The Leftover Pieces: Suicide Loss Conversations
Suicide loss changes everything. The Leftover Pieces® Podcast explores life after suicide through honest conversations with survivors, experts, and grieving parents learning to live forward after unimaginable loss. Parents, partners, siblings, and friends share what it means to keep living when the world has been forever changed.
Hosted by Melissa Bottorff-Arey, whose 21-year-old son Alex died by suicide in 2016, the show blends intimate conversations with survivors, healers, and mental health professionals with short solo reflections you can actually use. Together we explore child loss, trauma and nervous-system care, anniversaries and seasons, stigma, faith and meaning, legacy, and the everyday practices that help make life livable again.
At its heart, this podcast is about learning to live forward after loss. We never move on from the people we love, but we can learn to carry the grief differently. This road can feel incredibly lonely—but you are not alone here.
For supporters, educators, and professionals, these conversations also offer insight into the realities of suicide grief and what genuine, non-fixing support can look like.
If you’d like to share your story or expertise, you can request to be a guest through Melissa’s website.
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Content Note
This podcast speaks candidly about grief and suicide loss and may feel activating for some listeners. We avoid graphic descriptions and discussion of suicide methods. Please care for yourself as needed. Melissa is not a doctor or licensed therapist, and nothing shared here should be considered medical or mental-health advice.
The Leftover Pieces: Suicide Loss Conversations
Dan Maigler - From Tale to Tail; A Mission in Paws for Patrick
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Today I welcome Dan Maigler to the podcast. Dan is the mental health director for Paws for Patrick, a non-profit that connects people with mental health issues to Emotional Support Animals. Dan was Patrick's school social worker and when he died by suicide in May of 2020 it was devastating. Patrick's family starting Paws for Patrick has been incredibly healing for him and helped him endure the suicide of his own nephew Brian, in January of this year (2022).
Dan is also a therapist in private practice and the host of the mental health podcast Not Allowed to Die where he explores listener questions about treatment and dilemmas his clients are facing.
Paws for Patrick is a non-profit organization dedicated to connecting young people to emotional support animals (ESA's) and therapy animals to aid them as they live with mental illness. Utilizing their unique Wish Granter and Therapy Dog programs, they provide the funds and resources to bring the love of animals to the people who need it most. They also seek to raise awareness of mental illness and break the stigma that still exists. Patricks' animals, especially his beloved dog Cici, provided him with a sense of peace and love that no human could ever provide. This work can never bring Patrick back, and the pain of his loss will never go away, yet his memory and his legacy still lives on in the most profound way.
Dan's Podcast "Not Allowed to Die" can be found HERE
And some links directly to episodes I referenced -- but all of his episodes are great
HERE is the Suicidal Friends 101 episode
HERE is the episode on Emotional Support Animals FAQ's
HERE is the episode on the death of his nephew
You can find out more about Paws for Patrick HERE on their website
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My website "The Leftover Pieces; Rebuilding You" is LIVE and that
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💜 The Leftover Pieces is support for life after suicide loss. Click links below
🎙 Leave me a message: Share a question, your story, or your person’s name for a future episode → theleftoverpieces.com/voicemail
🔗 Stay connected: Join my email community for weekly support, resources, and honest conversations.
🛠 Start here: Explore website for suicide loss resources for early grief, family support, and next steps.
🤝 For moms: One-on-one grief coaching for mothers navigating life after child loss.
📞 Need support right now? If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (U.S. & Canada), or text HOME to 741741.