Episode 12 | Helping Through Heartache with Sheila Hoover
This week we chat with Sheila Hoover on the Filled With Gold Widow Podcast! Sheila has a Ph.D. in Adult Education and 20 years of experience in academia as an education specialist making information accessible in creative and engaging ways. She wrote the book "Helping Through Heartache: An Easy Guide to Supporting Anyone Who is Grieving" in the years after the death of her husband. After experiencing what she describes as a confusing mashup of people's reactions, she realized that many people have no idea how to help someone who is profoundly grieving.
Given her background in education, she set out to write an informative and user-friendly guide. Unlike most grief resources that focus on the bereaved, this book was written for those who are helping the bereaved. This book is also unique because it's intended to be fun to read - it pairs each tip with a cat cartoon, featuring the Sad Cat as the grieving person, and their Cat friends.
The content in the book is based on Sheila's own research, connections with others who have experienced profound loss, support groups & organizations, and direct experience in the aftermath of losing her husband, parents, and close friends. She has also trained as an end-of-life doula.
Listen in as we talk about:
- The sudden (and not so sudden) death of her husband, Wes, in 2017
- Happy therapy
- Sheila’s book for grief supporters (Yes!!)
- Sad Cat & Cat Friend cartoons can make it all better
- Our Widow Radar - instantly understanding other widows
“(I knew) Wes would want me to be happy...so that helped keep me in the game.”
- Sheila Hoover
Get Sheila’s book "Helping Through Heartache: An Easy Guide to Supporting Anyone Who is Grieving" on Amazon.
Website: helpingthroughheartache.com
This episode is brought to you by:
Filled With Gold monthly self-care subscription box for widows.
Thanks for listening!
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Sponsored by the Widow Squad - a community of widows moving forward after the death of their life partner.