Grieving Out Loud: A Mother Coping with Loss in the Opioid Epidemic

Your host of Grieving Out Loud, Angela Kennecke, first met Dr. Mark Vande Braak shortly after the death of her 21-year-old daughter, Emily. Dr. Vande Braak sat down with Angela’s entire family to help them “reframe” their loss.

Dr. Mark Vande Braak is a board-certified music therapist and Thanatologist (grief educator). He previously spoke with Angela on Episode 10 of Grieving Out Loud, Broken Heart Syndrome: 4 Ways We Grieve. Now, Mark is back on the podcast for this episode to take about coping with loss over the holiday season when grief can come into sharp focus, as we intensely miss the ones who are no longer with us to celebrate all of our family traditions.

For more episodes and to read Angela's blog, just go to our website, Emilyshope.charity
Wishing you faith, hope and courage!
Podcast producers:
Casey Wonnenberg & Anna Fey

Originally released July 15th, 2019
Celia Farmer, unfortunately, knows the pain of losing a child to suicide. Her 14-year-old daughter, Mali, completed suicide in 2017. Celia was among the first parents who've experienced loss to reach out to Angela after Emily died from fentanyl poisoning. Both Celia and Angela have experienced the stigmatized death of a child, where parents can find themselves being harshly judged by society.
In this episode of Grieving Out Loud, Angela and Celia share how they have coped with their losses and what has helped and hurt them most. Both have found healing in focusing on helping others.

For more episodes and to read Angela's blog, just go to our website, Emilyshope.charity
Wishing you faith, hope and courage!
Podcast producers:
Casey Wonnenberg & Anna Fey

Brenda Schivito says her son Nick’s drug usage began when he was just a kid and would ride his bike to the gas station and buy Spice, a synthetic marijuana. The adverse side effects of Spice include psychosis, hallucinations, delirium, and paranoia. When Nick was older, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and his battle with substance use disorder kicked into high gear. Nick died of fentanyl poisoning at the age of 22.

In response to their family’s tragedy, Brenda started Angels Against Addiction, a non-profit organization that is raising awareness and helping people getting out of inpatient treatment for substance use disorder transition into recovery communities.

Brenda also hosts a cable program called, You Are Not Alone .

For more episodes and to read Angela's blog, just go to our website, Emilyshope.charity
Wishing you faith, hope and courage!
Podcast producers:
Casey Wonnenberg & Anna Fey

Former drug dealer Scott Silverman now helps families in crisis navigate the road to recovery. The California man is also the author of The Opioid Epidemic: What You Don't Know Will Destroy Your Family and Your Life. Your host, Angela Kennecke, has a frank conversation with Scott about the public health crisis involving fentanyl.

Scott is a crisis coach and family navigator and runs a recovery center in San Diego. In this episode of Grieving Out Loud, he has advice for families dealing with someone with active addiction.

For more episodes and to read Angela's blog, just go to our website, Emilyshope.charity
Wishing you faith, hope and courage!
Podcast producers:
Casey Wonnenberg & Anna Fey

In our last episode, we introduced you to the central character of the Netflix docuseries, The Pharmacist, Dan Schneider. Dan told us he had no idea his son was using crack before he was murdered in New Orleans in the late 90’s. While police didn’t show much interest in his son’s case, Dan took it upon himself to use every investigative tool at the time to find his son’s killer. But the story doesn’t end there. In his role as a pharmacist, Dan was among the first to spot the opioid epidemic in this country and actually do something about it, shutting down pill mill doctors and pushing for a prescription monitoring program in his state. Dan has never stopped pushing for change to save lives, lost unnecessarily to drugs. Now he’s turning his attention to the availability of medically assisted treatment, or MAT for short. He has started a coalition and your host Angela Kennecke is now a part of it.
Dan talks about this partnership with Dr. Arun Gupta. You can listen to our podcast with Dr. Gupta here.

For more episodes and to read Angela's blog, just go to our website, Emilyshope.charity
Wishing you faith, hope and courage!
Podcast producers:
Casey Wonnenberg & Anna Fey