Interview with Karen V. Johnson

Karen V. Johnson is the author of Living Grieving: Using Energy Medicine to Alchemize Grief and Loss. In 2014, her twenty-seven-year-old son, Ben died of a heroin overdose. She shares on her website: “it never occurred to me to see grief as a journey of transformation, or to find the blessings in the grieving process, or about allowing myself to grow into the state of living with grief. I had to figure it out by myself. It was a lonely path of self-discovery that was not mainstream and not accepted.” She decided to retire, sell her house, and went on a two-and-a-half year journey that took her all over the world on a search for meaning in her tragic loss. This was especially surprising to others considering she had spent the previous thirty years as a criminal and energy law attorney and administrative law judge in Washington D.C.

During our conversation we talk about the following:

• How she moved from a state of sadness and despair over her son’s death to finding greater meaning and purpose in it
• Her two year journey across the world learning how to use energy medicine and shamanic healing practices
• Specific advice and ceremonies people can use to help them transform their grief
• How people can better manage sadness, guilt, anger, and despair when they are grieving
• How she transitioned from being an administrative law judge to having a deeply fulfilling career as an author, consultant, and energy medicine practitioner
• How you can follow your dreams and create a deeply fulfilling life