What If Grief Care Is Preventative Care? Dr. Kailey Bradley
From Grief Out Loud by The Dougy Center
April 16, 2026 · 42 min · Episode 350
About this episode
Dr. Kailey Bradley discusses the importance of grief care as preventative mental health care and explores various forms of loss.
In this episode, we talk with Dr. Kailey Bradley about support for grieving a death loss, but also the more overlooked non-death losses, including chronic illness, infertility, shifting identities, and the futures we imagined but don't get to live. Dr. Bradley is a clinician and educator who specializes in working with children and families navigating grief and illness . Kailey shares her experiences growing up with chronic illness and being diagnosed with premature ovarian failure at age 12, and how those layered losses affected her at different life stages . We explore what it means to "process" grief, why anger and big questions deserve space, and how grief can show up in ways we don't always recognize. We also discuss how being diagnosed later in life with autism spectrum disorder shifted how Kailey understands grief – hers and those she supports. We discuss : Why grief care can be seen as preventative mental health care What Kailey learned working with teens in juvenile detention about unprocessed loss How children express grief through play, behavior, and the body Supporting neurodivergent kids and teens, including those with autism The importance of choice and autonomy in…
People in this episode
Host: The Dougy Center
Guest: Dr. Kailey Bradley
Topics covered
- grief support
- non-death losses
- chronic illness
- neurodivergent children
- preventative mental health care
- collective grief
Keywords
- grief
- mental health
- chronic illness
- autism
- children
- support
- loss
- pandemic
- identity
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