Speaking Grief

• Fred Vigeant/WITF
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Fred Vigeant is WITF's Director of Programming and Promotions for TV and Radio. Fred manages the schedules for our radio and television platforms. He also analyzes audience research and manages the public affairs program Smart Talk. Previously, Fred was at WRVO in Oswego, NY for 12 years serving in various roles including Program Director and before that Operations Manager. Fred graduated from the State University of New York College at Oswego with a B.A. in Mass Communications and Broadcasting.

Through candid personal stories and conversations with experts in the grief field, SPEAKING GRIEF presents ideas for how family and friends can better support each other through loss.

Speaking Grief explores the transformative experience of losing a family member in a death- and grief-avoidant society.

There is nothing more universal than the act of grieving, yet grief has become taboo. Moving away from the idea that grief is a problem that needs to be “fixed,” this documentary validates grief as a normal, healthy part of the human experience. Speaking Grief also addresses the role support from friends and family plays in a person’s grief experience, introducing ideas for how we can get better at showing up for people in their darkest moments.

When it comes to grief, there is a huge disconnect between expectation and reality. In order to get better at responding to grief, we need to understand what it is—and isn’t. Speaking Grief provides insight into the experience of grief and addresses many common misconceptions.

Speaking Grief features diverse representations of grief through candid interviews with seven families from across the country whose losses range from stillbirth to suicide. While the only true grief “experts” are grieving people, this documentary also includes interviews with professionals working in the grief field:

• Alesia Alexander, LCSW, Grief, Loss, and Inclusion Consultant
• Cristina Chipriano, LCSW, Director of Spanish Programs and Outreach at Bo’s Place
• Megan Devine, LPC, Psychotherapist and Author of Its OK that You’re Not OK
• Julie Kaplow, Ph.D., Director of the Trauma and Grief Center at Texas Children’s Hospital
• Joyal Mulheron, Founder and Executive Director of Evermore
• Ted Rynearson, M.D., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Washington

Watch Speaking Grief Thursday August 13 at 8pm on WITF

A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.

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