Grief, Loss, and Allowing Emotions to Be Felt: Coaching Session #4 with Dr. Mary

Shownotes For Podcast Episode 12: Grief, Loss, and Allowing Emotions to Be Felt: Coaching Session #4 with Dr. Mary

In this episode of The Holistic Physician Coaching Podcast, Dr. Jessica Singh coaches Dr. Mary in their fourth coaching session together. Dr. Mary is a family medicine resident physician in the United States. 

In this coaching conversation, she shares that her grandfather recently passed away and reflects on what it has been like to grieve while continuing to work in the hospital.

As the session unfolds, Dr. Mary explores grief, loss, regret, blame, and the emotional complexity of being the person in the family with medical knowledge. She reflects on the experience of wanting to protect her family from painful details, while also needing space to process her own feelings about her grandfather’s death.

Through the coaching conversation, Dr. Mary begins to notice where grief and regret are showing up in her body. She explores the role of breath, grounding, prayer, spiritual connection, and allowing emotions to move through her rather than pushing them aside. The session also touches on the reality of grieving while in residency, including the challenge of experiencing grief at work while caring for patients and the importance of asking trusted colleagues for support.

This episode offers a meaningful look at how coaching can create space for physicians to process grief, loss, and life experiences that do not pause simply because clinical responsibilities continue.

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

The Pause / The Medical Pause

The Pause, a practice developed by Jonathan Bartels, RN, is a brief moment of silence after a patient’s death that honors the life of the person who died while also acknowledging the humanity, care, and effort of the medical team.

The practice offers a simple, non-denominational way to create space for reflection, grief, and closure in clinical settings after death.

Learn more about The Pause here: www.thepause.me

Additional resource:

VCU Health — “Pausing to honor a life”

This VCU Health article describes The Pause as a moment of silence after the death of a patient that recognizes the humanity of the patient and the health care team. It also shares how VCU Health implemented the practice after connecting with Jonathan Bartels, who originally developed the concept.

Read the VCU Health article here: www.vcuhealth.org/news/pausing-to-honor-a-life/

Timestamps:

0:00 — Grieving a Loved One’s Death as a Physician
7:24 — Making Space for Grief
17:57 — Experiencing Grief at Work and Asking for Support