Are We There Yet?

When I recorded this episode with Tessa and Ella Fortich in June, I didn't know it would be the last for a while, but it turned out to be the perfect season finale. My intention for this podcast has …

This highly informative episode focuses on how the trauma of fire loss, specifically the Eaton Fire, is affecting children and their parents, and how parents can help their kids manage. (I apologize …

I always enjoy interviewing men because they tend to have a slightly different attitude about trauma and loss. Falcon and his family of four left their home up in the foothills of Altadena late on Ja…

In this episode, I speak with two parents who lost their home in the Eaton Fire. Daryl and Jessica both teach in the community, so I was eager to find out how they see the kids in our area recovering…

Staci Mitchell has lived in Altadena all her life, but in this conversation she explains that it wasn't until the media coverage of the recent fires that she understood she and her family are at the …

This episode is a slight pivot from this season on the wildfires in Los Angeles because I felt I needed to do something in response to the protests and injustices happening right now. I had no idea w…

I'm so pleased to be able to share this deeply moving interview with Erin O'Toole-Delawari, a teacher and mother of four who lost her home in January when the Eaton Fire tore through her neighborhood…

This week's episode is an interview with my brother and sister-in-law, Jen and Ted Muller, who lived through the 2018 Camp Fire, the deadliest and most destructive fire in California history. Ted was…

Welcome to Season Three, a shorter season devoted to exploring how families and kids respond to the grief associated with fire losses. Laurel Braitman is the best-selling author of Animal Madness and…

I recorded this episode with Benji Gabler in October 2024 which seems like a lifetime ago. I had planned to publish it in January and then the fires happened and I shifted gears to try to address the…

For this last episode, I spoke with AJ Johnson about the early loss of her mother when she was 16, as well as how she's navigating the collective grief we're all experiencing here in LA. AJ is a hila…

Because I live very close to Altadena in Los Angeles and because of the fires that raged through here two weeks ago, I decided to pivot and record an episode with two people I love about how they're …

This episode with Steve Pomerantz dives into why volunteering at Comfort Zone Camp is so rewarding. When I met Steve at CZC, he struck me as a bright light I wanted to get to know better. Steve bring…

I recorded this episode with my eldest sister Kate last spring but it took some time to edit and release it. Listening to Kate talk about the loss of our mother highlighted for me how completely diff…

Claudia and Olivia Biggs lived through a very difficult and at times hellish period when their mother suddenly became seriously mentally ill. They were in middle and high school when it happened so t…

In this episode, I speak with the wonderful Ari Jalomo, a student at Kenyan College currently studying abroad in Spain. Ari and I met at Comfort Zone Camp this past summer, where she was participatin…

Doneila McIntosh, M.Div., M.A. is a researcher getting her PhD in Family Social Science from the University of Minnesota. Her work as a therapist focuses on compassionate grief therapy, helping famil…

Gina Troisi's Memoir The Angle of Flickering Light is a beautiful account of her confusing and often scary childhood through the eyes of her younger self. I was immediately drawn in by this book and …

Hailey is another amazing young adult who I met through Comfort Zone Camp. Hailey has been through a lot of turmoil in her life and she is just an amazing example of resiliency and learning to cope w…

In this episode, we delve deep into the research and practical experience of Dr. Julie Kaplow, PhD, ABPP, a leading psychologist in the field of childhood grief and trauma. It is always gratifying to…