#63  Navigating Grief: Supporting Teens Through Loss with Maria Belanic

 In this heartfelt episode of Parenting Teens Advice Redefined, host Cheryl welcomes grief educator and coach Maria Belanic to discuss the complexities of grief in teenagers. As parents, understanding how to support our teens through the loss of a loved one—whether it be a grandparent, parent, or peer—can be challenging, especially during emotionally charged times like the holidays. Maria shares her personal journey through grief and offers insights on how families can create a safe space for open conversations about loss. Join us for an enlightening discussion that aims to normalize the grief conversation and empower families to navigate their healing together.

00:01 - 00:45
Cheryl-Host: In grief, 2 emotions can coexist. You can feel sadness and joy. You can feel happiness and guilt. I think that is 1 of the main quotes I'm going to take from my interview today with Maria. She is a grief coach and I really wanted to speak to her about the difference and the process teams go through in the grief process and the difference between, you know, even who they lose. Could it be a grandparent or a parent or a sibling or a friend? And how the process might be different for them, how it might manifest differently

00:45 - 01:27
Cheryl-Host: for our teenagers, how we can support them through the grieving process, in addition to us as parents maybe going through a grieving process, and what that looks like, and what behaviors we can look out for, and when do we know outside support is helpful? And how do we manage the holidays, the rituals, the remembrance? How do we co-grieve together during this time? I really am grateful to have sat down with Maria. And I know if you are a parent of a teen and you've had any kind of loss, this is a episode for you. And if

01:27 - 02:12
Cheryl-Host: you know anybody who's gone through or is going to be going through the grieving season, Please share this. This is really vital work and I'm so grateful that Maria is doing the work she's doing. So without further ado, let's get on with the episode. Hey listeners, hey my friends, welcome back to Parenting Teens Advice Redefined for Today's World, the podcast where we dive deep into the challenges, triumphs, and complexities of raising teenagers. And today we are tackling a topic that often feels so heavy to face, but is very important to address, and that is grief. And

02:12 - 02:52
Cheryl-Host: grief is a universal experience, but it shows up uniquely, I think, sometimes in teens, and it shapes their emotions or behaviors and relationships in very profound ways. And to guide us through this conversation, I'm honored to welcome Maria Balanick. Maria is an accomplished grief educator and coach with years of experience, helping individuals navigate the difficult path of loss and healing. With her compassionate expertise, she empowers families to move through grief with understanding and connection. Today we'll explore how grief manifests in teens, how their experience differs based on the type of loss, whether it's a grandparent, a

02:52 - 03:13
Cheryl-Host: parent, or a peer, and how families can support 1 another through grief, especially during the emotionally charged holiday season. This episode is for anyone looking to better understand and support their teens through life's hardest moments While navigating their own grief as well and let's dive in welcome Maria. I am so happy to have you

03:14 - 03:54
Maria-Guest: Well, thank you Cheryl. It's such an honor to be on your show and of course to speak about a topic that's close to my heart And makes a lot of people uncomfortable It absolutely does let's start with your story like Why are you here? What brought you to doing what you're doing now? What's your mission here? Well, my mission is to redefine the grief conversation, to bring it out in the open, and actually, for lack of a better word, to normalize, to basically say, let's have conversations where we're open about it and not so much afraid.

03:54 - 04:34
Maria-Guest: So that way it's not the uncomfortableness that we're making it to be. Now, of course, no one's ever chosen to say I'm going to be in the grief arena. I came into it because when my son passed away, I didn't find the support that I wanted. Most of the time the support that I found was everyone either wanting to fix grief, like to make me better, to get me over it, to all of a sudden get me to a point where I was before my son passed away. So my son Stefan passed away, it'll almost be

04:34 - 05:07
Maria-Guest: 15 years, or it is 15 years. And back then, and I think even today, there's still this expectation that, oh, you'll just grieve for a little bit, then all of a sudden, magically, you'll just be over it. You're gonna go back to how it was beforehand. And realistically, the reality is, is that when someone you love has passed away, There is no going back. I mean, anytime that we've experienced trauma has changed our world.

05:11 - 05:50
Cheryl-Host: First of all, I'm so sorry for your loss. I can't even imagine being in that situation and having to go through that. Losing a child is just not in the circle of life. So I'm sorry for your loss. And I agree that it's, you know, I'm just coming up on 2 years losing my dad in 2 days. And I think I have, and even trying to explain this loss, you know, work it through with my mom, who was, they were married for 60 years. You know, she keeps saying, it's not getting any better. It's not getting

05:50 - 06:23
Cheryl-Host: any better. And I've said to her now, I said, I think that what I've discovered is that it's not going to get better. I just have to learn to live my life differently. Like this is now just a part of my life. And trying and I think in trying to make it better or make it go away or make things feel normal again, I think it's probably an even harder process. I think trying to accept that this is the way my life now has this hole in it and I have to move forward that way. But

06:23 - 07:01
Cheryl-Host: yeah, I understand when it just does not just go away. And, you know, as we are talking, you know, listeners are our parents of teenagers. This is why I really wanted to dive into this because it's a subject where I feel like it's got to be such a different way to look at. Our teens have a tough time as it is, as we were talking before the show started, but throw grief in the mix, throw a loss like this in the mix. How do we start to try to understand grief from our teens perspective And how

07:01 - 07:08
Cheryl-Host: would that, could it manifest a little differently in teens than it does for us as adults?

07:09 - 07:16
Maria-Guest: Good question. But firstly, Cheryl, I want to acknowledge the loss of your dad and to let you know that I see your pain.

07:17 - 07:18
Cheryl-Host: Thank you.

07:18 - 07:59
Maria-Guest: And getting into the team and you're right we had a little conversation beforehand. Teenagers are difficult as it is. Teenagers want to fit in. It's You know when we become adults or Shouldn't say adults. I think there comes a point after 50 Where after a while we kind of like this is who I am. I'm going to own who I am When you think of young adults or even teenagers, it's really about wanting to fit in and not being different. All right, because sometimes when we're seen as different, we feel like we're being shunned. And as

07:59 - 08:36
Maria-Guest: teenagers, And I'm going to go back to because I remember my son, Stefan was 16 when he got diagnosed with cancer. And so even for him, it was about, he didn't want to be different. He didn't want to miss out on what everyone else is going to do. So a lot of times I think teenagers will hide what they're dealing with to fit in and they're going to mask it in a different way. And it And when I say masking a different way, it's going to be the way that they deal with things. Because it's, I

08:36 - 08:56
Maria-Guest: don't want to use a blanket statement of saying, oh, teenagers are going to do this because they don't. Each person is individual, right? Each child is individual. So however they're be, so their behaviors are going to change in some ways. And at times it's just going to be very slight, like we don't notice it.

08:56 - 09:40
Cheryl-Host: Yeah. You know, I wonder too, and I think as we're talking, you know, there's, there's, you know, the nuclear family, the perfect family whatever it's supposed to be mom dad in the house and that's not my experience I'm divorced so I there's a different a different picture but I'm wondering how a teen would process the loss of even a different type of loss. So there's the loss of a grandparent, but then there would be the, like, how would they Process the loss differently of a parent like Supposed to be this perfect family in my house and

09:40 - 09:45
Cheryl-Host: now 1 1 person is missing and it isn't by choice Mm-hmm

09:47 - 10:29
Maria-Guest: And then again it goes into what the relationship is. And a lot of times at home, they may want to show sadness. The only thing in the home, everyone is dealing with their own grief. And at times, and I'll use myself as an example. At times, especially if you're the mom, you may not you'll know that your child is grieving, and you want to help, but you don't know how to help because you don't know how to help your own self first. So and especially when it's recent like that first year becomes a blur and a

10:29 - 11:07
Maria-Guest: lot of people don't know they're just in that survival mode because our brain kind of shuts off. And so as a teenager, even though they may be grieving and are sad, they may not show it because all of a sudden when they're with their peers, their peers aren't going to understand. The peers, and especially during the holidays, right? This time where everything seems to be so festive, so magical, and there's parties, All of a sudden the teenager may have to feel like they're kind of like 2 people like they have to put on this front to

11:07 - 11:33
Maria-Guest: be accepted by their peers and To go out things and yet inside They're hurting so much, but don't know how to express what they're feeling because grief a lot of times has emotions that come up that words can't even describe or even emotions that you didn't even know you even had or what the heck are they because you could have 3 4 emotions all at the same time.

11:35 - 12:05
Cheryl-Host: Yeah, and it's leading me to ask about then how do we have these conversations at home when you know I'm picturing I don't want to cry because I don't want to make my mom cry my mom's in a good place right now And if I ask if I you know, then she's that I'm gonna upset how do we normalize in the house? How do we normalize these emotions where people? Under the same roof can really express how they're feeling at any given time.

12:06 - 12:41
Maria-Guest: And I'd like how you had said you don't want to show your emotions because you think your mom's in a good place. She may or may not be in a good place and is saying, oh, my daughter's in a good place, so I'm not going to show. Yes. And we get into the cycle thinking, oh, if we're going to be vulnerable, we may make the other person upset. Realistically, it's that vulnerability, that uncomfortableness to kind of say, you know what, I'm missing, say it's the grandfather of your dad, say I'm missing dad, like it's really sad

12:41 - 13:18
Maria-Guest: that he's not here. Talk about the things that you're missing or the things that you're longing for and be okay if that's where you're at. And especially around the Christmas season, you're going to find where, say it was the dad, the mom may say, I want to scrap Christmas altogether. The teenager may say, I want to have that tree. You know, this was a good time and I'm going to want to remember my dad. This is how we right. So there's those aspects where someone may want 1 thing and the other person may not. And it's

13:18 - 13:23
Maria-Guest: about finding that compromise. Are there

13:24 - 13:35
Cheryl-Host: specific ways to start these conversations in the house? Say, can we can you give us some ideas on, you know, how to open that up? How to allow how to give permission?

13:37 - 14:11
Maria-Guest: And this is, I think the aspect of sometimes when you're a parent, your teenager may not want to open up to you. I mean, I look back at when my sons were teenagers, there were things that they were going through that they didn't, you know, as a parent, they just don't want to share. They want to keep at. So I think sometimes you have to be open that if they do share, and just listen to them without judgment. Don't project what we think that they should be feeling or don't project the shoulds or the what ifs.

14:12 - 14:37
Maria-Guest: Also be able to sit in what they want to share without offering advice. I think a lot of times, you know, as a parent, we want to fix everything. We want to make their, you know, our teenagers, our children's life without the hardships. Yeah. All right. We want to put a bubble And in actual facts, we cannot do that.

14:39 - 15:20
Cheryl-Host: No, and I feel like giving giving our kids the permission to to feel how they feel, and allow them to see you feel how you feel. Allows them to see that you're human. You are, you're not a robot. You're human and allow it gives them permission to, you know, to really like knock down some of those guard rails that they have up there. And, and I think that, you know, even if you are, I'm picturing being in grief, maybe if my kids are younger, thinking, would it be a great idea to have a different trusted adult

15:20 - 15:39
Cheryl-Host: to have these conversations with if they don't feel like they can share with you or if you're so deep in your grief, you can't, you don't have the ability to have these conversations and in the moment. Would it be a good idea to maybe employ a trusted adult, an aunt or a good friend?

15:40 - 16:16
Maria-Guest: And you're right, it's always a great idea to have someone there who's supportive. 1 of the things that I've learned is allow the other person to share when they want to share. 1 of the things is that we cannot make a, we cannot force another person to share or to talk if they don't want to. So the ability really is, is to take the cue from your child. When they're ready to want to talk, then do so. And I like how you pointed out. 1 of the things is that we do need to show our own

16:16 - 16:50
Maria-Guest: vulnerability. Show that this isn't about fixing and we have to stop thinking that we're broken and that all of a sudden magically like everything's going to be in control and we have it all together. I think part of it is that we want to have this perfectionism right because our Because our minds are gonna tell us 1 thing Because our minds, you know are gonna say oh no, you have to have this all perfect you have to have it all figured out. You got to know the right things to say, you got to, and realistically, none

16:50 - 17:26
Maria-Guest: of us are going to know what the right thing to say is. Now, and be okay in that. Be okay. And just saying, I see that you're hurting. Do you want to talk? And that's it and allow them to share. And then from that share, then go because realistically, a lot of times I think our minds are wanting to say, Okay, now, what's the right thing that I got to say? What's the right thing? What are the words of wisdom that I can give that are going to make everything fine? And then that'll give them that

17:26 - 18:13
Maria-Guest: light that they can know. Grief is just, it's unpredictable. It's sitting in that moment and maybe even show that, you know, in the morning that you're giving your grief its time. You're honoring that grief. And when we show that, I think that gives our children the ability to say, oh, okay, yeah, I can be sad for today. I can miss my dad. I can miss my grandfather. I can miss my friend. And part of that sometimes, which is the other aspect, is the secondary losses, because all of a sudden, when you're a teenager, your peers, and

18:13 - 18:52
Maria-Guest: we mentioned it beforehand, your peers may not understand what you're going through. Your peers may look like they're there, however, they may be thinking about their parties, their things or what's happening in their own families without really, And so I always go, sometimes our expectation is that we're going to get support from our friends and families. And that sometimes is a false reality. Because we have to look at if they didn't give us support from beforehand, they're not going to give you support now and in the time when you feel like you want more support.

18:52 - 19:38
Cheryl-Host: Yeah, good point. And I also, as we're talking, thinking, this is not going to be our teens 1 and only loss. So what skills are we giving them? What strategies are we giving them to manage more loss as they go through life? Like They're going to lose jobs, they're going to lose girlfriends and boyfriends, they're going to lose family members. So I think in allowing them to feel how they feel and watch you feel how you feel and be able to work through it, whatever that looks like. We're also giving them those skills to go, well,

19:38 - 19:59
Cheryl-Host: we're not raising kids, right? We're raising adults. We're raising human beings. And so we want them to have these building blocks that life is going to throw this stuff at us and I Think this is really helpful in in allowing them to have those skills later on knowing this is this isn't it This is not your last loss.

20:00 - 20:33
Maria-Guest: I wish we had sometimes like the skills where we could prepare. A lot of times there is no preparation because sometimes something could just throw us off. I just was speaking to someone that went, they remembered 4 years ago, they got fired from a job. And that just all of a sudden brought up some of the old wounds that they had. So a lot of times we have old wounds that we're carrying with us, that we, you know, as adults, we may think, oh, yes, we've dealt with them. And yet we haven't they they pop up.

20:34 - 21:14
Maria-Guest: And a lot of times it's about recognizing what you're feeling and acknowledging it. And it's about being kind and compassionate to yourself. Because a lot of times we do that negative self talk. And I think intellectually, we know things, like we know that we're supposed, and I'm not talking about positive toxicity. I'm just talking about intellectually, we sometimes go to our own selves. Okay, you know, like I'm supposed to be better than this. I'm supposed to be and yet it's our emotions and we have to honor what we're feeling and a lot of times we are

21:14 - 21:35
Maria-Guest: not doing that And that is something I think we need. And I don't know if we can be taught that, but we can be taught compassion, we can be taught kindness. And when we're kind to ourselves, it also gives us kindness to other people that we can show to others. And that I think is kind of lacking.

21:38 - 21:42
Cheryl-Host: Are there are there actually stages of grief?

21:43 - 22:25
Maria-Guest: No, that's a falsehood. Everyone always uses stages, right? Personally, I do not believe in them. I never have and Even now they are actually saying the person who wrote the book Elizabeth Kubler Ross. Yeah There was never any intention to say that these were the stages of grief. She had used it for the stages of dying, and even then that is still a falsehood. In the sense of when you're looking at, okay, because 1 of them would be acceptance. I always go, grievers know who died. It's not like we don't, we've accepted it. It's at the

22:25 - 23:00
Maria-Guest: beginning, it's that blur. And I did this exactly the same thing for that first year after my son passed away. Every time I heard a car, every time the door opened, I would just look over my shoulder going, he's coming in. Right? You just wanted to wake up from this nightmare. Because you're like, this has got to be a dream that I'm in. When am I waking up? And so I think that is something that we need to speak about and say, yeah, that happens. You're going to especially that first year, you're just going to feel

23:00 - 23:08
Maria-Guest: that they're just going to walk in and go, the jokes on you. Doesn't happen. I wish it was.

23:08 - 23:08
Cheryl-Host: Yeah.

23:09 - 23:50
Maria-Guest: Right. And the thing is, is that we're going to have some memories will fade and then years later it'll pop up And it'll bring you to that moment. So 1 of the things is that we're in a society that wants to suppress, right? We're in this thing where social media shows you, oh look how happy we are. We watch movies where it's either you know like we're having up the spectrum it's either so frightening or but yet when they're portraying grief, grief it seems like oh you're going to be sad for a little while. And guess

23:50 - 24:27
Maria-Guest: what? Magically, you're going to be better and everything's going to be like just fine. And like it's this rainbow or this magic land. And so I think when we're portraying something, because the other falsehood is again, you're having the scary movies where all of a sudden it's like, Oh, see that house there, that's falling apart and stuff. That person, they're the ones who have, you know, experienced loss, someone in their family that they loved lost and they never got over it. So it's kind of like the 2 extremes. We see someone is constantly being stuck in

24:27 - 25:07
Maria-Guest: their pain and sadness and can't move on to someone who all of a sudden is like, oh yeah, look at this magically. I'm I'm over it and Grief is along the middle We're in the middle where yes, we can thrive we can find joy We can still have it and we can still be sad So both things can coexist Where I feel that we need to honour grief. Like we need to honour who is no longer here. Like be able to talk about them openly. Even if that causes you to be crying. Because you know what,

25:07 - 25:49
Maria-Guest: crying is healing. And that's 1 of the reasons why I called my business the healing heart is because we wanna heal our hearts. Not so much that we're gonna be forgetting our person. We will always remember our person Doesn't matter whether it's 5 years from now 30 years from now 100 years from now We always remember our person And I think we need to be able to say their names openly, to share stories about them and how they impacted your life. As a teenager, if it's your dad or 1 of your parents who passed away, share

25:49 - 26:18
Maria-Guest: the stories that you remember of what the experiences that you had together, whether it was like, hey, I remember when we used to go out and have hot chocolate, or maybe you went and decorated a tree or you went shopping or you went ice skating. These are just little things. It could be just going to the movies, taking that walk with your parent. These are things that I think we need to share. It's in the simple little things. Yeah.

26:19 - 26:59
Cheryl-Host: I'm wondering if you could speak to when people start to find some joy or catch themselves laughing that sense of what I might feel is some guilt like how dare you be happy how dare you like can you speak to that because I think that would probably be you know in the dynamic of a parent and a teenager and either way hey mom like how are you even thinking about going on a date? How are you even thinking about doing, you know, enjoying yourself or, you know, the kids like, how am I even thinking about going

26:59 - 27:06
Cheryl-Host: out to a party with my friends? I feel so guilty. I shouldn't be happy. Can you speak to that emotion?

27:08 - 27:42
Maria-Guest: And it's so true. I mean, we have it. It's almost like a double edged sword that if you're feeling joy in the moment, you're going to have your peers coming up to going, oh, wow, aren't you better now? Almost like if you're laughing, it's like you've forgotten about them. And as you say, there's that guilt of saying, I can't be happy, I can't laugh, I can't smile, because all of a sudden that means I'm disrespecting. And it's not. And I really dislike the line that goes, you know that you're, you know, they always go, your dad

27:42 - 28:28
Maria-Guest: wouldn't want this for you, your mom wouldn't want this for you. And you're kind of like, crap, how do you know what they want for me? So 1 of the aspects I always go is that all emotions are fleeting and all emotions coexist. And that's where that compassion and kindness is for your own self is that you can have fun in the moment. You could also have another moment where you're crying. And both moments are okay and acceptable. Because emotions are really it's the same coin just on different sides. And 1 of the aspects I believe

28:28 - 29:11
Maria-Guest: that we need to to understand is that all emotions coexist. It's not an either or. It's not like, oh, I can only be happy or I can be sad. No, because there's gonna be some memories that will make you laugh. Some memories are going to make you sad. Some situations, you could be out with a group of friends, something's funny is going on and it's a burst of laughter and that's good. Someone could say something or there's a scent that you pick up and that's going to make you sad. And that's okay too. The only thing

29:11 - 29:47
Maria-Guest: is I think sometimes we have to watch our environment because if you want to be sad and you don't want to show it to other people, take a break. Maybe this is the time that, oh, I got a phone call. I got to go answer it. Right. Just to leave or got to go to the bathroom. Bathroom breaks are great. Just to give yourself that moment or those few minutes to actually just feel what you're feeling. And as a teenager, if you're finding that it's too much, this may be the time that you kind of go,

29:47 - 29:51
Maria-Guest: you know what? Oh, it's my mom calling. I gotta go.

29:52 - 29:52
Cheryl-Host: Yes.

29:53 - 30:25
Maria-Guest: Right. Something like that. And that could be something that as a teenager, you could have with whatever parents remaining saying, look, if I'm not feeling something, I just want you to come up and pick me up. Yeah. Right. And that's 1 of the things that I think we have to stop putting this pressure on ourselves, on our children about they have to be at a certain way, right? If you're at a party, well, of course you have to have fun. Or if you're there, no, you can't go because you're going to be sad. None of us

30:25 - 30:54
Maria-Guest: are going to know in that moment what we're going to feel like. And I think we have to stop with this expectation that I'm going to be fine or I'm going to be sad. Go with what you are going with and sort of know that you can have an exit plan, a plan B. And have either close friends that are supportive, know that. Have the surviving parent know that also. And maybe

30:55 - 31:35
Cheryl-Host: that coexisting. I love that you said that. I think that is like standing out for me. Like emotions can coexist. Like talk about giving permission. That's such an amazing quote. I'm going to hang on to that 1. That's really good. As we approach the holiday season, Is there, you know, how can we recommend or talk about, you know, are there rituals? Are there remembrance things? Are there things that you can recommend? Maybe this is the first Christmas, maybe it's the 10th Christmas. Can you speak to that like as as in like ideas or

31:38 - 31:42
Maria-Guest: Yeah, it's again. It's going to be really in individualized to each family.

31:42 - 31:42
Cheryl-Host: All

31:42 - 32:24
Maria-Guest: right. Some people may want Like some families may want to follow the traditions. And that's because it gives them peace. It gives them that feeling of unity. Other times when there's been a death in the family or any type of trauma, it's going to feel like there is no unity. Either 1 is going to be okay. I think sometimes we feel that because it's the holidays, all of a sudden everyone should be gathering, or this is the time to also make new traditions. Some people may say, you know what, this is really hard for us, and

32:24 - 33:05
Maria-Guest: maybe it's time that we, this is our travel time, this is our vacation time. Sometimes just changing the scenery just alters your emotions. It's not to say that you're going to forget, because you don't forget. It just, you don't have to be in that same spot, because a lot of times it's, especially if it's in the home and you're having these big dinners or whatever. It's that empty chair that empty table setting And again, I know we talked about decorations Really? It's about what does someone want? Someone may want like the huge tree and go all

33:05 - 33:35
Maria-Guest: out, where someone else is kind of like, you know what, I want nothing. And allow it to be what you want to be. Because realistically, the wisdom lies in your own grief, lies in you and what you want, and how you want to honor it. It could be just as simple as lighting a candle, having a decoration, having new traditions or old traditions, whichever 1 you prefer or a blend of both.

33:36 - 33:36
Cheryl-Host: But

33:36 - 33:48
Maria-Guest: it's also sometimes giving yourself that permission to do what feels right for you without following what somebody else wants.

33:48 - 34:21
Cheryl-Host: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm picturing if, you know, if your kid wants a tree and you don't want the tree, you could get a little tree for their bedroom. You could like, yeah, I think there's a lot of compromise that can happen there. And honoring each other and yourselves in that moment is really important. I just want to, so you're a coach, so at What point do we say, okay, we're just not managing this. We really need some outside support.

34:24 - 35:08
Maria-Guest: Support is really needed at all times. Cause 1, And I'll go to my first early years is that you're looking for a lifeline Right. I mean when anything happens anything that's traumatic that happens Sometimes as women we want to isolate or as people we want to isolate because we don't want anyone else to see our sadness, our degree of pain. And on the other flip side we want someone who's going to come and fix it for us, right? And I look at it that sometimes and it's not so much as fixing because really what we're wanting

35:08 - 35:10
Maria-Guest: sometimes is can we go back to what it was?

35:14 - 35:14
Cheryl-Host: And so

35:14 - 35:55
Maria-Guest: we're looking for that lifeline and at times I always go again there's different types of support there's counselors there's therapists I'm more of a peer-to-peer which I've experienced and I've walked that walk So my training is going to be different than someone who's going to be a counselor or a therapist. I don't come from a therapist viewpoint. I don't come from a counselor's viewpoint. I come from experience and what has helped me. And so there is no judgment. It's a I'm holding just space to witness your grief. I'm holding space so that way I can acknowledge

35:56 - 36:10
Maria-Guest: your pain and what you're feeling. So that way you can be seen and heard. Because a lot of times in grief, people do not feel like they're seen. They don't feel like they're heard. They really feel like they're invisible.

36:13 - 36:55
Cheryl-Host: I feel like, I know I have nothing against therapy and I have nothing against psychologists. But I feel like who would have the most, the deepest empathy, but someone who has walked the walk, sadly, but walked the walk. And what a gift for you to turn that around and be able to help people through their grief. That's such a gift. I'm so like honored to have you here and grateful that you do what you do. I mean, it's so needed. And tell us all about you, Maria, where we can find you, how, because I'm going to

36:55 - 37:22
Cheryl-Host: get all emotional here, because I'm so great. You know, there, it's such, it's such a deep, it's such a deep emotion. And I think until you experience it to with someone that you are just so deeply connected to, I don't think you can even express it and nor do I think it's the same with everybody either. So tell us how we can find you, how we can work with you.

37:23 - 38:09
Maria-Guest: Well, they can email me at hope at mariabalanick.com. My website is mariabalanick.com. And definitely, I mean, they can reach out to me, we can have a 50-minute conversation, see if I'm the right fit for them to work with. Because again, it's that aspect of you want to build a safe spot, right? Like a whole safe space where it's okay to be vulnerable, it's okay to allow your emotions to be free. Because 1 of the things about grief is we change, we're different, and we don't know what that difference is. And it's so I'm allowing everyone to

38:09 - 38:31
Maria-Guest: be exactly who they are right now. There's no expectation of saying this is who you're supposed to be. You're on that journey now to sort of say, who am I becoming now? And I'm just giving you those tools to feel at peace with who you're becoming, who you are right now.

38:32 - 39:06
Cheryl-Host: That's so important. I am going to put all of that will be in the show notes. So we don't have to memorize it, but Maria, I again, I thank you for coming on. I'm so honored to have a conversation with you. I'm so grateful for the work you do. And I think that we can probably maybe do a sequel because I can think of some other areas of grief where we might need some more help and some more support. So thank you. Thank you for listening to Parenting Teens Advice Redefined, and we will see you next

39:06 - 39:48
Cheryl-Host: time. Thank you for listening to another episode. I hope you loved this 1 as much as I did. And I just wanted to share something with you because you know, parenting teens is not just about managing these challenges that we talked about on all the episodes. It's also about evolving alongside them. And I'm Cheryl and not only the host of this podcast, but I'm also the creator of Insight to Impact, coaching and consulting. And I help you, moms of teens, reconnect with your true selves so you can lead with purpose, you can parent with clarity, You

39:48 - 40:25
Cheryl-Host: can create stronger, more meaningful relationships with your kids. Because here's the truth. The transformation starts with you. Together, we will break free from the stress and overwhelm. We will rediscover your power. We will create the life and the family dynamic you always dreamed of. If you're ready to start this journey, let's do it. You might just not recognize your life in the next 90 days. It all starts with a call. There's no pitch. There's no pressure. Just a call to see if I can help. We'll talk about your goals. We'll talk about what's making you feel