Ep. 13 Part 2 - Understanding the Grief That Comes With Parenting a High Needs Child

Grief shows up in unexpected ways when you’re parenting a hypersensitive, high-needs child. And most of it goes unnamed.

In this episode of The Regulated Mother, I explore the deeper grief that lives in the nervous system—the kind of grief no one prepares us for.

We talk about:

• The 5 stages of grief adapted for parenting
  

• Ambiguous loss, ongoing loss, anticipatory grief, and loss of reciprocity
  

• Why you might feel stuck in a shame-grief loop
  

• How grief from the past gets reactivated in the present
  

• And how to begin working with grief in your body, one breath at a time
  

If you want to read instead, the full blog is available on my website: https://www.illuminateu.ca/blog/understanding-the-grief-that-comes-with-parenting-a-high-needs-child

This episode is especially for parents navigating Autism, PDA, ADHD, trauma, and other nervous system differences—who are grieving not because they’ve given up, but because they love deeply.