What if the word "coach" isn't big enough for what grief actually needs?

In this conversation, Dina Bell-Laroche walks me through the journey that took her from a devastated 29-year-old — grieving her younger sister Tracy, who passed from a rare cancer while pregnant with her first child — to becoming one of the clearest voices in grief and loss literacy today. We talk about why she moved away from calling herself a "grief coach," what a grief doula actually does, and how a disconnected rotary phone in a garden in Japan became the inspiration for a project she's now bringing to a hospice near Ottawa.

This one will change the way you think about "getting over" a loss — and about ranking your grief against anyone else's.

About Dina Bell-Laroche

Dina Bell-Laroche is a Certified Thanatologist, grief doula, death educator, keynote speaker, and the author of Grief Unleashed: Moving from the Hole in Our Hearts to Whole-Hearted. Since her sister Tracy's passing in 2001, Dina has built classrooms in Nicaragua and Northern Ontario in Tracy's name, hosted dozens of Grief Cafés, and helped launch Ottawa's first Wind Phone. She writes The Grieving Place on Substack and works with individuals, families, and organizations — including elite athletes and executives — navigating grief and life-altering loss.

Connect with Dina:
Website: https://www.griefunleashed.ca/
Substack — The Grieving Place: https://dinabelllaroche.substack.com/
Instagram, Facebook & LinkedIn: @griefunleashed
Book: Grief Unleashed: Moving from the Hole in Our Hearts to Whole-Hearted

In this episode, we cover:

The difference between chronos time and kairos time — and what STUGS (sudden temporary upsurges in grief) really are
Why Dina moved from "grief coach" to "grief doula," and what that shift means
Disenfranchised grief, and why sibling loss so often goes unacknowledged
Why our culture ranks losses against each other — and why that hierarchy needs to go
Talking to children honestly about death
The story behind the Wind Phone, and Dina's new Wind Phone project at a hospice in Ottawa
What the Grief Companion Program actually looks like

What resonated with you? Have you ever felt like your grief wasn't "bad enough" to talk about? Drop a comment and let's talk about it.

You've been listening. You're doing the work. But there's still this feeling that you're circling the same place.

Maybe you've thought about working with me one-on-one. Maybe something's held you back.

I get that. And I want you to know there's still a place for you.

All of it, pay what you want. You decide what it's worth. Nobody gets turned away because of money.

https://grief2g

The International Association for Near-Death Studies or IANDS will host its annual conference at the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue. The event features an all-star lineup of keynotes like Proof of Heaven Author Eben Alexander, MD, and Dying to Be Me Author Anita Moorjani. I Early bird registration rates are available through July 15.

Visit IANDS.org to register

Want to go deeper? My Substack is where I share solo essays on grief, consciousness, and continuing bonds — thoughts that don't always make it into the podcast. It's also home to a community of listeners who get it, because they're living it too. Free to subscribe. Find it at substack.com/grief2growth.

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