Emotionally Fit with Dr. Emily Anhalt

Death is the most guaranteed part of life, yet it’s a topic most people avoid thinking and talking about. In this Taboo Tuesday discussion, Shoshana Berger, co-author of the book “A Beginner's Guide to the End,” joins Dr. Emily to talk about how her father’s prolonged death changed her perspective on death and dying. After seeing firsthand how difficult and overwhelming the process was, Shoshana set out to explore various aspects of end-of-life care, from navigating the healthcare system and hospice to green burials and the various and strange ways grief works. Listen now to hear why you should be thinking and talking to your own loved ones about death.

For Dr. Emily, a difficult realization of adulthood was that every decision we make means having to grieve the loss of every decision we can no longer make as a result. In this Emotional Push-Up, Shoshana Berger, global editorial director at the design firm IDEO, joins Dr. Emily to talk about how growth and grief are intertwined and how learning to grieve is an important skill for ongoing emotional health.

It can be really hard to reach out and ask for help and support. Some people have trouble with this because they want to see themselves as competent and having it all together. Some people worry that asking for help will reduce the amount of control they have in a situation, and some people weren't given a lot of support or help with things early in life and find it hard to ask for help now. Angel investor Maia Bittner joins this episode to explore why it can sometimes be so hard to ask for help and work through a few steps with Dr. Emily that we can all take to get more comfortable asking others for their help and support.