Saturday Jun 21, 2025

04 | Grief, Trauma & the Losses Nobody Talks About | feat. Katy Parker of Journey of Smiley

📺 Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/s5OBQ0UXWvQ

Episode Summary

There are losses that come with a funeral — and losses that don't. Losses that have a name — and losses nobody ever taught us to grieve.

In this episode of A Catholic Journey, Jessica sits down with trauma-informed writer and grief coach Katy Parker to talk about the kind of grief that often goes unseen. Katy opens up about the accident that changed her life, the PTSD diagnosis that followed, and how a pen and paper in a hospital room — during the height of COVID lockdowns, with no visitors allowed — became the beginning of her healing journey.

Together, Jessica and Katy get into the weight of guilt in grief, the secondary losses nobody talks about, and why awareness is the first step toward healing. This is a conversation for anyone who has ever felt like their grief didn't count — or didn't know what to call what they were carrying.

💛 "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." — 2 Corinthians 12:9

In This Episode, You'll Hear:

⭐ How a traumatic accident led Katy back to writing — and how Journey of Smiley was born in a hospital room during COVID lockdowns

⭐ What PTSD actually looks like — and why it isn't just something soldiers experience

⭐ The guilt that follows grief — and why both Jessica and Katy carried it for years in very different ways

⭐ Secondary losses and unmet expectations — grieving the life you thought you'd have, not just the person you lost

⭐ Living losses — grieving someone who is still here but not the same (dementia, addiction, illness, and more)

⭐ Why your loss counts — no matter what anyone has told you

⭐ Katy's upcoming solo book — on living losses and the grief we don't have a name for

Scripture Referenced in This Episode

  • 2 Corinthians 12:9

About Katy Parker Katy Parker is a grief and loss coach, trauma survivor, and mental health mentor dedicated to helping people heal from invisible grief and trauma through storytelling and community. She is the creator of the Journey of Smiley blog and the PTSD: My Story project — a community where people from around the world share their stories so no one has to feel alone in their pain.

Connect with Katy & Access Her Free Resources

Listener Reflection Is there a loss in your life that you've never given yourself permission to grieve — because it didn't come with a funeral? What would it look like to name it? 🙏🏻

Enjoyed This Episode? If this episode touched your heart, it would mean so much if you:

  • ✔️ Subscribed to A Catholic Journey
  • ✔️ Left a review — it helps others who need this find the podcast
  • ✔️ Shared this episode with someone carrying grief they don't have a name for

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🙏🏻 Where Jesus leads the way, we are called to follow.

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