Connect with Victoria Volk:

Website: www.theunleashedheart.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/theunleashedheart

As the host of the Feel Free Again Podcast, I’ve had the privilege of hearing countless stories of loss and restoration — but few moved me like my conversation with Victoria Volk, a grief recovery specialist and mother of three from rural North Dakota. In this episode, we explore what it really means to confront decades of buried pain and how doing so can restore connection, compassion, and freedom.

Victoria opens up about losing her father at age 8, enduring abuse, and spending 30 years trying to outrun grief through achievement, distraction, and numbing. Her breaking point led her to the Grief Recovery Method, which completely changed her life — and even saved her relationship with her mother. She shares how healing her heart didn’t require others to change, but instead invited empathy, forgiveness, and peace that rippled through her entire family.

We also talk about how grief recovery helps parents and children communicate more openly, why boundaries create safety, and what happens when anger is finally understood instead of suppressed. If you’ve ever lost someone, faced trauma, or felt emotionally stuck, this episode will remind you that you can’t heal what you won’t feel — and that freedom is closer than you think.

⏱️ Chapters:

00:00 – Intro & Welcome to the Feel Free Again Podcast

01:05 – Meet Victoria Volk: Finding Grief Recovery After 30 Years

04:56 – The Midlife Unraveling: Identity, Motherhood & Burnout

06:50 – Discovering the Grief Recovery Method & Choosing Healing

10:05 – Why You Can’t Heal Alone: The Power of Safe Spaces

16:42 – Healing the Relationship with Her Mother Through Compassion

23:04 – Boundaries, Body Awareness & Feeling Safe Again

31:02 – Teaching Kids Emotional Honesty & Healthy Anger

45:00 – Victoria’s Son’s Accident: How Grief Tools Saved Their Family

1:00:07 – Grief Is Everywhere: Why the World Needs This Work

Connect with Cindy:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCindyCipriani/

Website: https://www.cindycipriani.com/

Contact: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/cindy-cipriani-sewell-nj/223227

Today’s conversation moved me deeply. I sat down with Cindy Cipriani, an emotional wellness coach and grief recovery specialist, whose story of loss, healing, and redemption is nothing short of powerful. From being excommunicated by her faith community and surviving domestic abuse, to finding new purpose through the Grief Recovery Method, Cindy’s testimony shows how emotional healing is possible — no matter your past.

Cindy shares how grief can hide in plain sight — not just through death or divorce, but through lost dreams, childhood beliefs, or even fictional characters who brought comfort during hard times. We explore how to process those emotions instead of carrying them silently for years, and why forgiveness isn’t about condoning pain but releasing it.

This episode is for anyone who has ever felt unseen in their grief or unsure where to start healing. You’ll learn about the five C’s of emotional wellness, how to reconnect with who you truly are, and why grief recovery is more than therapy — it’s a path to freedom. If this conversation resonates, please share it with someone who needs hope today.

Chapters:

00:00 – Welcome to the Feel Free Again Podcast

01:03 – Cindy’s Story: From Religious Trauma to Renewal

02:07 – Surviving Loss, Isolation, and a Suicide Attempt

04:13 – The Turning Point: Discovering the Grief Recovery Method

08:00 – Can You Grieve Someone You’ve Never Met?

15:08 – How the Grief Recovery Process Actually Works

21:23 – The Five C’s of Emotional Wellness Explained

33:04 – Rebuilding Identity After Loss and Forgiveness

44:08 – How Grief Recovery Changes Families and Workplaces

49:20 – Where to Find Cindy’s Books & How to Start Your Own Healing Journey

In this episode of the Feel Free Again Podcast, I sit down with Dr. Andrea Szegedi, a medical doctor, grief recovery specialist, and founder of a clinic in Budapest, Hungary. Andrea’s story is both heartbreaking and deeply inspiring — after losing her third son, she began searching for answers that science, logic, and faith alone couldn’t provide. What she discovered was that grief isn’t just emotional — it’s cellular. It lives in the body, and true recovery means reconnecting the mind, body, and heart.

Connect with Dr. Szegedi: https://www.griefrecoverymethod.com/grms/andrea-szegedi-md

Throughout our conversation, Dr. Andrea Szegedi shares how the Grief Recovery Method gave her stability in the chaos of loss, helping her rebuild her life from the inside out. She opens up about how grief physically affected her body, why expression is the opposite of depression, and how movement, music, and writing became sacred tools for healing. From crawling on the floor to completing two half-marathons, her journey is proof that emotional recovery leads to physical restoration.

We also talk about the missing education around grief, how children naturally process loss, and why modern medicine must integrate emotional healing with physical care. Andrea now uses her platform to help parents, cancer patients, and grievers around the world find peace, laughter, and hope again. Whether you’re grieving a loved one, your health, or simply trying to understand your emotions — this conversation will help you reconnect with the part of yourself that still believes in wholeness.

Chapters:

00:00 – Welcome & Introduction to Dr. Andrea Szegedi

03:00 – Losing a Child and the Birth of a Calling

06:00 – Why Logic and Faith Aren’t Enough to Heal Grief

10:00 – Understanding Grief as an Emotional Process

13:00 – The Pyramid of Grief and Finding Stability

17:00 – How Movement, Crying, and Singing Healed Her Body

23:00 – Laughter and Light Returning After Loss

31:00 – Teaching Children to Process Grief Naturally

40:00 – Integrating Medicine and Grief Recovery in Healthcare

55:00 – The Biology of Trauma and Path to Wholeness