Michael Reed

Michael Reed is a three-time award-winning author, speaker, and grief educator whose work challenges conventional beliefs about grief, trauma, and what it means to rebuild a life after unimaginable loss. Combining deeply personal experience with insights from behavioral science and trauma research, he offers a perspective on grief that is honest, compassionate, and grounded in the realities of living through it.

In November 2016, Michael's life changed forever when he lost his wife, Constance, and their two daughters, Chloe and Lily, in the Gatlinburg, Tennessee, wildfires. In the aftermath of that tragedy, he found himself confronting questions about grief that traditional theories and familiar advice could not adequately answer. The widely accepted notion that grief unfolds through five predictable stages bore little resemblance to what he was experiencing.

What he discovered became the foundation of his defining message: Grief isn't five stages. It's a million.

His award-winning book, The Million Stages of Grief, grew from years of personal writings, research, and reflection on the emotional, psychological, and deeply human complexities of loss. Blending his own experiences with practical insights, Michael challenges the idea that grief follows a prescribed path or timeline. Instead, he explores the countless ways loss can reshape identity, relationships, beliefs, purpose, and our understanding of the world, while helping readers recognize that there is no single right way to grieve.

Michael is also the author of The Owl and the Ladybug, a heartfelt children's book that helps families navigate difficult conversations about loss, love, remembrance, and the enduring connections we share with those who have died.

Beyond his writing, Michael is dedicated to changing how society understands and responds to grief. Through public speaking, grief education, coaching, and candid conversations about trauma and resilience, he advocates for a more compassionate approach to supporting people who have experienced profound loss.

At the heart of his work is a belief shaped by both tragedy and perseverance: grief is not something we simply complete, overcome, or leave behind. It becomes part of who we are. And while life after loss may never look the same, healing, connection, purpose, and meaning remain possible.

Michael's mission is to help people stop questioning whether they are grieving correctly and begin understanding that their grief, like their love, is uniquely their own.