The Meaningful Life with Andrew G. Marshall

Shelby Forsythia: Can Grief Turn Toxic? The Different Ways We Cope With Loss

Jun 10, 2024

Shelby Forsythia, a grief coach and author, discusses toxic grief, coping with loss, and creating grief rituals with Andrew G. Marshall. They explore the different causes of grief like death, divorce, and loss of identity. Shelby shares insights on living with grief as a companion and dealing with other people's responses to it.

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Intro

00:00 • 2min

Navigating Toxic Grief and Unexpected Loss

01:47 • 15min

Navigating Complex Grief and Creating Personal Rituals

17:02 • 19min

Coping with Grief: Diverse Manifestations and Coping Mechanisms

35:55 • 7min

Navigating Grief and the Impact of Pet Loss

42:56 • 4min

Navigating the Grief of Pet Loss and Coping Strategies

46:52 • 6min

Navigating Grief Through Finding Meaning in Life

52:41 • 3min

Grief is a painful and confusing journey. Often, the culture encourages us to “move on”, squashing our grief down so that those around us are comfortable.

This week Andrew talks to author and grief coach Shelby Forsythia. They discuss:

Whether grief can turn “toxic”
Coping with other people’s responses
Living with grief as your companion
Creating grief rituals
Different causes of grief - death, divorce, infidelity, loss of identity.

Shelby Forsythia is a grief coach, author, and podcast host. In 2020, she founded Life After Loss Academy, an online course and community that has helped dozens of grievers grow and find their way after death, divorce, diagnosis, and other major life transitions. Following her mother’s death in 2013, Shelby began calling herself a “student of grief” and now devotes her days to reading, writing, and speaking about loss. Through a combination of mindfulness tools and intuitive, open-ended questions, she guides her clients to welcome grief as a teacher and create meaningful lives that honour and include the heartbreaks they’ve faced. Her work has been featured in Huffington Post, Bustle, and The Oprah Magazine.

Subscriber Content This Week

If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing.

How to grieve the person you used to be.
Three things Shelby Forsythia knows to be true.
AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.

Follow Up

Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things

Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools

Visit Shelby Forsythia’s website

Follow Shelby Forsythia on social media Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | TikTok

Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall and on Substack at The Meaningful Life.