Grieving the Right Way: 5 Practices that Actually Help you HealGrieving the Right Way: 5 Practices that Actually Help you Heal
Health Wellness & Community
Dr Quentin Moore explains what grief is, how it affects the brain and body, and challenges the idea that people should simply "move on". He shares five practical practices for working through grief and stresses the importance of community, honesty and honouring loss.
9:25•13 Apr 2026
Grief Is Not a Weakness: Dr Quentin Moore’s 5 Practices for Real Healing
Episode Overview
- Grief is a natural human response to many kinds of loss and is not a weakness or illness to be fixed or suppressed.
- Emotional pain in grief activates overlapping brain circuits with physical pain and can raise stress, weaken immunity and increase disease risk.
- The five stages of grief were never meant as a strict roadmap; grief is non-linear and highly individual.
- Five key practices support healing: feel your emotions, name your specific losses, honour them with rituals, find supportive community and move forward rather than trying to get over it.
- Isolation intensifies grief, while connection and honest conversations make it more bearable and survivable.
“"You can't heal what you refuse to feel."”
What can we learn from those who have battled grief? Health Wellness & Community brings a raw, compassionate look at loss with Dr Quentin Moore at the helm. A family nurse practitioner and addiction medicine expert, he breaks down what grief really is and why phrases like "get over it" can do real harm. Instead of quick fixes, you’ll hear how grief is a natural response to any meaningful loss – not just death.
Dr Moore explains that "grief activates the same regions of the brain as physical pain" and shows how stress hormones, weakened immunity and higher disease risk make grief a serious health issue, not just an emotional one. He also clears up a huge misconception about the famous five stages of grief. Drawing on Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ work, he reminds you that they were "observations, not a checklist, not a timeline" and that grief is messy, non-linear and deeply personal.
You might feel acceptance one day and anger the next, and that doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong. The heart of the episode is five simple but challenging practices for working through grief: feel it, name it, honour it, find community and move forward.
You’ll hear lines like "you can’t heal what you refuse to feel" and be invited to get specific about what you’ve lost – the Sunday phone calls, the shared meals, the version of yourself that no longer exists. This one’s especially helpful if you’ve kept busy, stayed "strong" and pushed your pain underground, or if you support people dealing with loss alongside addiction or other health struggles.
There’s gentle humour, science you can understand, and a firm reminder that "you were not designed to grieve alone." Ready to stop pretending you’re fine and take one honest step towards healing?
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