❤️‍🩹 Healing Your Grief When Coming Out- Part 1

❤️‍🩹 Healing Your Grief When Coming Out- Part 1

Author: Anne-Marie Zanzal 1ac1f670-c17c-11f0-806a-ef1502adef07 November 14, 2025 Duration: 39:26

In the episode of Coming Out & Beyond: LGBTQIA+ Stories, host Anne-Marie Zanzal and her fellow coach, Barbara Rowlandson explore the complex emotions surround grief when coming out later in life. This is a MUST listen episode for anyone coming out and radically changing their lives in other ways, such as divorce or moving! Anne-Marie and Barb discuss the five stages of grief, emphasizing that the grief journey is not a linear path. Three grief stages - denial, anger, and bargaining - are discussed, and the conversation highlights the importance of recognizing and naming grief feelings/stages. Understanding societal expectations, navigating relationships during this emotional journey and practical advice and resources for listeners are shared in this episode. Next week - Part 2 will tackle the remaining stages of grief: depression and acceptance.

🔥 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

❤️‍🩹Why the 5 stages of grief are not linear and can 'loop back.'

❤️‍🩹How grief can manifest as avoidance or intellectualization.

❤️‍🩹How letting go of societal expectations can be accompanied by anger.

❤️‍🩹Why finding community is critical in the grief journey.

🏳️‍🌈 and much more!

Read Anne-Marie's article, "The Unexpected Grief of the LGBTQIA+ Coming Out Experience.https://annemariezanzal.com/the-unexpected-grief-of-the-lgbtqia-coming-out-experience/

💬 Join the Conversation!

💬How is grief appearing for you? What repeated thoughts are you having about grief and your journey? Let's talk about it in the comments.

❤️Join Authentically Us! A supportive community for those coming out later in life to the LGBTQIA+ community. Connect, share, and find guidance on your journey through mutual support groups, workshops, and live Zoom meetups. 💜Sign up today at www.annemariezanzal.com


💠 Visit our website: : [ www.annemariezanzal.com]

💠 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amzanzal

💠 Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/annemariezanzalcoaching/

💠LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/annemariezanzalpurposefulempowerment/


👍 Like, subscribe, and hit the bell to stay updated on powerful stories from Coming Out & Beyond!


It can feel incredibly isolating to question your sexuality after years of living a different story. Coming Out & Beyond Support for Women Questioning Their Sexuality Later in Life is a companion for that specific journey, created for those who find themselves navigating these waters from a place of established life-perhaps within a marriage, after a divorce, or while building a family. Host Anne-Marie Zanzal brings her perspective as an ordained minister and hospice chaplain to conversations that gently unravel complex layers of identity, faith, and fear. This podcast delves into the real, often unspoken challenges: confronting compulsory heterosexuality, processing religious or spiritual conditioning, and managing the anxiety of how a personal revelation might ripple through your closest relationships. Episodes offer a blend of personal reflection, insightful interviews, and practical support, focusing on emotional and mental well-being without offering simplistic answers. It’s a space where you can hear stories that resonate with your own, fostering a sense of clarity and community. Tuning in, you’ll find a resource that honors the full spectrum of this experience-the confusion, the liberation, and everything in between-always grounded in compassion and deep understanding.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Coming Out & Beyond  Support for Women Questioning Their Sexuality Later in Life
Podcast Episodes
I Had Been Waiting For Something My Whole Life [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:16
In this week's episode of Coming Out & Beyond, Anne-Marie traces the winding, decade-long road that led her from a single paragraph in an Oprah magazine to finally saying the words out loud — and finding the woman who wo…
Red Flags, Love Bombing & Listening to Your Inner Voice [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:00
You're finally dating women — and maybe dating in general for the first time in decades. The apps are confusing, the feelings are big, and it can be hard to know when to trust your gut and when you're overthinking it. In…
Too Gay to Fit In, Too New to Feel at Home [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:14
Coming out names something true. But it doesn't hand you a place to land.In this episode of Coming Out & Beyond, Anne-Marie sits down with returning guest Anna Empey — LGBT coach, business development consultant, and com…
🤔So... Are You Actually Ready to Date? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:32
Are you ready to date — or do you just want to be? There's a difference, and this episode of Coming Out and Beyond is here to help you figure that out.Anne-Marie is joined by the wonderful Barbara Rowlandson — dating coa…
The Losses No One Talks About When You Come Out [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:23
Coming Out & Beyond has evolved.This season is now exclusively for women questioning their sexuality, coming out later in life, and creating a life beyond—at a human pace, with honesty and community.And if you found your…
What Heated Rivalry Gets Right About Coming Out [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:58
What Heated Rivalry Gets Right About Coming OutYou wouldn't expect a steamy male hockey romance to hit so close to home for later-in-life lesbians — but Heated Rivalry on HBO Max did exactly that.In this episode, Anne-Ma…