When Grief Tells You “Not Yet”: Dr. Devin DeGreif’s Story of Survival and Healing

Grief has a way of rearranging everything. For Dr. Devin DeGreif, it didn’t knock politely. It shattered her world in an instant. Her story is not just about surviving the unimaginable. It is about what happens when you choose to stay, when you decide that the pain doesn’t get to have the final word.

I’ve had the privilege of speaking with many guests who’ve lived through life-altering moments. Devin’s episode was one of those conversations that lingered long after we stopped recording. Her honesty, her strength, and the way she speaks about healing from trauma without sugarcoating the hard parts – it stayed with me.

The Moment Everything Changed

Devin was in her early 20s when her mother was murdered in a violent, public, and deeply traumatic way. The details of the case were so extreme that it ended up on Dateline. The aftermath left Devin in a state of shock, dissociation, and numbness. She moved across the country, started grad school, and tried to keep going. But the grief was relentless.

One night, in the middle of a depressive spiral, she found herself at the edge. The kind of edge you don’t come back from. She was standing in her bathroom, ready to give up, when something happened.

“I heard the loudest no I’ve ever heard in my life. It was like a voice right here saying no. This is not how your story ends.”

That moment didn’t magically fix everything. But it interrupted the spiral. It gave her something to hold onto. A reason to take the next breath.

Healing Through Embodiment

What struck me most about Devin’s story is how she describes the process of healing – not as a return to who she was before, but as a full-bodied arrival into who she truly is. She didn’t just talk about grief. She talked about being with grief. About noticing where it lived in her body. About learning to trust the quiet voice inside her when everything else felt chaotic.

For Devin, healing meant reconnecting with her intuition and practicing mindfulness in a way that felt personal. She didn’t follow a rigid path. She picked up breadcrumbs. A breathwork class. A stranger who saw her pain and asked the right question. A meditation course that helped her feel her feet on the ground again. Little moments that added up.

One of those moments was especially powerful. She had started physical therapy school, thinking she was stable enough to manage the stress. But the demands of the program triggered another wave of depression. She was exhausted, barely functioning, and still trying to wear the mask. Then someone at her clinic looked her in the eye and said, “You’re not okay.” That one sentence cracked the door open again.

From Survival to Purpose

Today, Devin is a physical therapist, transformational coach, and intuitive healer. She helps others come back into their bodies and into their lives after loss. She works with people who feel disconnected, overwhelmed, or like a version of themselves they barely recognize. She’s also the author of Good Grief: The Journey from Grief to Joy, where she shares more of her story alongside tools for healing.

What I admire most is that she doesn’t preach from a mountaintop. She sits in the mess with people. She knows what it’s like to not want to be awake. To feel like joy is something for other people. And she knows what it’s like to feel that first spark again. That flicker of life coming back.

You Are Still Here for a Reason

Devin said something during our conversation that I keep coming back to. “If your soul is still here, you’re still here for a reason.” It’s simple, but it hits especially if you’ve ever been through something that made you question why you’re still standing.

Grief, trauma, burnout – whatever name it goes by – it can make you forget. Forget that you matter. Forget that healing is possible. Forget that joy is still available, even after everything.

But the truth is, healing doesn’t mean forgetting. It means remembering who you are underneath the pain. It means choosing to live on purpose. And sometimes, it starts with a voice inside you saying no.

You can hear Devin’s full story and our full conversation on The Life Shift Podcast. Find it at www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com.