Overachieving As a Cry For Help: with Laurel Braitman

Lots of smart, high achieving people learned to greet pain with stoicism: by being mature and responsible, even as kids.    But what happens when you can’t maintain the facade of having your sh*t entirely together? Do you ever get to be less than Super Human?    In this episode we cover:    Perfectionism as a coping mechanism for all kinds of emotional wounds Is distraction bad for you?  When the worst has already happened, how do you control your anxiety?  Is there any good way to tell kids that someone they love is dying?  Working within systems where vulnerability is punished (looking at you, medicine & law) How medical aid in dying has changed over the years   Looking for a creative exploration of grief? Check out the best selling Writing Your Grief course here.   “I live with a constant fear of liking anyone or anything too much lest I lose it.” - Laurel Braitman Related episodes: Connection Is the Best Medicine: with Dr. Rana Awdish   Elise Loehnen: The 7 Deadly Sins and the Crown of Sadness   Follow our show on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok @refugeingrief and @itsokpod on TikTok. Visit refugeingrief.com for resources & courses About our guest: Laurel Braitman is a New York Times bestselling author - her new book, What Looks Like Bravery: An Epic Journey Through Loss to Love, is out now. She’s the founder of Writing Medicine, a global community of writing healthcare professionals, and the Director of Writing and Storytelling at the Medical Humanities and the Arts Program at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Find her at laurelbraitman.com and on IG @laurel_braitman. About Megan:  Psychotherapist Megan Devine is one of today’s leading experts on grief, from life-altering losses to the everyday grief that we don’t call grief. Get the best-selling book on grief in over a decade, It’s Ok that You’re Not OK, wherever you get books. Find Megan @refugeingrief   Additional resources: Writing Medicine - Laurel Braitman’s global writing community for healthcare workers   Want to talk with Megan directly? Join our patreon community for live monthly Q&A grief clinics: your questions, answered. Want to speak to her privately? Apply for a 1:1 grief consultation here.    Books and resources may contain affiliate links.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Life is full of difficult things, from tiny everyday disappointments to life-altering events. Everyone’s at least a little bit Not OK, something grief expert and psychotherapist Megan Devine knows from the inside out. In wide ranging, insightful, deep conversations, Megan talks with people about their often invisible losses - and what they’ve learned about being seen and supported in difficult times.  With guests pulled from the front lines of entertainment, medicine, education, and activism, the conversations in It’s OK that You’re Not OK are funny, complex, emotional, and hopeful - maybe not your typical dinner party topics, but none of us are entirely OK, and it’s time we start talking about that. New episodes each and every Monday, from the author of the best-selling book, It’s OK That You’re Not OK, and iHeartMedia. Find Megan online at @refugeingrief & follow the show @ItsOKPod