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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 getting 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. You can always schedule a time to chat about being a guest from my main website.
[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
Mindfulness Shifts Grief: Reshma Kearney Guides Others
Check out the BECAUSE THEY ARE LOVED Poetry & Letter Anthology HERE
& Get 10% OFF either (or both) with Code: PODCAST10
Now, for our episode-- Today, I’m joined by Reshma Kearney — a trauma-informed mindfulness and healing guide who helps people navigate grief and the life transitions after suicide loss with compassion and resilience. After losing her husband, Sean to suicide in 2022, Reshma has chosen to dedicated her life to creating spaces where grief can be honored, healing can be nurtured, and hope can be rediscovered. She works with adults, teens, and children, blending grief education, mental health awareness, mindful parenting, and trauma-informed support to help others live meaningful lives after loss.
Our conversation weaves through resilience, parenting, and the power of mindfulness, including:
- Age-appropriate ways to talk with kids about difficult topics, including loss
- How having mindfulness tools in place before her husband’s death — including with her children — shaped their healing journey
- Parenting through grief and why a child’s outcome is so connected to the resilience of their mom
- Her husband’s military service, including three deployments, and how that affected his mental health
- How children’s yoga became a powerful practice during the pandemic and continues to be a foundation in her family’s life
- Why skills for mourning and grief are different than skills for living and thriving — and how she supports others through one-on-one coaching
This is a heartfelt, real, and hopeful conversation about meeting grief with presence, nurturing resilience, and finding ways to live fully while carrying what we cannot change.
FIND HER HERE:
Her Instagram --- give her a follow!
Check out the BECAUSE THEY ARE LOVED Poetry & Letter Anthology HERE
& Get 10% OFF either (or both) with Code: PODCAST10
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💜 The Leftover Pieces is support central for grieving hearts.
🔗 Stay connected: Join my free email community for weekly check-ins, resources, and encouragement.
🌟 For moms: Explore the $9 Lighthouse Community — safe connection, tools, and hope.
🛠 Resources for all grievers: Start here.
🤝 One-on-one grief coaching for moms after child loss to suicide: Learn more here.
📞 Need help now? If you or someone you love is struggling with suicidal thoughts, dial 988 in the U.S. & Canada, or text HOME to 741741.