The Leftover Pieces; Suicide Loss Conversations
This podcast focuses on surviving life after a suicide loss, an experience that can be devastating and leave you feeling lost as you try to pick up the pieces of your shattered heart. The host, Melissa Bottorff-Arey, lost her 21-year-old son, Alex, to suicide on August 7, 2016, and brings (& often shares) her insights from her personal journey.
In each episode, Melissa engages in honest and challenging conversations with other survivors of loss, healers, and mental health experts. She also produces shorter solo episodes where she reflects on her own thoughts and experiences thus far. The podcast covers a wide range of relevant topics and addresses difficult questions. Melissa explores all aspects of grief, including trauma, hope, healing, self-care, legacy, and stigma. She believes that we learn to live alongside our grief rather than get ing over it. Actual change comes through authentic, meaningful connections and mindful choices.
For supporters or educators, these conversations provide valuable insights and shine a light on suicide and grief genuinely and unapologetically. Listeners who are grieving a suicide loss can find comfort in the community and hope for a better tomorrow. Melissa aims to help others, like herself, transition from merely surviving to discovering a life filled with meaning and, potentially, even happiness amid the leftover pieces around you.
[Please NOTE: This podcast is for only relational, informational, and entertainment purposes. It candidly and openly discusses sensitive and sometimes activating topics. There will be no in-depth or graphic descriptions of the method, but merely the possible mention of suicide, murder, rape, and the like. Be guided and care for yourself accordingly. Also, Melissa is not a doctor or licensed therapist, and nothing on this podcast should be taken in place of, or as, medical/mental health advice or recommendations.]
The Leftover Pieces; Suicide Loss Conversations
Welcome to May 1; "We're All Mad Here" DAILY Mental Health Nugget
Hello Fellow Griever— Welcome to this special Down the Rabbit Hole series I'm calling “Welcome to May – We’re All Mad Here.”
[P.S... Like this podcast? Support the show by clicking...thank you]
If you're new here, I’m Melissa, a suicide loss survivor and a bereaved mom myself. I’m also a grief coach, and the host of this podcast The Leftover Pieces; Suicide Loss Conversations podcast. And this month — this Mental Health Awareness Month — I’m doing something a little different.
Every. Single. Day... in May, I’ll be dropping a short, 3-to-5-minute episode in this series — just a few moments together. Just you and me — and the truth. Down the Rabbit Hole.
Because let’s face it: grief isn’t polite. It’s not tidy. It doesn’t play by the rules, and it doesn’t give a damn what month it is. But we do. Because mental health matters every day, especially for us — grieving moms trying to make sense of a world that no longer makes sense.
You won’t get fluffy inspiration here. No sugar-coating. No cliches. Just honest reflection, a dose of real-talk, and a little bit of literary magic — courtesy of Alice in Wonderland.
I’ve always loved Alice. My regular listeners know I have a recurring segment called Down the Rabbit Hole — because that’s exactly what grief feels like, right? Disorienting. Upside-down. A little… mad.
So, I thought, what better way to explore the messiness of mental health after loss than through the curious, confounding, and oddly wise world of Wonderland?
Each day, I’ll share a quote from Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass — and use it as a springboard. Some days we’ll talk about identity. Some days we’ll talk about rage. About stigma. About drowning in your own tears. About not recognizing the person in the mirror anymore. It’s all fair game.
This is a space for truth. For reflection. For the hard stuff. And for the reminder that you are not alone — not in your madness, and not in your mourning.
So, if you're grieving — whether you're brand new to this or have been carrying your loss for years — I hope you’ll walk (or crawl) through this month with me. Listen in when you can. Save the episodes you need. Share them with another grieving heart.
We’re all mad here, after all — but we don’t have to be alone.
TODAY we discuss:
WEEK 1: We will discuss Identity & Transformation
Day 1: Quote: "Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle." The Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 2
- Reflect on how grief dismantles our identity.
- Offer simple grounding techniques. - 5-4-3-2-1 Technique, The focus on one thing technique AND the energy-fueled adrenaline-fueled activity.
- Taking care of YOU -- Plan even 10 minutes -- a bubble bath, a walk, reading your favorite book.
So, that's all for now...that's the nugget to carry today
Take a breath. Take what you need. leave the rest. And come back tomorrow because, remember, you're not broken—you're grieving. And you're not alone in this madness. ---I'll be right here Talk Soon."
SEE YOU TOMORROW!!!
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My WEBSITE "The Leftover Pieces; Rebuilding You" is support central.
If you, or someone you know, is struggling ww suicidal thoughts, reach out:
CALL 988 in the US or Canada OR