Bruce McFarland, Grief Recovery Method Specialist

01/30/2026

Several friends have recommended "The Pitt," especially because of its informed perspective about life and death.
Please contribute your own informed perspective of "The Pitt," if you've watched it.
The Pitt: Series Introduction
The Pitt is an Emmy-winning medical drama that offers a gritty, realistic examination of the challenges facing healthcare workers in modern America. Created by R. Scott Gemmill and executive produced by John Wells and Noah Wyle—the legendary team behind the iconic series ER—The Pitt follows Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch (played by Noah Wyle) and a ensemble cast of medical professionals as they navigate the high-pressure environment of Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center's emergency department.wikipedia
The series employs a distinctive real-time format: each season represents a single shift, and each episode corresponds to one hour in that shift. The first season spans a 15-hour day during which four trainee doctors join the ER team. Beyond the procedural medical drama, the show explores the emotional toll of emergency medicine on its practitioners. Central to the narrative is Robby's struggle with traumatic memories resurfacing on the fourth anniversary of his mentor's death during the COVID-19 pandemic.wikipedia
The show has achieved critical and industry recognition, winning five Emmy Awards at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series, and acting honors for Noah Wyle, Katherine LaNasa, and recurring guest star Shawn Hatosy. It was also named one of the ten best television programs of 2025 by the American Film Institute.wikipedia
Where to Watch Season 1
Season 1 of The Pitt is currently available on multiple platforms:
• HBO Max – Primary streaming home for the seriesroku
• The Roku Channel – Available for streamingroku
• Sling TV – Accessible through live streaming subscription serviceroku
• TNT – Available for viewing through TNT's platformsroku
and apparently, Amazon Prime
All platforms offer HD and 4K viewing options, though most require a subscription to access.

01/29/2026

In the linked episode of the Feel Free Again Podcast, Cole James sits down with healing and empowerment coach Jorge Ruiz to talk about something men desperately need but rarely reach for: grief recovery. They dig into why men often avoid emotional healing, why “I’m fine” becomes a lifestyle, and how unprocessed loss doesn’t just hurt your feelings, it quietly anchors your identity to your past and shapes how you react in the present and fear the future.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j13YYVZB8CE
Jorge shares powerful stories from working with foster youth, people coming out of prison, and men who’ve learned to survive by numbing instead of processing. We talk identity labels like “addict” or “prisoner,” and how The Grief Recovery Method can help you finally separate who you are from what happened to you. We also go deep on men’s isolation, the su***de reality, and the warrior/protector paradox: real strength isn’t pretending you feel nothing—it’s learning how to feel without being ruled by it.
If you’ve ever felt stuck, reactive, ashamed, disconnected, or like peace always sits just one achievement away… this conversation is for you. I also share how grief recovery impacts marriage and fatherhood, and Jorge breaks down his FOCUS framework (Faith Overcomes Challenges Unleashes Success) plus why none of this works well until the heart gets healed first.
If you know a man who needs this, please share it. It might be the conversation that helps him finally start healing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j13YYVZB8CE

Here are other highlights you'll not want to miss:
• Why Feeling “Stuck” Happens to Strong People
• Meet Ezra Stanton: The Cost of Staying in Quicksand
• The Hidden Patterns That Keep Men Stalled
• How to Tell If You’re Numb vs. Actually “Okay”
• The Moment You Realize It’s Not Just Stress
• The Lie of Self-Sufficiency (And Why It Backfires)
• Naming the Real Problem Without Shame
• The Inner Story Driving Your Outer Life
• Why Willpower Fails (Even for Disciplined Men)
• Rebuilding Clarity When You Can’t Trust Your Feelings
• The Emotional Weight You Didn’t Know You Were Carrying
• What Healing Actually Looks Like in Real Life
• Breaking the Cycle: Triggers, Reactions, and Repair
• Identity: Who You Become After Loss and Change
• Relationships Under Pressure: How Men Pull Away
• The Turning Point: Doing the Work That Works
• Practical Tools to Get Unstuck This Week
• What Freedom Feels Like (And Why It’s Quiet at First)
The Long Game: Staying Free, Not Just Getting Free
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j13YYVZB8CE

12/27/2025

As we close out the year and plan for next year, I hope self-care and personal advancement is on everyone’s list.
I just ran across this fascinating TED-Ed video on Facebook that explains our lifelong attachment to things.
As I listened to familiar and new ideas being explained, I realized that many of the attachment phenomena demonstrated in the video could easily apply to the ideas we attach ourselves to throughout our lives.
But, unlike physical objects, which are there to remind us of our attachment. Mental attachments often play a more insidious role in our lives, invisibly directing us down familiar, but perhaps not toward the most beneficial results.
I hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch the video, and I’d love to hear what you think about it.
https://fb.watch/EfTlXmTdMg/

09/03/2025

I was coaching a friend on mindfulness and suggested stepping outside her normal mental processes and try observing herself from the outside while she was doing her normal day-to-day. I was asking her to implement an impartial, non-judgmental observation system, looking at, but not commenting on, or dwelling on, everything that was going on in her life. If you've never done this, it's not that easy, but once you get the hang of it, you can turn it on easily.
What we see in this cartoon is what might be happening as Alice walks into the kitchen. In Buddhism, I see these as attachments; in psychology, therapists may connect these to embedded behaviors that are running Alice's life. In either case, interpreting their value is absolutely not the point.
Freeing herself from those attachments or embedded behaviors does not mean that Alice doesn't know what to do in this situation, but it will give her the freedom to choose her own path, free from past limiting constraints.

08/31/2025

I’m reaching out to those of you who are interested in the Hows, Whys, and some possible Solutions to the long-growing problem of people not getting together with people much anymore – let’s call it human connectedness. The problem always starts in childhood and affects the person for the rest of their life. We are seeing the results of the ever-advancing digital age today, and now with AI accelerating everything, the question is, will childhood, work, marriage, and life in these United States ever be the same? Of course not, it’s always changing, but which way are we going and why, and is there any way to change that direction?
Fareed Zakaria just hosted a CNN Special called “Disconnected: Life in a Disruptive Digital Age.”
In this CNN special, Fareed examines the growing disconnectedness in our increasingly digital world in interviews with experts: Jonathan Haidt (social psychologist) - discussing how technology has transformed childhood and social media's impact on children, Jean Twenge (social psychologist) - exploring social isolation trends, Robert Putnam (political scientist, author of "Bowling Alone") - examining disconnectedness in society, and Alice Evans (social scientist) - analyzing how technology is driving men and women apart. Together, they explain how we got here, and how we can reconnect.
The program is very well organized and goes just far enough into the years of research cited to give viewers a useful perspective on what has been happening to people’s lives over many years, not just since the computer age. The data and the researchers look at trends that reveal a story that is really quite frightening, but they do offer some solutions.
Viewing and paying attention to each of the four sections of the Special Report ties together some important recurring themes that play out in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. If you’d like to learn just a little more about the Hows and Whys, I encourage you to watch Fareed’s CNN Special Report.
The four segments are: How social media impacts kids differently, How social media impacts kids differently, What can we do about social isolation today?, and Why are men and women becoming so disconnected?
You can find the series at https://www.cnn.com/shows/fareed-zakaria-gps
Even though I’ve been studying Neuroscience and the human condition quite intensely during the last year or so, Fareed’s report gave me new perspectives on the burgeoning social phenomenon.
Although I am skeptical about people’s willingness to do anything to reverse their own ride down the ever-deepening spiral of disconnectedness, discontent, and loneliness. But let’s not give up hope.

The Global Public Square helps you make sense of the world, with insights from CNN’s Fareed Zakaria.

08/31/2025

interesting how everything works

Buddhist Philosophy and Its Intersections with Neuroscience Disciplines

07/04/2025

word of the day

06/17/2025

04/12/2025

new post on Substack about Caring Ooops, did I really step in something there?

Ooops, did I really step in something there?

04/09/2025

On the Feel Free Again podcast, host Cole James catches up with his longtime friend Jocelyn Jackson Williams, an incredible trainer at the Grief Recovery Institute. Jocelyn shares her journey into Grief Recovery and how her experiences at church and her deep desire to support people struggling with loss led her down this path.

Their conversation gets real about the ways unresolved grief can shape our lives, especially when it comes to dating and relationships. Jocelyn opens up about her own experience and how healing from past grief helped her move from single life to finding love and getting married in her mid-forties. She also talks about the emotional weight of caring for aging parents, a reality so many people face but don’t always talk about.

In this heartfelt episode of the Feel Free Again podcast, host Cole James sits down with Jocelyn Jackson Williams, a certified grief recovery specialist and ...

03/31/2025

I love this post. It reminds me about how much pain people carry around with them every day. It's wonderful to be able to go to a concert and have some relief from the pressure, but unfortunately, those old emotional pains return. If you are suffering from recurring emotional distress and would like to take some steps to eliminate the cause, consider taking a Grief Recovery Method 7-week evidence-based action plan course. What do you have to lose, but the pain.
Bruce McFarland is a Certified Specialist for the Grief Recovery Method.
I help people by accompanying them as they learn how to use the tools the Method provides to remove the pain from unresolved emotional events that have happened in their lives.