E39: I’m grieving repeat abandonment

Written By Shelby Forsythia

Overwhelmed by multiple, heart-shattering losses including childhood abuse, estrangement, and abandonment, a listener wonders where to begin the process of grieving.

Listen to This Episode:

Dear Grief Guide,

I have so much grief to work on, I don’t even know where to begin. 

I was abused as a child and both my parents abandoned me at different points in my life. My sister also ran away from home when I was 12 and we have been estranged since. Two years ago, my long-term partner broke up with me out of the blue after we vowed to spend the rest of our lives together. I couldn’t believe that I was being abandoned again. 

To this day, I feel frozen and unable to connect with others. Could you please help me reframe my grief so that I can start living my life again?

Thanks,

Frozen in Disbelief

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Shelby Forsythia

Shelby Forsythia (she/her) 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 honor and include the heartbreaks they’ve faced. Her work has been featured in Huffington Post, Bustle, and The Oprah Magazine.

https://www.shelbyforsythia.com
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E40: I feel like an alien
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E38: I’m jealous of grievers with supportive friends