Loss of a Family Member

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  • grief and hope

    My Run-in with the Divine

    Posted on June 16, 2025 - by Heidi Gessner

    My Run-in with the Divine As I drove teary-eyed in the twilight, I panicked, how in the world did I wind up here? How did my life end up like this? This wasn’t how I imagined my life would be when I was younger. In that very instant, I had an incredibly intense feeling that someone was in my car with me. So much so, that I whipped my head around to look in the back seat to see who was there. Of course, I was alone, but also, not-alone. I sensed something or someone with me — intangible, yet […]

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  • medical intuition spiritual connections

    Connecting with Departed Loved Ones

    Posted on February 25, 2025 - by Gloria Horsley

    In a compelling discussion on the Open to Hope podcast, hosts Dr. Gloria Horsley and Dr. Heidi Horsley welcomed Julie Ryan, a psychic medium and medical intuitive, to explore the fascinating world of spirit communication and the transition between life and death. Ryan, who combines her background as a surgical device inventor with her spiritual abilities, shared insights into how people can connect with departed loved ones and understand the process of transitioning to the afterlife. From Business to Spiritual Practice Ryan’s journey into the spiritual realm began thirty years ago when she discovered Carolyn Mace’s book “Anatomy of the […]

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  • Coming Back from the ‘Afterlife’

    Posted on August 12, 2024 - by Kim Pierce

    PAST THE VEIL In an earlier Open to Hope essay, I wrote about the gripping After-Death experience of a friend I call Chief. The anesthesiologist had a heart attack 60 feet underwater while scuba diving in 2007 and, by all measures, was clinically dead. (That’s why he insisted on calling it an After-Death experience.) Chief wanted to write a book about this but crossed over to stay in 2021 before he could finish. He did get as far as drafting a manuscript, which he shared with me because I also wrote a book about the Afterlife (My Dead True Love). […]

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  • Doctor Journeys to the Afterlife

    Posted on April 15, 2024 - by Kim Pierce

    DOCTOR ON A JOURNEY In an earlier Open to Hope essay, I wrote about the riveting After-Death experience of a friend I call Chief. The anesthesiologist had a heart attack 60 feet under water while scuba diving in 2007 and, by all measures, was clinically dead. (That’s why he insists on calling it an After-Death experience.) Chief wanted to write a book about his After-Death encounter but crossed over for good in 2021 before he could finish. He did get as far as a first draft, a manuscript he shared with me because I also wrote a book about the […]

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  • Soul and Grief Connection

    Posted on April 8, 2024 - by Ilana Estelle

    The soul and grief are deeply intertwined in many spiritual and philosophical traditions. It’s only natural that after someone dies, those they leave behind will start to question and want to find meaning. Grief can lead individuals to ask questions, prompting them to think about the nature of existence and the soul’s relationship with the material world. This journey, though difficult, can lead to profound insights and philosophical and spiritual growth, reshaping our understanding of life and death. BELIEVING IN THE AFTERLIFE  Believing in the afterlife can offer immense comfort to those grieving, providing a sense of continuation beyond physical […]

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  • Violent Deaths Leave Haunted Souls

    Posted on October 31, 2023 - by Candace Lynn Talmadge

    Violent Deaths Leave Haunted Souls After death and before birth, consciousness (or soul-energy, if you prefer) is so intact that even when the physical body is abruptly destroyed, through accident or murder, for example, the remaining self-awareness often doesn’t realize what has happened. One example of this is the souls of those killed in the airplane crash for which Jana and Candace considered attempting a soul rescue. An undetected wind shear slammed a jumbo jet violently to the ground just north of the airport runway it was approaching to land. Though the physical bodies were removed from the crash site, […]

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  • ‘Soul Senses’ Can Help with Grief

    Posted on October 28, 2023 - by Candace Lynn Talmadge

    ‘Soul Senses’ Can Help with Grief The soul senses are the primary means by which we are able to apply the principles of love, connection, and trust. We need the soul senses to invoke and feel the presence of love-energy. We also require these nonphysical senses to detect the presence of the soul(s) to whom we wish to speak, as that consciousness does not come attached to a physical body. And we need to learn to trust the information we receive through our soul senses, no matter how illogical or strange it may seem. These are the challenges inherent in […]

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  • Can a Séance be Healing?

    Posted on October 27, 2023 - by Candace Lynn Talmadge

    Can a Séance be Healing? The séance is probably the most misunderstood and thus abused and debased of all spiritual practices. The very word immediately brings to mind what most of us consider the unreal and therefore absurd notion of “conjuring up spirits.” The séance stereotype certainly was the foundation for that outrageous scene in the film, “The Changling.” A more recent séance-related movie even has that word in the title: “The Conjuring.” Brian Dunning, who writes the Skeptoid blog, sums up the skeptic’s view of séances. “Contacting the dead has never passed any kind of controlled test, has no […]

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  • Doctor Recalls After-Death Experience

    Posted on October 2, 2023 - by Kim Pierce

    Doctor Recalls After-Death Experience Chief was a friend I met through Facebook, someone struggling to share his extraordinary experience of dying, then returning to life, in 2007. “I died, I lived again, and my life was forever altered,” he wrote in his book draft. He’d asked me to read it because I had written a novel that touched on the afterlife. “The experience profoundly changed my life,” he wrote. “It changed my religion (at least my spiritual views). It even changed my politics.” And Chief was adamant: This was not a near-death experience. Rather, he called it an After Death […]

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  • Ten Common Signs that the Deceased Send to Loved Ones

    Posted on October 1, 2023 - by Karen Noe

    Ten Common Signs that the Deceased Send to Loved Ones After our loved ones cross over, they are very anxious to let us know they are okay and are aware of what is going on in our lives.  If we are not able to feel them around us, they will often give us signs that we cannot ignore. The person who is given the sign usually knows he or she is receiving a message from the other side. I always tell my clients that they do not have to look for signs – the signs will come to them. How […]

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  • Connecting to your Deceased Child’s Spirit

    Posted on August 2, 2023 - by Lisa Boehm

    Grief after child loss is not only about the immense ‘missing’. It’s also about finding a new way to feel connected to your child. It’s about finding new ways to continue your relationship. I’ve always had loose ideas about how the spiritual world worked. I believed in spirit before Katie died, and I believed in God, and I believed both could co-exist. I always felt funny about thinking those seemingly different worlds could exist together until I heard Theresa Caputo, the famous Long Island Medium, say those words. No one really knows what happens when we die or how it […]

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  • Even After Death, He’s ‘Still With Us’

    Posted on June 24, 2023 - by Brandi Reyna

    Still With Us As I walked across the stage to get my degree, I told myself “You are still with me.” As I begin the start of a new year, I tell myself, “You are watching over me.” As I accomplish goals, I tell myself, “You are cheering me on.” As I go from one milestone to the next, I tell myself, “You are proud of me.” As I go through seasons of storms, and when I struggle, I tell myself words of encouragement that you used to tell me. I have so many memories to share with you. I […]

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Open to Hope Radio

Open to Hope TV

  • Episode 237: Nurturing Hope in Grieving Kids

    Posted on December 22, 2024 - by admin

    How do we nurture hope in grieving kids? Join hosts Dr. Gloria Horsley and her daughter Dr. Heidi Horsley with their guests; Dr. Korie Leigh, Julie Ryan, Dr. Liza Barros-Lane, and Kate Mollison to candidly discuss how to help grieving children. Dr. Korie Leigh is an Associate Professor and Program Director at Marian University, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Heros’ Path Palliative Care. She is the author of, It Won’t Ever Be the Same; A Teens Guide to Grief and Grieving, and What Does Grief Look Like? Julie Ryan is a Medical Intuitive. She is the […]

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  • Episode 235: Navigating Loss

    Posted on December 20, 2024 - by admin

    Losses are complicated, how do we navigate them?  Join hosts Dr. Gloria Horsley and her daughter Dr. Heidi Horsley and their guests; Julie Ryan, Sarah Voleman and Dr. Korie Leigh to talk about navigating loss. Julie Ryan is a Medical Intuitive. She is the author of, Angelic Attendants: What Really Happens As We Transition From This Life Into The Next, and Angel Messages, picture books answering kids’ tough questions. Julie hosts the “Ask Julie Ryan” show which is heard by millions worldwide. Sarah Voleman is a board certified art therapist and a licensed social worker.  She is a faculty member […]

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