Mitch Carmody

After suffering many familial losses from a young age and ultimately with the death of his nine-year-old son of cancer in 1987, Mitch Carmody, has struggled with the grief journey and how grief is processed and perceived in this country. He published a book in 2002 called “Letters To My Son, a journey through grief." The book has now reached the bereaved in every state and 7 other countries. From the book’s success he now travels locally and around the country lecturing on the grief process and/or conducting workshops on surviving the loss of a loved one. He has also conducted a variety of workshops with The Compassionate Friends and Bereaved Parents USA as well as a sought after speaker for many keynote presentations. As a trained hospice volunteer, he has also helped many loved ones and their families through the dying process. Mitch has published several articles in national bereavement periodicals, is a frequent contributor to TCF Atlanta On-line and currently a staff writer for Living with Loss Magazine. Through email correspondence on his website he council’s the bereaved on a daily basis. Since the death of his son 19 years ago, Mitch has dedicated his life to helping those individuals and families whom are trying to navigate in the uncharted territory of death, dying and the bereavement process. Through his compassionate insight and gentle spirit he will touch your heart and hopefully give you tools to aid you on your journey Mitch lives in rural Minnesota with my wife of thirty years, he enjoys riding my horses, gardening, writing, helping others, giving blood monthly and creating works of art. He is also a proud first time grandfather to the daughter of their surviving daughter Meagan. To learn more about Mitch and his work, go to: www.HeartlightStudios.net. Mitch appeared on the radio show “Healing the Grieving Heart” discussing “Letters From My Son.” To hear Mitch being interviewed on this show by Dr. Gloria and Dr. Heidi Horsley, click on the following link: www.voiceamericapd.com/health/010157/horsley042706.mp3 Mitch appeared again on the radio show “Healing the Grieving Heart” discussing the Holidays, Helpful or Hurtful? To hear Mitch interviewed by Dr. Gloria & Dr. Heidi Horsley, click on the following link: www.voiceamericapd.com/health/010157/horsley122508.mp3

Articles:

The Stages of Grief, according to Winnie the Pooh

Mitch Carmody of Heartlight Studios spoke with Dr. Heidi Horsley during the 2015 Association of Death Education and Counseling 2015 about the death of a child. He lost his own son when his child was just nine, and he says the biggest help in addressing your grief is not to forget. It’s common in American society to want to put things behind us, but the first year of grief is just the beginning. Grief can often act like an infant, and it can take just as long as a person to mature. In the first year, grief is an infant […]

Mitch Carmody: Taking Care of Yourself and Finding Hope After Loss

Mitch Carmody works with Heartlight Studios, has his own ministry, works with The Compassionate Friends as well as TAPS. As a leader in the grief industry, his passion comes from personal experience: Carmody’s son died at just nine years old. Carmody spoke with Dr. Heidi Horsley of The Open to Hope Foundation during the 2015 Association of Death Education and Counseling conference about self-care after a loss. Dubbed “proactive grieving,” people often need help getting the tools and resources they need to care for themselves (and perhaps others) after the death of a loved one. Embracing your grief includes looking […]

Mitch Carmody: Proactive Grieving

Grieving shouldn’t just be a passive process—but many people need help being proactive about it. Dr. Gloria Horsley from the Open to Hope Foundation recently spoke with proactive grieving expert Mitch Carmody of Heartlight Studios about what it means to grieve in a proactive manner. Carmody brings his own experience to the table, having lost his son 27 years ago and experiencing more losses throughout the decades. “Trying to navigate this dark journey, I grieved like my mother used to,” he says. In the past, grief was something you hid away, and that’s still an approach used (and even encouraged) […]

Mitch Carmody: Signs and Connections

“Getting” signs and connections when a loved one passes is a relatively common phenomenon. Some grievers are sure they’ve experienced signs about or from their loved ones who have passed. Others want to receive these signs. At the 2015 Association of Death and Counseling Conference, Dr. Gloria Horsley talked with Mitch Carmody about his take on signs, connections and the grieving process. “People are feeling this (connection)…but they’re afraid to actually tell anyone.” Nobody wants to sound delusional or like they’re reaching for straws, which can further the feeling of isolation. “It’s not crazy; it’s a phenomenon that does happen.” […]

Whispers of Love, Signs of Hope

If you have lost someone close to you and suffer with that loss, you may have wished for, prayed for, expected and or anticipated some sort of supernatural experience that would validate your belief that there truly is life after death. I believe that somehow our loved one who has moved on in spirit can communicate to us in some form or fashion, and that it can bring us a peace that can be found no other way. I believe we live in one sphere of existence, our departed loved one lives in another, but we can meet at the […]

Where to Start

Click on this post for recommended articles, radio shows and videos if you are new to Open to Hope…

How Were the Holidays for You?

Christmas is over; thank God for small miracles. When one has suffered the physical loss of someone in their lives, the holidays, especially Christmas, can be extremely difficult and challenging. When that loss in your life is a child, it can change how one experiences and processes the holidays forever. As many bereaved know, our grief journey soon becomes a subversive, evocative “it,” an acceptable pronoun to minimize the reality of a condition that no fortunate other can comprehend nor want to imagine; the loss of a child in their family. So the world and we tend to hush it […]

Namaste, Elizabeth Edwards

I first really comprehended the seduction of collective grief thirty years ago when John Lennon was murdered in 1980. In fact, as I write these words it is December 8, 2010, thirty years to the day that John Lennon was senselessly murdered. I was shocked and stunned when I heard the news. Throughout the day I talked about it to everyone. Akin to the experience of 9-11-2001 many years later, it consumed my thoughts throughout the day and weeks that followed. I was in a very subtle by pervasive cloud of sadness and despair. That is collective grief, the response […]

Ghosts of Halloween

October 31st is Halloween, one of our nation’s most popular holidays. Over 67% of American households polled by an American Express in a 2009 survey replied that indeed Halloween has surpassed Christmas as a family’s favorite holiday period. During the month of October, Americans spend almost $2 billion on candy purchased for Halloween night. Despite prior years of horror stories of alleged razor blades in apples and pins in popcorn balls, the holiday only grows in popularity. Halloween has its roots in pagan and deeply religious beliefs simultaneously. In ancient Celtic tradition they celebrated “Samhain” which is Gaelic for “summers […]

Traveling to Planet Grief and Back

I am continually amazed at the choreography of the dance that I experience at The Compassionate Friends national conference, and the huge impact is has on my body, mind and spirit when I walk off the dance floor and return home. From spending 4 or 5 days on “planet grief,” we return home to the mundane realities of the real world and try to blend in with its preoccupied inhabitants who for the most part know nothing of our secret planet. They don’t wear buttons of a dead child pinned to their clothing; they don’t wear name tags around their […]

Open to Hope is an online community offering inspirational stories of loss, hope and recovery. We believe hope is the bridge between loss and recovery.