June 18, 2026
Grief is the New Normal Podcast: S3E20 Grief, EMDR, and Disneyland: Finding Joy in the Mess with Jessica Vickers, LMFT
Grief is not just about death. It lives inside fertility journeys, inside the waiting and the not knowing, inside the losses that do not come with funerals or casseroles or anyone checking in six months later. And sometimes it lives right alongside joy, which is one of the most disorienting and least talked about parts of the whole experience.
In this episode, Dr. Heather Taylor sits down with Jessica Vickers, licensed marriage and family therapist, certified perinatal mental health counselor, EMDR clinician, and founder of the Happiest Healers Club. Jessica shares her own grief story, her clinical approach to perinatal and infertility loss, how EMDR supports grief integration, and why therapists need community and play just as much as their clients do.
This one is warm, real, a little bit Disney-filled, and deeply human.
In this episode you will learn:
What ambiguous grief looks like in the context of infertility and the perinatal journey, and why it is one of the hardest grief types to hold
How EMDR supports grief processing by moving the nervous system from maladaptive beliefs toward adaptive meaning-making
Why the second and third pregnancy losses hit differently, and how to support clients who are still in the middle of not knowing
What continuing bonds look like in practice, including how Jessica stays connected to her dad and her best friend through Disneyland, Groot ears, and tree planting
Why nothing good happens when we are dysregulated, and what to do before you act on grief or rage or fear
How to talk about your grief with new people in your life who never knew your person
What survivor guilt sounds like in grief, and how to gently challenge it
How EMDR physically calms the body before it works on the story
Why therapist burnout is a grief response too, and what the Happiest Healers Club is doing about it
Topics and concepts discussed in this episode:
Ambiguous grief, infertility grief, perinatal loss, miscarriage, pregnancy loss, EMDR for grief, bilateral stimulation, grief integration, continuing bonds, survivor guilt, grief and joy, caregiver fatigue, anticipatory grief, disenfranchised grief, grief and the nervous system, clinician burnout, therapist self-care, meaning-making after loss, grief and community-----------------------------
Jessica Vickers is a licensed marriage & family therapist, and also a certified perinatal mental health counselor. Jessica has been a therapist for over 13 years, and specializes in working with women of color and women going through the perinatal journey. Jessica utilizes EMDR in her virtual private practice. She is a Black woman, a wife, a mom, and the founder of The Happiest Healers Club. @jessicavickersmft on Instagram --------------------------------
Grief is not a problem to solve. It is a human experience to move through, and most of us were never taught how.
Grief is the New Normal is hosted by Dr. Heather Taylor, licensed psychologist and grief specialist with over a decade of experience in grief, trauma, and reproductive psychology. This show exists to change the conversation around loss by expanding what grief looks like, who it belongs to, and what it actually means to integrate it into your life.
Whether you're grieving a death, a diagnosis, a relationship, an identity shift, or the world as you knew it, your grief is real, it deserves space, and you are not behind. And if you're a clinician, coach, or helper carrying your own grief while holding space for others, this show was built for you too.
Dr. Taylor brings research-informed frameworks, honest clinical perspective, and the STAY framework, a grief-informed approach to living with loss that goes far beyond the five stages. Expect nuance, depth, and conversations that take grief seriously.
No toxic positivity. No fixing. Just honest conversation, real validation, and a community built around grief literacy, disenfranchised grief, anticipatory grief, collective grief, and the full spectrum of hum
