Stages of grief not designed for bereaved parents
Grief expert Dr. Joanne Cacciatori told Emilie that the popular 'stages of grief' model was not designed for parents who have lost a child.
Snapshot · On Purpose with Jay Shetty
Emilie Kiser EXCLUSIVE: The Loss That Changed Her Forever
Explore episode
Jun 17, 2026
Where this was said
Learning to Live With Grief
At 23:07 · chapter starts 21:45
Emilie delivers what may be the episode's most resonant insight: grief is not a finish line. It does not go away; it becomes something you carry alongside every other emotion, permanently. She credits this understanding to Dr. Joanne Cacciatori, a grief specialist who runs a care farm retreat for bereaved parents and who plainly told Emilie that the 'stages of grief' model was designed for elderly people accepting their own mortality — not for parents outliving their children. Hearing that her grief would never end felt impossible at the time. But the flip side was liberation: everything coexists. Joy and sadness, guilt and gratitude, love and loss — they all live together. That's the frame she now uses to navigate every day.
Grief never ends — it coexists forever
Health professionals told Emilie that grief from child loss never disappears — it becomes something you carry and learn to coexist with forever.
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