BTM219 - Elizabeth Coplan - The Grief Dialogues: Memorial Day

Behind The Mission

Show Summary

On today’s episode, we’re featuring a conversation with conversation with playwright and producer Elizabeth Coplan, founder of the Greif Dialogues, a nonprofit theatrical movement that facilitates conversations about dying, death, and grief. We talk about her own connection to service and discuss how Grief Dialogues has developed a specific immersive experience of remembrance and reflection ahead of Memorial Day

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About Today’s Guest

Elizabeth Coplan is a veteran of marketing and public relations with over four decades of experience. She began her professional journey as an aspiring actor in New York City in 1972 before pivoting to publishing, eventually becoming the managing editor of Chief Executive Magazine. After relocating to California, she climbed the ranks at Collins Foods International, ultimately serving as Director of Corporate Communications.

In Seattle, Elizabeth became a trailblazer in professional services marketing, notably serving as the first Northwest marketing director for Touché Ross (now Deloitte). She later became Director of Client Service and Development at Davis Wright Tremaine, where she helped grow the firm from three to ten offices and pioneered strategic sponsorships in the legal sector. After six years, she launched her own consulting firm, advising major clients including Merrill Lynch and the University of Washington School of Law.

Her service on nonprofit boards includes the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art and the Intiman Theatre, where she chaired strategic planning. In 2013, after a series of personal losses, Elizabeth began writing to process her grief. This led to the creation of Grief Dialogues, a groundbreaking play and nonprofit initiative that fosters dialogue about death and grief through theatre.

Her award-winning works include Hospice: A Love Story, Untold, The Choice, and Honoring Choices, the latter adapted into a film that premiered in Los Angeles and earned multiple festival awards. She also directed and produced Juntos Nos Ayudamos, a film addressing suicide in a Hispanic family, and co-hosts the podcast Out of Grief Comes Art.

Elizabeth's writing appears in professional grief therapy publications, and her full-length play ’Til Death premiered Off-Broadway in 2023 with an acclaimed cast. She is currently working on The Book Club, a new play exploring the lives of senior women.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Grief Dialogues Website

My Guardian Angel Movie

PsychArmor Resource of the Week

This week’s resource of the week is the PsychArmor course, Good Grief. Grief is not only experienced with death, it can also occur with job loss or severe changes to physical well-being. The purpose of this course is to recognize loss and identify what is learned as a result of that loss.

You can find the resource here:

https://learn.psycharmor.org/courses/good-grief

Episode Partner:

This week’s episode is brought to you by Humana, a leading health and well-being company that has joined forces with PsychArmor to develop campaigns and courses that support veterans and their families in achieving their best health. To learn more about how Humana honors and serves veterans visit healthequity.humana.com/veterans

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Theme Music

Our theme music Don’t Kill the Messenger was written and performed by Navy Veteran Jerry Maniscalco, in cooperation with Operation Encore, a non profit committed to supporting singer/songwriter and musicians across the military and Veteran communities.

Producer and Host Duane France is a retired Army Noncommissioned Officer, combat veteran, and clinical mental health counselor for service members, veterans, and their families. You can find more about the work that he is doing at www.veteranmentalhealth.com