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If you've lost a child to suicide, you may know the silence that follows, when the people around you don't know what to say or do. In this conversation, Jackie Baker and I talk about the loss of her son Sebastian, and about what it means to grieve honestly and messily while holding on to faith.

Jackie is a nurse practitioner, a bereaved mom, and the author of Messy Mourning, a faith-forward companion for mothers grieving the loss of a child to suicide. She shares Sebastian's story: a brilliant, competitive, well-read young man who, like every child lost to suicide, is so much more than a statistic. Together we talk about the guilt and the "what ifs," the stigma that still follows suicide loss, and how faith can hold you when everything feels dark. I'm honoured that Jackie trusted me with her story. Her hope and honesty may help anyone who has lost a child to suicide feel a little less alone.

Key points we discuss:

•💛 Why suicide loss can feel so isolating. Jackie and I talk about the silence that often follows, when the people around you don't know what to say, and how "acceptable" explanations for a death can make honest grief harder.
•💛 Loving an adult child through their struggles. Jackie shares how she supported Sebastian while holding healthy boundaries, and how hard it is to do both at once.
•💛 Guilt, anger, and the "what ifs." We both share the last conversations we had with our children, and how we've come to accept that we cannot control another person's choices.
•💛 More than a statistic. Sebastian was brilliant, curious, competitive, and deeply loved. Jackie reminds us that every child lost to suicide is far more than the way they died.
•💛 Where the stigma comes from. Drawing on her Master's in Biblical Studies, Jackie explains how suicide has been viewed in the church over the centuries and why that thinking is slowly changing.
•💛 How faith and community carried her. Jackie describes how scripture, prayer, and a church family held her up, and how her belief that Sebastian is healed and whole gives her comfort.
•💛 Why healing is not betrayal. You never forget your child, and you can live and laugh again without guilt.
•💛 Patience with the process. Complicated grief after suicide is often not linear and can take five to seven years or more. Please don't stop showing up for someone after the first year.
•💛 Where to find support. Jackie points to grief groups like GriefShare and to the resources on her website and encourages us to build a village rather than grieve alone.

About Jackie:
Jackie M. Baker holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Washington and a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies. She is the author of Messy Mourning and co-founded a free healthcare clinic for the underserved. She leads a grief group and offers suicide grief resources on her website.

Links and resources:

🌐 Jackie's website and suicide grief resource list: jackiembaker.com
🤝 GriefShare, 13-week grief support groups: griefshare.org

The Grief Talk Podcast links:
▶️ Watch the episode on YouTube
📸 Follow us on Instagram: @grief_talk
🌐 For books and resources on grief, identity, and finding your way back to yourself by Vonne: vonnesolis.com

If you're in crisis: In the U.S. or Canada, call or text 988. Elsewhere, please contact your local crisis line or emergency services.

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In this episode, I sit down with clinical psychologist and EMDR pioneer Dr. Laurel Parnell for a conversation that moves between the personal and the professional. Laurel shares her own experience of child loss after the murder of her son, and how it reshaped her understanding of grief, while drawing on decades of clinical expertise to talk about trauma, spiritual connection after death, and the healing approaches she has developed and taught to clinicians worldwide. This EMDR, Resource Tapping, Attachment-Focused EMDR, and her signature Multidimensional Integrative Healing.

🔑 In This Episode
•Multidimensional healing and the spiritual experience of child loss
•Soul parts, soul contracts and after-death communication
•When grief, diagnosis and deeper spiritual experiences intersect
•The overlooked grief of stepparents and changing identity after loss
•What truly helps someone who is grieving
•EMDR, resource tapping and rethinking what healing means — “broken is not wrong”

🎧 Listen to the full episode of The Grief Talk Podcast w/ Vonne Solis and discover a deeper conversation about grief, healing, trauma, spiritual connection, and finding your way forward after loss.

👉 Watch, listen, and subscribe to The Grief Talk Podcast for more honest conversations and practical insights for navigating life’s hardest hits.

#GriefTalk #EMDR #ChildLoss #TraumaHealing #GriefSupport #SpiritualConnection #AfterDeathCommunication #DrLaurelParnell #GriefJourney #HealingFromLoss

Resources & Links

Dr. Parnell's website: drlaurelparnell.com

Connect with The Grief Talk Podcast:
📸 Instagram: @grief_talk
🌐 Website: vonnesolis.com — books and resources on grief, identity, and finding your way back to yourself.

🆕 📣 Text Me Fan Mail

You can now text me directly about any episode. I personally read your messages and respond with practical, grounded insight. While I can’t offer long back-and-forth exchanges, I may respond directly or address your question in a future episode.

Your voice helps shape the conversation.

Subscribe to the podcast! Share your favourite episodes! Connect with me on LinkedIn and Facebook and Instagram @grief_talk

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"I am not Mormon." That's what Audra Phelps told herself in the mirror the night she left the LDS Church — after 10 years of quiet doubt and one policy she couldn't "unhear.

Audra Phelps, founder of Mama Audra and creator of the Reclaimed Program, joins me to share her journey out of a high-control religion: the rigid roles assigned to women, the purity culture and shame around her body, and the pressure to be "an example" from childhood. She opens up about the anxiety and depression that came from living a life that wasn't her own, the grief of losing family and community after leaving, and how she now helps other ex-Mormon moms rebuild their identity using NLP, hypnotherapy, and neuroscience-based coaching.

Topics covered:

• Growing up inside a high-control religion
• How the LDS Church structures women's roles around marriage and motherhood
• Purity culture and body shame from childhood
• The breaking point that led Audra to leave at age 35
• Grieving family, community, and her former self
• Using NLP and subconscious belief work to rebuild identity

This episode was shaped for more than one audience. If you've left the LDS Church, or if you've ever handed your power over to a belief system, a relationship, or an expectation that was never really yours — this episode is for you.

Connect with Audra: mamaaudra.com

✨ BONUS OFFER
Book a free consult with Audra and get 50% off your first individual coaching session — open to any woman navigating a faith transition or leaving a high-control organization. Just mention PODCAST when you book to claim the discount.

👉 mamaaudra.com/oneonone

Connect with The Grief Talk Podcast:
📸 Instagram: @grief_talk
🌐 Website: vonnesolis.com — books and resources on grief, identity, and finding your way back to yourself.

🆕 📣 Text Me Fan Mail

You can now text me directly about any episode. I personally read your messages and respond with practical, grounded insight. While I can’t offer long back-and-forth exchanges, I may respond directly or address your question in a future episode.

Your voice helps shape the conversation.

Subscribe to the podcast! Share your favourite episodes! Connect with me on LinkedIn and Facebook and Instagram @grief_talk