Losing people we love is a universal human experience. Yet, how we deal with the loss, and grieving comes in different forms for each individual and often it is an extension of the love we felt for the departed. Some may take solace in the company of others to help them cope while others grieve for years in solitude. There is no right or wrong way to grieve and there is no specific length of time it takes for grief to wane. Neuroscience shows that our brains change during grief and after certain treatments for complicated grief, post-traumatic growth can be achieved. To discover ways to restore a meaningful life after a loss, Positive Psychology Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with two authors who have books that focus on loss and grief. Mary-Frances O’Connor explains the findings from her book, The Grieving Brain: The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss and Daniel Shapiro recounts his experience with loss and the lessons he extracted from his grief.

About Lisa’s guests: 

Mary-Frances O’Connor, Ph.D. is an associate professor of psychology at the University of Arizona, where she directs the Grief, Loss and Social Stress (GLASS) Lab, which investigates the effects of grief on the brain and the body. O’Connor earned a doctorate from the University of Arizona in 2004 and completed a fellowship at UCLA. Following a faculty appointment at UCLA Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, she returned to the University of Arizona in 2012. Her work has been published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, Biological Psychiatry, and Psychological Science, and featured in Newsweek, the New York Times, and The Washington Post. 

Book: The Grieving Brain: The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss

Dan Shapiro is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Brain Research Foundation, a foundation that exists to accelerate discoveries of the human brain by funding pioneering neuroscience research. A graduate of the University of Chicago Law School and lifelong Chicagoan, he has practiced trial law nationally for many years. He enjoys spending his time reading and hanging out with his grown children. 

Book: The Thin Ledge: A Husband’s Memoir of Love, Trauma, and Unexpected Circumstances

This episode of Harvesting Happiness Talk Radio is sponsored by: 

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