In this revisited episode from November of 2025 I had sat down with Dr. Celeste Birkhofer, a licensed clinical psychologist, longtime Stanford educator, mother, and upcoming author whose work centers on grief, suicide prevention, and the emotional weight of perfectionism. Dr. Celeste opens up about growing up in a military family, navigating a parent’s alcoholism, and how her own experiences with depression, compulsive exercise, and an eating disorder eventually led her into psychology. She also shares her forty–year marriage, a partnership strengthened through separation, therapy, and hard-won healing.

The heart of our conversation is the greatest loss of her life: the death of her son, Wiley, who fought bipolar two disorder with everything he had for nine years. Dr. Celeste speaks with heartbreaking honesty about his vibrant childhood, his acceptance into Stanford, the onset of his illness, and the unpredictable nature of suicidal ideation. She talks about the day Wiley died, the grief that reshaped her family, and the fears she faced returning to work as a therapist while questioning everything she believed about mental health treatment.

We explore the complexity of suicide grief, the stigma that deepens the pain, and the small everyday mercies that slowly help you breathe again. She shares how her loss softened her, slowed her down, and shifted her spirituality, including the signs from Wiley that still show up in the most beautiful ways.

This conversation is honest, grounding, emotional, and filled with compassion. It is for anyone who has lost someone to suicide, loves someone living with mental illness, or simply wants to understand grief on a deeper, more human level. It is a reminder that healing is not about perfection but about awareness, connection, and extending kindness to ourselves, especially on the days we feel anything but kind.

Stay tuned for more information on Celeste’s upcoming book ‘Beyond Quick Fixes: Essential Inner Resources for Good Mental Health & A Fulfilling LIfe’ on her site: https://www.drcelestebirkhofer.com/

This podcast is a place for trauma survivors as well as their friends and family. This is a safe environment to be vulnerable but it's also a place for celebration and moving forward. Let's all start to embrace who we are becoming by #mentalhealth #selfcare #self #judgingothers #judgingmeghan #suicideawareness #suicideprevention #survivor #resilience #traumahealing #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthmatters #podcasts #MentalHealthMatters #HealingJourney #GriefSupport #SuicideAwareness #MindfulLiving #EmotionalWellness #SelfCompassion #MentalHealthAwareness #Resilience #LifeAfterLoss #TherapistTalks #HumanExperience #InnerStrength #MentalHealthResources #OvercomingLoss #MentalWellness #TraumaRecovery #ParentingThroughLoss #BipolarAwareness #MentalHealthEducation #EmotionalHealing #FindingHope #CopingWithGrief #HealingTogether #EndTheStigma #Wellbeing #MentalHealthCommunity #SelfCareJourney #PersonalGrowth #FaithAndHealing #DrCelesteBirkhofer

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices