Seeing Death Clearly
Seeing Death Clearly is a show that challenges you to think about your beliefs about death, dying, grief, and living life. I am your host, Jill McClennen, a death doula and end-of-life coach. As a death doula, I found through first-hand experience that the more I came to terms with my thoughts and feelings about death and dying, the more present I became in my everyday life and I hope to share that with you too, how you can live a better life by having a healthier relationship with death and dying. Each episode features a guest who shares their beliefs and stories about death and dying. These are honest conversations about a topic most of us avoided talking about our entire lives. I am on a mission to change that, one conversation at a time.
Episodes
82 episodes since 2022
Dr. Viola Pierce's Vision for a New Healthcare Future
Dr. Viola Pierce, or Dr. V, has had a truly remarkable journey in the nursing profession, from starting as an LPN to becoming a doctorally prepared nurse with extensive experience in the emergency department. Her passion for nursing and educ...
September 15, 2024
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Episode 81
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42:04
Rose Luardo’s Exploration of Life and Death Part 2
Rose Luardo is a vibrant, multifaceted artist living in South Philadelphia, where she engages in various odd jobs, art projects, and gigs. She's a person who's always been intrigued—and admittedly a bit obsessed—with the concept of death.
September 08, 2024
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Episode 80
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37:06
Rose Luardo’s Exploration of Life and Death Part 1
Rose Luardo is a vibrant, multifaceted artist living in South Philadelphia, where she engages in various odd jobs, art projects, and gigs. She's a person who's always been intrigued—and admittedly a bit obsessed—with the concept of death, a ...
September 01, 2024
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Episode 79
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33:14
Life, Death, and Spiritual Growth with Indra Rinzler
Indra Rinzler is an astrologer who has been on a spiritual journey for over 50 years, specializing in Vedic astrology and the Enneagram of Personality. His work focuses on helping people discover their true selves, beyond who they think they...
August 25, 2024
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Episode 78
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41:12
Beyond the Veil and Living Fully with Stephanie Chevrier
Stephanie Chevrier, an artist based in Vancouver, Canada, has found herself deeply immersed in the exploration of death, reality, and what it means to be human. As an artist, she primarily works as a tattoo artist and illustrator, with a str...
August 18, 2024
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Episode 77
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44:01
Rev. Christine Davies on Chaplaincy and Spiritual Support in the Hospital
Rev. Christine Davies, the director of pastoral care at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey, shares her journey into hospital chaplaincy. As an ACPE supervisor and seminary professor, she teaches the art of h...
August 11, 2024
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Episode 76
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43:43
A Daughter's Intimate Journey with Her Father with Yvonne Caputo on the Power of Advanced Directives
Yvonne Caputo, from Southeastern Pennsylvania, is deliciously semi-retired after a varied career. She began in education, moved to the area, and leveraged her second master's degree in clinical psychology to work in employee assistance. Even...
August 04, 2024
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Episode 75
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49:42
Together For Sharon: George Ackerman’s Story of Love and Advocacy
In this episode, George Ackerman, also known as “Sharon's son George”, shares his deeply personal journey of caring for his mother, who battled Parkinson's disease.He lost his mother, Sharon Riff Ackerman, on 1/1/2020 due to Parkinso...
July 28, 2024
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Episode 74
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37:29
Helping Spirits Move On: Understanding the Journey of Souls with Dr. Marie Gasper-Hulvat
Dr. Marie Gasper Hulvat, hailing from Canton, Ohio, originally grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. She is a human design specialist, an intuitive EFT practitioner, and a trained Reiki master teacher in the Tibetan Usui tradition. Her journey began w...
July 21, 2024
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Episode 73
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35:28
Halo Nest: Poetry and Grief with Sean Lynch
Sean Lynch has been writing his whole life. His first poetry book was published over a decade ago in 2013; since then, he's released four more. His latest book, “Halo Nest: poems on grief” is a deeply personal collection about grief, began n...
July 07, 2024
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Episode 72
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39:55
Shelby Forsythia on Navigating Grief
Shelby Forsythia helps grieving people move through the pain and overwhelm of loss to experience peace, purpose, and joy again. She believes everyone deserves a good life, even if it’s not the one they thought they’d be living. Shelby Forsyt...
June 30, 2024
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Episode 71
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46:29
Life and Death in the ER with Dr. Jeffrey Sankoff
Dr. Jeffrey Sankoff, originally from Montreal, Quebec, Canada moved to Denver over two decades ago, where he has been practicing as an emergency physician while raising their children. Outside of medicine, Dr. Sankoff is an avid triathlete a...
June 23, 2024
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Episode 70
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44:21
Insights from Lisa Pahl the Creator of The Death Deck
Lisa Pahl is a licensed clinical social worker in LA, she has extensive experience in community mental health, domestic violence, and supporting survivors of torture. Early in her career, she worked at the Florida Cent...
June 16, 2024
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Episode 69
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39:05
Fertility and Grief with Ashley Holmes
In this episode of Seeing Death Clearly, I spoke with my friend Ashley Holmes, a Holistic Fertility Coach dedicated to supporting women struggling with infertility by bringing mind, body, and spirit into balance. Her journey began from perso...
June 09, 2024
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Episode 68
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44:40
From Anger to Empathy: Rediscovering My Mother's Story with Stephanie Jones
My guest in this episode is Stephanie Jones. One significant childhood memory involves the first time she remembers discussing death. This incident led to a brief conversation about death, spurred by her grandmother's passing soon after. Gro...
June 02, 2024
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Episode 67
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41:00
Boys, Emotions, and Cultural Expressions of Grief with Brendan Kwiatkowski
In this episode, my guest is Dr. Brendan Kwiatkowski, an educator, researcher, and speaker focused on the social-emotional development and well-being of boys and men. Brendan, who earned his Ph.D. in Education from the University of Edinburg...
May 26, 2024
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Episode 66
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43:47
Living Fully, Dying Gracefully: Insights from Ashley Oppon
In this episode, my guest is Ashley Oppon, host of "Dine with the Divine." Ashley, a registered nurse from New Jersey, describes her nursing job as her "muggle job," revealing her love for theology and religion. Growing up Catholic, Ashley's...
May 19, 2024
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Episode 65
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45:24
Stories from End-of-Life Care with Helen Bauer Part 2
In this week's episode, I talk with Helen Bauer, host of the Heart of Hospice podcast. This is part 2 of a two-part interview. Over the years, she's observed a profound inward shift in patients as they approach death, noticing changes in the...
May 12, 2024
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Episode 64
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32:34
Stories from End-of-Life Care with Helen Bauer Part 1
In this week's episode, I talk with Helen Bower, host of the Heart of Hospice podcast. This is part 1 of a two-part interview. The following is a link to my guest episode of The Heart of Hospice Podcast.
May 05, 2024
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Episode 63
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35:59
Preserving Family History with Sue Burns
My guest today is Sue Burns, author of the book A Common Life, A Voice from the Progressive Era where she published her great-great grandmother Mary's diary from the late 19th century Iowa farm life.We talk about the demogr...
April 28, 2024
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Episode 62
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45:56
Compassionate Communication in Medicine with Amy Flanagan
Amy Flanagan has had a diverse career journey that led her to a unique role in medical education. Initially pursuing acting from a young age her passion shifted, leading her to the Uniformed Services University, the U.S. military's medical s...
April 21, 2024
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42:37
How to Make Hard Choices at the End of Life with Chaplain Hank Dunn
My guest in this episode is Chaplain Hank Dunn. Hank is an ordained healthcare chaplain, bestselling author, and speaker who, for more than 30 years, has been helping patients and their families as they struggle with end-of-life decisions. I...
April 14, 2024
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Episode 60
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43:23
Lessons Learned from a Personal Loss Part 2
Following the decision, I prioritized my aunt's comfort as we prepared to remove her oxygen support. The nurse and I made her as comfortable as possible, opting for comfort care with a touch of morphine to ease her pain.
April 02, 2024
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Episode 59
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44:43
Lessons Learned from a Personal Loss Part 1
In the latest episode, I share a personal experience of losing my aunt after her two-week stay in the ICU. Despite being familiar with medical procedures from my volunteer work, seeing a loved one in that setting w...
March 24, 2024
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42:03
Navigating Loss and Embracing Life Again with Marie Scott
Marie Scott, the Creator and Founder of Happy and Healthy After Widowhood boasts an impressive resume as a best-selling author of three published books, with two more in the pipeline. She's also recognized internationally as a speaker and ho...
March 17, 2024
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Episode 57
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41:42