Episode Details

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week, host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C brings back a replay of a Part 2 of the past interviews with a former hospice social worker and grief counselor who is living with a terminal illness, Isabel Stenzel Byrnes, LCSW, MPH. In this conversation, 

In this conversation, you'll a deeper discussion of grief, loss and end of life. While preparing this episode for replay, Laura learned that Isabel is currently living with cancer. You won't want to miss listening to this conversation with someone who has found meaning and purpose in her life despite being born with an illness that forced her to confront her own mortality as a young child. Isabel Stenzel Byrnes, LCSW, MPH shares her unique perspective on grief as someone who has survived a lifetime of living with a terminal chronic illness, and the loss of many important people in her life. This episode raises thought-provoking questions about acceptance, our cultural view of death in the West, and how we handle unpleasant emotions. 

Isabel is a licensed clinical social worker and bereavement counselor at Mission Hospice & Home Care, where she counsels children, teens and adults who have lost a loved one. She also leads writing through loss groups for those who are grieving, among other support groups. Isabel has experienced significant losses of her own and has lived with serious illness all of her life.  

As an author, documentarian, patient advocate and public speaker, Isabel has lectured around the country on topics such as living well with illness, grief and loss, end-of-life issues and organ donation, including a TEDx Stanford talk in 2014. 

Isabel’s website: http://www.thepoweroftwomovie.com/home/ 

Mission Hospice website: http://missionhospice.org 650-554-1000

Watch Isabel’s TEDx talk, “The Art of Saying Goodbye” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dkffpibi-Dc  

Dr. Katherine Shear’s Center for Complicated Grief at Columbia University: https://complicatedgrief.columbia.edu/about-us/our-team/ 

Adec - https://www.adec.org 

Mission Hospice website: http://missionhospice.org 

Watch Isabel's TEDx talk, "The Art of Saying Goodbye" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dkffpibi-Dc  

Therapists, Linda Thai, LMSW, from Episode 380, is offering 2 upcoming trainings. The first starts 5/23/23: Certificate In Somatic Embodiment & Regulation Strategies. Register here (I'll be there): https://www.linda-thai.com/programs/12weeksomatic-2023-may

And the second is a Workshop entitled: Healing the Legacy Of Historical & Transgenerational Trauma (All Day Workshop) on 6/17/23. Register here: https://www.linda-thai.com/events/healing-the-legacy-of-historical-and-transgenerational-trauma

In partnership with the Academy of Therapy Wisdom, I invite you to a FREE recorded webinar presented by my colleague, Akilah Riley-Richardson. In this webinar, she will examine how systemic trauma and relational privilege play out in couples therapy. And she’ll show how we can empower couples to develop healthy intimacy nonetheless. Register here for free (I'm attending the course) and lear