Episode Description

"Healing happens in moments. And sometimes one moment changes everything."

In this episode of Grieve That Shit, Sharon Brubaker, grief specialist and founder of The Grief School, sits down with Emily, founder of Moment Cares — a full-service recovery and mental health support organization helping individuals and families navigate substance use, trauma, and emotional crisis.

After losing her nephew Austin, Sharon learned that grief is not just sadness. It lives in the body. It hides in addiction. It shows up as anxiety, avoidance, overworking, numbing, and survival mode.

And in this powerful conversation, Sharon and Emily connect the dots between grief, trauma, addiction, and the nervous system.

With 18 years of personal sobriety and 15 years of professional experience, Emily shares how her own recovery journey revealed something deeper: alcohol and drugs are often not the root problem — they are the symptom. Underneath is unprocessed pain. Unfelt grief. A nervous system stuck in fear.

Together, they explore the head–heart connection, why so many people live disconnected from their bodies, and how learning to sit with emotion — even for one minute — can begin to change everything.

This episode is not just about addiction.
It is about grief, trauma, community, and connection.

Because healing does not happen in isolation.
It happens when someone says, "Me too."

How addiction and numbing behaviors are often responses to unprocessed grief

Why sitting with emotion feels terrifying — and why it actually sets you free

The difference between intellectualizing pain and feeling it in the body

How trauma disconnects us from our own nervous system

Why community is one of the most powerful tools in recovery

How mental health, grief, and substance use are deeply connected

You do not need to answer these all at once.

What have I been using to avoid feeling?

Is my struggle really about the surface behavior — or something deeper?

Where did I learn that my emotions were not safe?

Who is safe enough for me to begin telling the truth?

The next time you feel overwhelmed, pause.

Ask yourself:

"What am I feeling in my body right now?"

Not what you're thinking.
Not the story.

Just the feeling.

Sit with it for one minute.

Watch what happens.

That minute might be your moment.

Learn more about Emily and Moment Cares at momentcares.com

👉 Find grief support and resources at https://stan.store/TheGriefSchool

Episode Description

"You may not get to choose what you feel. But you do get to choose what you practice."

In this episode of Grieve That Shit, Sharon Brubaker, grief specialist and founder of The Grief School, breaks down something most grievers have never been told:

You have choices in your grief.

After losing her nephew Austin, Sharon learned that grief feels automatic. The memories. The body reactions. The waves that hit before you're even fully awake. It can feel like something is happening to you — and you are stuck.

But what if you are not stuck?

This episode walks through 10 real choices every griever faces — not fluffy mindset shifts, but nervous-system level decisions that shape whether you stay in survival mode or begin moving toward healing.

From avoidance vs. engagement, to isolation vs. regulated support, to surviving vs. living again — Sharon challenges the belief that time alone heals and invites you into active participation in your own healing.

This episode is not about forcing feelings.
It is about practicing safety.

Because grief healing is not passive.
It is something you participate in.

• Why you cannot always choose your emotions — but you can choose your response
• The difference between avoidance and true engagement
• How isolation keeps the nervous system in threat mode
• Why intellectualizing grief is not the same as processing it
• What it actually means to retrain your nervous system
• How survival mode becomes a habit — and how to slowly shift out of it

Questions to Sit With After Listening

You do not need to rush these.

• Where am I avoiding instead of engaging?
• Am I waiting for time to fix this — or am I participating in healing?
• Who feels safe enough to witness my grief without trying to fix it?
• What am I practicing daily — survival or safety?

Write this at the top of a page:

"What am I practicing in my grief?"

Then list your honest answers.

No shame.
No judgment.

Just awareness.

Then circle one choice you are ready to practice differently this week.

Healing does not happen by accident.
It happens by repetition.

👉 Find everything at https://stan.store/TheGriefSchool

Episode Description
"Your grief is not a burden. Your silence is."

In this episode of Grieve That Shit, Sharon Brubaker, grief specialist and founder of The Grief School, asks a hard but necessary question:

What is your grief costing you?

After losing her nephew Austin, Sharon learned that grief does not just take the person you love. It takes your energy. Your focus. Your sense of self. And when you start hiding it, it takes even more.

Many grievers believe staying quiet makes them strong. They believe pretending to be "okay" protects the people around them. But silence does not protect you. It isolates you. It disconnects you. It keeps you stuck in survival mode.

This episode explores the hidden cost of emotional suppression and why grief needs a place to land.

This episode is not about falling apart.
It is about telling the truth.

Because healing does not happen in hiding.
It happens when your pain is seen.

• Why hiding your grief drains your energy and disconnects you from support
• How silence keeps you stuck in survival mode
• The difference between protecting others and abandoning yourself
• Why grief needs space, air, and honesty to begin healing
• Simple, practical ways to start telling the truth about your pain

You do not need to rush these.

• What has my grief been costing me emotionally?
• Where have I been pretending instead of telling the truth?
• Who feels safe enough to hear even a small piece of my pain?
• What is one thing I need to say out loud this week?

At the top of a page, write:

"What my silence is costing me."

Be honest.
No performing.
No minimizing.

Just tell the truth.

Then circle one small step you can take this week to let your grief have a place to land.

That is where the shift begins.

👉 Find everything at https://stan.store/TheGriefSchool