The ‘breathwork’ specialist insists that “whatever you feel, it can change”.
This week on Wednesday Wellness on Lichfield Radio, I spoke to Vicky Spencer-Kibble of VASK Therapies about one of the most universal – and often least understood – human experiences: grief and loss.
Our conversation explored how grief affects every single one of us differently. While some people appear to cope relatively well on the surface, unresolved grief can sometimes emerge months – or even years – later in unexpected emotional or physical ways.
For Vicky, the impact of loss manifested in severe health issues which ultimately led to hospitalisation following a serious episode of epiglottitis and a form of epilepsy.
Her journey through trauma and bereavement began after the tragic death of her husband, Carl, in 2009 during a research diving expedition connected to the Titanic site. Left navigating overwhelming grief while raising two young children, Vicky spoke candidly about the practical and emotional reality of rebuilding life after a devastating loss.
The discussion highlighted an important truth about grief – that there is no ‘correct’ timeline, no universal response and no simple way to move forward. Grief is not something we necessarily ‘get over’. Instead, many people learn how to carry it differently over time.
Suppressed emotions, chronic stress, trauma and unresolved loss can often impact physical health, relationships, anxiety levels and day-to-day functioning, without people fully realising the root cause.
Vicky explained how her own experiences led her to explore therapies including hypnotherapy, Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT) and breathwork. Through this, she began to better understand the connection between emotional trauma, the nervous system and physical wellbeing.
Now, through VASK Therapies, she supports clients in identifying and processing the emotional roots of issues that may stem from grief, trauma, stress or other significant life events.
A key part of the conversation focused on compassion – both for ourselves and others. Grief is deeply personal, and healing is rarely linear. Vicky openly acknowledged that despite now being happily married to her supportive husband Stewart, grief still remains part of her life story. Rather than trying to erase the past, she has learned how to continue living fully while still honouring love, memory and loss.
The interview was a powerful reminder that asking for help is not a sign of weakness, and that emotional wellbeing deserves just as much attention as physical health. Whether grief is recent or decades old, support and understanding can make an enormous difference.
Following our discussion, Vicky said:
I’m a Clinical Rapid Transformational Hypnotherapist and Breathwork Specialist, helping clients overcome stress, anxiety and fear so they can feel calm, confident and back in control of their lives and travel again. I also fly as a flight attendant and have supported people through some of the most challenging situations in aviation, so I truly understand anxiety both in the air and on the ground.
There are powerful tools like breathwork that help in the moment. But when anxiety keeps coming back, it often means there is a deeper emotional root held in the subconscious. We can understand things logically, but emotions will always override logic – the subconscious is where fear is created, stored and replayed, often without awareness.
Together, we gently explore where this began. It may come from small moments such as a comment, a childhood experience or how something made you feel, and the mind and body holds onto thoughts and feelings, not facts.
Most beliefs are formed early in life before we can question them. I have seen how the emotional mind shapes adult experiences. You cannot think your way out of something created emotionally, but you can safely reframe the emotional root cause, so you no longer numb it, like I did after my loss and becoming a young widow.
Whatever you feel, it can change. You do not have to stay stuck, or trapped, you can let go… Because we come into this world with a breath and we go out of this world with a breath, yet we don’t take the time to enjoy the breaths that we take in-between.
Social media is the best place to contact Vicky, here.