Introduction
When we heard that Creative Grief Studio Certified Practitioner Carol Miller, LCSW, was going to be featured on a podcast talking about her personal and professional experiences, we decided to take a few mintues to interview Carol about her podcast experience. After you read her thoughts on podcasts, be sure to click through and listen to the podcast itself. Carol highlights the I Don’t Know space, ANDspace, letting the client have the agency to guide what is needed for them, ritual, and so much more that are core pieces to our Creative Grief Studio Certification Program.
Interview with Carol Miller, LCSW
Q: Had you ever been a part of a podcast before this one?
Carol: So not sure if that call we did for the Creative Grief Studio Certification page was considered a “podcast.” Oh, and the alum class I did on the grief group mandala … don’t know if that was/is a “podcast.” I always find all this computer tech-y jargon to be confusing! So … if those were not podcasts in the true sense of the word, then the answer would be no, I have never been a part of a podcast before this one. Otherwise if it was a podcast, then this would be my second/third one.
Q: How did you come to be a part of this episode?
Carol: Megan Gipson emailed me through my website. She relayed that a friend of hers who lives in Maryland had read an article I had written about the impact of recurrent pregnancy losses. Feels like I had written it a bi-zillion years ago, and I was not even aware that Sharon still had it up on her practice website! Apparently, Megan’s friend had found it helpful as she had experienced several miscarriages. Regardless, Megan asked if I would be willing to talk about these issues. I told her I hadn’t been working directly in the field of infertility and pregnancy losses for several years, but I would be happy to speak on this if she was still interested. As I still work very much in the world of grief and loss, I don’t believe that working in the specific area is necessarily relevant (although helpful to understand some about the specific additional permutations). From there we arranged a time and date to “meet” by phone (Megan is in Texas and, of course as you know, I’m in Arizona).
Q: Any advice you might give other practitioners who might be thinking about being a guest on a podcast to talk about creative grief work?
Carol: Be yourself! Let go of perfection to the extent that you can. You’ll think of a thousand and one things you would have wanted to say as soon as you end the podcast (oh well!). I found it helpful to send Megan some areas she might want to ask about and focus on as she was not super familiar with the topic herself and there were some things I hoped to get across in the podcast. I also spent some time writing up some notes to have on hand around those specific areas so I would have something to refer to if needed. In the end … go for it if you have the opportunity and have fun!
The Podcast
The Family Brain Podcast
By Megan Gipson
Released May 15, 2018
Megan’s guest this episode is Carol Miller, a licensed social worker who shares her story of loss and how that led to her working with others as they navigate through their grief. She discusses the power of telling your story, the importance of being a curious listener, and some of the impacts of grief on our physical bodies. Carol shares specific ways both to support loves ones as they grieve and always ways we can support ourselves, as we will inevitably experience loss and grief in our lives.