When Families Feel Understood: Meet Derek and Taylor

Derek and Taylor started going to Dougy Center after Tamara, Derek's wife and Taylor's mom died when Taylor was just 14. Derek and Taylor suddenly found themselves navigating grief without anyone who truly understood the magnitude of what they were experiencing. “We each felt so alone through the illness, struggling to cope, and without any peer group of families going through the same thing,” Derek recalled. A social worker at Providence St. Vincent ICU suggested Dougy Center. “After we got to Dougy Center, we were not alone in navigating our grief,” Derek said. “We had somewhere to share our deepest thoughts with people who ‘got it.’” For Taylor, the impact was immediate. “Going to Dougy Center normalized her tragic experience,” Derek shared, “She was not alone in what she had experienced, was feeling, and how she was trying to cope.” Her favorite part was the conversations — “talking, comparing notes with other teens, feeling heard and not quite so alone.”

Latest Episode

April 30th, 2026

A Mother's Legacy, A Daughter's Grief - N'keya Peters-Camille

In this episode of Grief Out Loud, Jana is joined by N'keya Peters-Camille, LCSW, RYT® 200, a social worker, certified Grief Yoga teacher, facilitator for e-motion grief meet ups, and creator of Hope: A One Line A Day Journal for the Bereaved. N'keya shares the story of her mother, Hope - a woman she describes as her soulmate - who died of pancreatic cancer in 2021 at the age of 44. N'keya reflects on growing up alongside her mother, witnessing her overcome immense challenges, and experiencing firsthand what it meant to be deeply seen, supported, and loved. After her mother's death, N'keya found herself navigating grief without strong cultural or community rituals to hold her. In response, she created her own network of support through grief counseling, retreats, movement practices, and eventually, offering those same resources to others - particularly within her Afro-Caribbean and African American communities. The conversation explores caregiving during the pandemic, the absence of end-of-life conversations, and what it means to grieve while parenting young children. N'keya shares how she spoke honestly with her three-year-old son about death, how grief continues to evolve five years later, and how she makes space for both sorrow and joy - especially on complex days like Mother's Day. N'keya also speaks candidly about pregnancy loss and infertility following her mother's death and how those grief experiences intersected. She describes how her mother's voice continues to guide her—in her work, her parenting, and her sense of self—and how she honors that connection by living fully, while also deeply grieving. Note: this episode mentions childhood sexual assault. Please take care while listening. read more...