Final Takeaways --------------------------------- Beverly E. Thorn, Ph.D., is the author of hundreds of articles, two books, and four workbooks on coping with chronic illness. She spent decades as a faculty member at The Ohio State University and The University of Alabama, where she went on to serve as director of the clinical psychology PhD program and department chair in psychology. Currently professor emerita, licensed psychologist, and board certified in clinical health psychology, she is also a certified end-of-life doula and continues to publish, speak, and conduct workshops nationally and internationally on managing chronic illness. https://drbeverlythorn.com/ https://beverlythorn.substack.com/publish/home?utm_source=menu https://www.linkedin.com/in/beverly-thorn-658554318/ https://www.facebook.com/beverly.thorn.3 -------------------------------- Grief is not a problem to solve. It is a human experience to move through, and most of us were never taught how. Grief is the New Normal is hosted by Dr. Heather Taylor, licensed psychologist and grief specialist with over a decade of experience in grief, trauma, and reproductive psychology. This show exists to change the conversation around loss by expanding what grief looks like, who it belongs to, and what it actually means to integrate it into your life. Whether you're grieving a death, a diagnosis, a relationship, an identity shift, or the world as you knew it, your grief is real, it deserves space, and you are not behind. And if you're a clinician, coach, or helper carrying your own grief while holding space for others, this show was built for you too. Dr. Taylor brings research-informed frameworks, honest clinical perspective, and the STAY framework, a grief-informed approach to living with loss that goes far beyond the five stages. Expect nuance, depth, and conversations that take grief seriously. No toxic positivity. No fixing. Just honest conversation, real validation, and a community built around grief literacy, disenfranchised grief, anticipatory grief, collective grief, and the full spectrum of human loss. grief support podcast · disenfranchised grief · anticipatory grief · grief after loss · grief for clinicians · grief-informed care · grief literacy · coping with grief · grief and identity · mental health and grief · reproductive grief · pet loss grief · collective trauma and grief · grief integration · STAY framework New episodes dropping regularly Connect with Dr. Heather Taylor: Website: griefisthenewnormal.com Instagram: @dr.heathertaylor Substack: How We STAY with Grief https://drheathertaylor.substack.com/ Newsletter: Bridging the Grief Gap on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-taylor-psyd-licensed-psychologist/ Journal: Authentically Unapologetic, available on Amazon https://a.co/d/0dM0DloC Contact: heather@thedrheathertaylor.com Music by The Dadicorns. Copyright 2026.
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
No reviews yet