Grief Has No Map: Healing Life After Suicide - Guest Dorothy Goulah

Healing is not one-size-fits-all.
It never has been.


Your Healing Playground exists to remind us that healing comes in many forms, through many paths, and often in ways we never would have chosen—but must learn to walk. This is a YES-AND world, not an either/or one. Western medicine has its place, but healing is bigger than any single modality.


And sometimes… healing begins after unimaginable loss.


No one plans to lose a loved one to suicide.
And grief after suicide carries its own unique weight—shock, confusion, guilt, anger, unanswered questions, and a kind of silence that can feel isolating and overwhelming.


In this deeply human episode, Dr. Tina is joined by Dorothy Goulah, a life coach, grief educator, mentor, and bridge-builder who helps others navigate life after suicide loss. Dorothy is herself a survivor of a family member’s suicide—an experience that forever altered her life’s path.


Years ago, when mental health conversations were far less open than they are today, Dorothy had to find her own way through grief. As an actress and model, she learned to inhabit many roles—perhaps part of her own healing journey. Later in life, she returned to school, defying age-based expectations, becoming the first in her family to graduate college and earning advanced degrees after her children were grown.


Dorothy teaches not just from textbooks—but from lived experience, wisdom earned through pain, resilience, and courage.


In this conversation, we explore:


The unique grief that follows suicide loss
Why healing after suicide looks different for everyone
How we make meaning when a life ends by choice
How play, creativity, and embodiment can coexist with grief
How someone becomes a bridge for others after walking through darkness
What it means to keep choosing life after loss


This episode does not offer easy answers—because there aren’t any. But it offers presence, compassion, permission, and hope.


Because even after devastation, healing is possible.
And sometimes, those who have suffered the most become the greatest guides.


Dorothy Goulah, after a successful 35-year career as a model and actress, it was time for a change and Dorothy became the first person in her extended family to attend college. Dorothy’s academic career began in the field of Sociology at Valley College where she was inspired to continue her studies at California State University at Northridge earning her bachelor’s degree in Sociology in 2016. With the encouragement of supportive professors, Dorothy applied to and was accepted into the master’s degree program in sociology at CSUN. The graduate program challenged and broadened Dorothy’s interests and abilities fulfilling her lifelong desire to be an academic.


What Am I – Children’s Book
Author Dr. Tina Koopersmith
https://tinakoopersmith.com/what-am-i-childrens-book/


To learn more: https://drtinaplays.com/  or drtina@drtinaplays.com


To get more of Your Healing Playground with Dr Tina Koopersmith, be sure to visit the archives page for replays of all her shows here: https://www.inspiredchoicesnetwork.com/podcast/your-healing-playground-dr-tina-koopersmith/