Dr. Korie Leigh — thanatologist, grief counselor, and author of When Everything Changes: Parenting Through Loss and Grief — explores how grief is fundamentally misunderstood and what actually helps us heal. She unpacks why grief isn't linear stages to complete but a full-body experience (emotional, physical, cognitive, relational, spiritual) that we learn to live with, why there's no "right way" to grieve (anyone who tells you otherwise, be cautious), and how continuing bonds theory revolutionized our understanding — we heal not by severing ties with the deceased but by maintaining connection. Dr. Korie shares why children need direct, honest language about death (nameless, shapeless things have power over us), how grief reshapes core identity (am I still a mom if my only child died?), and what grief-informed leadership looks like in workplaces with inadequate bereavement policies. She unpacks disenfranchised and ambiguous losses, COVID as unprocessed collective trauma, and the profound truth that grief doesn't get smaller — we grow around it.
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN
Why grief is a full-body experience — shows up emotionally, physically, cognitively, relationally, spiritually; not just feelings
There is no "right way" to grieve — anyone who tells you there is, be cautious; strategies that work one day may not work the next
Continuing bonds theory — healing comes from maintaining connection with deceased, not severing ties; opposite of old psychoanalytic model
How grief reshapes core identity — when loss touches core self (parent, sibling), you rebuild who you are; most profound, challenging work
Why children need direct, honest language — "If something remains nameless and shapeless, it has power over us"; developmentally appropriate truth reduces fear
What grief-informed leadership means — recognizing losses present in every person's life; compassionate support, adequate policies based in grief science
Why you don't "get over" grief — you grow around it; grief doesn't shrink, your life expands around it; integrating loss into who you're becoming
LEARN MORE
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March 26, 2026
Dr. Korie Leigh
Grief as a Full-Body Experience: Tools for Healing, Leadership, and Life
"If something remains nameless and shapeless, it has power over us. But if we can talk about it, if we can shine light on it, it helps to make it less scary."
TIMESTAMPS
00:04:13 – What is thanatology: Study of death, dying, grief, and loss; multidisciplinary field (applied practice, philosophical, linguistics, sociology)
00:08:37 – Children protect parents in grief: Kids pick up what's not said; intuitively want to protect parents; "If something remains nameless and shapeless, it has power over us"
00:15:22 – Why we avoid direct language about death: "Passed away," "lost," euphemisms create confusion; children need clear, honest, developmentally appropriate truth
00:25:43 – Stages of grief myth: Kübler-Ross model not linear; grief is fluid, nonlinear, messy; some days okay, some days not; years later hits just as hard
00:31:56 – Continuing bonds theory: Revolutionary 90s shift; not severing tie with deceased but relocating them in life; maintaining relationship, not letting go
00:35:30 – Grief reshapes core identity: When loss touches core self, ruptures who we are; rebuilding sense of self is most long-lasting, complicated work
00:39:21 – Prolonged grief disorder controversy: DSM diagnosis can increase access; grief changes who we are, learned to live with; if person returned, symptoms go away
00:43:14 – Disenfranchised and ambiguous losses: Grief society says no place for; not just death but caregivers of dementia, missing persons, incarceration, deployment
00:44:38 – COVID as collective trauma: Went through collective trauma without resources to cope, integrate, make sense; grief literacy and workplace bereavement policies inadequate
00:48:44 – Grief-informed leadership: Recognizing losses in every person's life; compassionate support, flexible policies; grief impacts productivity (prefrontal cortex, amygdala, digestion)
SHOW NOTES
Dr. Dan interviews Dr. Korie Leigh, author, speaker, and thanatologist (a specialist who studies death, dying, and bereavement) to discuss her book When Everything Changes: Parenting Through Loss and Grief and to unpack myths about grief.
Dr. Korie shares her compassionate and realistic framework that grief is a full-body, lifelong experience that integrates into who we are –it touches our emotions, our identity, our relationships, our work, and our leadership. She introduces the concept of grief-informed leadership and explores how to lead through challenging times with compassion and insight.
Dr. Dan and Dr. Leigh also discuss how children process loss and how families can navigate loss.
LINKS & RESOURCES
Dr. Korie Leigh
Website — KorieLeighPhD.com
Instagram — @drkorieleigh
Books (Free Spirit Publications) — When Everything Changes: Parenting Through Loss and Grief, What Does Grief Feel Like?, It Won't Ever Be the Same: A Teen's Guide to Grief and Grieving
Marian University Thanatology Program — Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, Postgraduate Certificate (all online, asynchronous; Wisconsin campus)
GUEST BIO
Dr. Korie Leigh is a child development specialist, grief counselor, thanatologist, and associate professor and program director of the Thanatology program at Marian University. She holds a PhD in transpersonal psychology, a master's in public health and grief counseling, and a bachelor's in child development. With over 20 years working with children and families navigating grief and loss, Dr. Korie specializes in supporting parents who have experienced the death of a child, baby, or pregnancy loss. She is the author of several books including What Does Grief Feel Like?, It Won't Ever Be the Same: A Teen's Guide to Grief and Grieving, and When Everything Changes: Parenting Through Loss and Grief. Dr. Korie brings a grief-informed lens to leadership and workplace culture, helping organizations support people through loss, trauma, and compassion fatigue.
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