In today’s conversation with renowned grief expert and author, David Kessler, we explore the concept of “acceptance” and what it really means.No stranger to grief, David lost his son to addiction in 2016. He candidly talks about how to cope with feelings of shame and guilt that can accompany this type of loss. We discuss feeling pressure to create purpose from pain and pick David's brains about what finding meaning in loss actually looks like. Spoiler alert – it's much simpler than you think. ​​He also breaks down some of the misconceptions surrounding the ‘Five Stages of Grief’. Having co-authored books with Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, who came up with the model, it’s fair to say he’s an expert on the theory. Other topics we cover are:How to cope when you're grieving differently from othersComplicated grief How to manage feelings of grief and guiltHow we grieve differently when we had an estranged relationship with the person who diedThe concept of light and dark in grief …and we also get a bit of ‘signs’ chat in, which we love!We hope you enjoy this honest and enlightening conversation as much as we did.Links Buy David’s book Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief here.Find out more about David’s ‘Tender Hearts’ course here.Connect with usGrief is the price we pay for love, but it can be lonely. If you need some extra grief support, join our private Facebook support group, Good Mourning Grief Community, here, follow us on Instagram at @goodmourningpodcast or drop us a line here.Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoy the podcast, we’d love it if you could leave us a rating or review on Apple or Spotify podcasts. And don’t forget to subscribe, so you don’t miss any of our future episodes! ? Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.