In this episode, we talk with Dr. Kailey Bradley about support for grieving a death loss, but also the more overlooked non-death losses, including chronic illness, infertility, shifting identities, and the futures we imagined but don't get to live.
Dr. Bradley is a clinician and educator who specializes in working with children and families navigating grief and illness. Kailey shares her experiences growing up with chronic illness and being diagnosed with premature ovarian failure at age 12, and how those layered losses affected her at different life stages. We explore what it means to "process" grief, why anger and big questions deserve space, and how grief can show up in ways we don't always recognize. We also discuss how being diagnosed later in life with autism spectrum disorder shifted how Kailey understands grief – hers and those she supports.
We discuss:
- Why grief care can be seen as preventative mental health care
- What Kailey learned working with teens in juvenile detention about unprocessed loss
- How children express grief through play, behavior, and the body
- Supporting neurodivergent kids and teens, including those with autism
- The importance of choice and autonomy in grief support
- What makes a grief-informed community and why we need more of them
- The collective grief of the pandemic and how little space we've made to process it
This conversation is both practical and expansive, offering ideas for parents, caregivers, educators, clinicians, and anyone who wants to better understand grief in all its forms.
Connect with Dr. Kailey Bradley
Refuge Counseling: https://allrefuge.com/
The Death & Sex Podcast: https://pod.co/the-death-and-sex-podcast
The Ohio Bereavement Collaborative: https://ohiobc.com/
Want to learn more about supporting children and teens who are grieving? Sign up for our online courses here: https://classes.dougy.org/
