In this powerful episode of Tendrils of Grief, I sit down with psychotherapist and author Sally Dukes for a deeply personal and layered conversation about grief, identity, attachment, and the stories that shape our lives.

During our discussion, I share my own journey with abandonment wounds and the loss of my husband — how those early attachment patterns resurfaced in grief, and how loss forces us to confront the narratives we've carried for years. Sally brings her expertise in transpersonal psychology and narrative healing to explore how the stories we tell ourselves can either keep us stuck in victimhood or help us step into growth.

We also dive into Sally's near-death experience at age three during open-heart surgery — a profound encounter with a violet light of love that forever shaped her understanding of death and what may lie beyond it. Together, we explore anxious attachment, spiritual connection, manifestation, and whether the bonds we share with loved ones truly end when they die.

This episode is an honest conversation about grief not as something to "get over," but as something that reveals who we are beneath the surface. It's about rewriting the story — not denying the pain — and discovering that love may continue in ways we don't fully understand.

If you've ever questioned your patterns, wrestled with abandonment, or wondered whether your loved ones are still somehow near, this episode will meet you with compassion and depth.

Know Sally Dukes

Website:https://www.sallydukes.com/

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are our loved ones really gone? a psychotherapist 's honest answer