Today on The Girlfriend Doctor, Karen Allen joins us to inspire post-traumatic growth in those trapped by feelings of grief and loss. After losing her husband to a tragic shooting, Karen felt overwhelmed by heartache and depression. The road to recovery was difficult, but she realized she could only move forward. Karen’s post-traumatic growth led her to become an author, thought leader, and mentor to those struggling with limiting beliefs. Grief stays with you forever, but Karen shares her methodology for accepting and facing emotional turmoil so you can continue living a life full of possibilities.  Karen teaches you the tools to thrive after trauma. It is not about erasing grief but remembering the immense joy behind that feeling of loss. Grief is a memorial to the joyful moments lost to tragedy, and those memories stay with you forever. Karen invites you to face and feel your grief so you can move through it instead of being consumed by it.  Life after a loss can feel hopeless, but you can learn to see the possibilities again. Karen speaks about her relationship with God, and how her faith saved her in her darkest moments. Sometimes the best way to cope is to acknowledge and feel your profound loss but to surrender and embrace the present moment. Life doesn’t stop until you do, and you may lose people and opportunities along the way, but Karen gives you the tools to stay positive in the face of tragedy.    KEY TAKEAWAYS [3:00] How Karen moved forward from tragedy  [6:00] Owning your healing with gratitude  [10:00] Post-traumatic stress disorder and grief   [13:20] Post-traumatic growth  [17:00] The connection between grief and joy  [20:30] Stop and shift methodology  [22:40] Face it and feel it  [28:00] Feeling the presence of God [36:30] Giving people the tools to thrive   HOW TO CONNECT WITH OUR GUEST: KarenAllen.co Instagram Podcast    MEMORABLE QUOTES “If I didn’t choose to get up, then my son’s story was gonna be that he lost both parents and in that moment I refused to let that be his story.” [5:35] -Karen Allen “In those moments of stress that you need to be more conscious about how we’re interacting with it, because it’s not the pain itself, it's the way that we interact with it that’s then going to make that ripple effect in our life and in the lives of others.”  [20:53] -Karen Allen   To learn more about me and to stay connected, visit the links below: Website: The Girlfriend Doctor Instagram: The Girlfriend Doctor