![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Image-1-800x533.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBy Ally Bonsall<\/p>\n
Reporting Texas<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Singer Sara Bareilles and moderator Andy Langer speak to students from the University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work Tuesday at Cactus Cafe. Ally Bonsall\/Reporting Texas<\/p>\n
Following crises like the death of loved ones, IVF struggles and political turmoil, singer Sara Bareilles said she has learned that grief does not need to be fixed; it needs to be witnessed.<\/p>\n
The Grammy Award-winning singer, actress and composer shared her ideas surrounding grief with students from the University of Texas School of Social Work at the Cactus Cafe on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe experience of grief is so universal,\u201d Bareilles said. \u201cPeople are tethered to this network that we don\u2019t talk about. We don\u2019t realize it\u2019s a deep point of connection always.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bareilles recently released \u201cGood Grief,\u201d her first solo album in seven years. In it, she explores her experience of embracing loss in its many forms.<\/p>\n
Ahead of her Tuesday night performance at Bass Concert Hall, the singer visited UT-Austin for a candid conversation about loss with Andy Langer, the Co-director of arts and humanities at the Moritz Center for Societal Impact at the School of Social Work.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Throughout the conversation, Bareilles commended the students for choosing to pursue careers in social work.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cKudos to all of you for making these little villages in all the rooms that you\u2019re ever in and inviting people to bring one\u2019s heart to the surface,\u201d Bareilles said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2020, Bareilles\u2019 friend and manager, Chad Joseph, died, followed by her longtime collaborator and Broadway star, Gavin Creel, in 2024. Bareilles said she found comfort from people around her who were willing to sit in her grief with her, rather than just rushing to fix her pain.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t imagine what I would do in either scenario without the people that were either walking through it with me or just allowing me to have my experience,\u201d Bareilles said.<\/p>\n
Ivonne Vasquez, a master\u2019s student at the School of Social Work, said Bareilles\u2019 idea resonated with her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSara emphasized giving agency to the person who\u2019s going through grief,\u201d Vasquez said. \u201cAnd rather than trying to fix it, to go through the process with them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elisa Borah, director of the Moritz Center for Societal Impact, said grief can be isolating. She praised Bareilles for giving grief a stage to be heard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all know that grief is a shared yet often ignored human experience,\u201d Borah said. \u201cBy talking about it, we can give ourselves and our clients the attention it deserves.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bareilles said she is witnessing the unifying power that grief holds. While discussing her current tour, she described watching people connect at her concerts as a holy experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bareilles recently created a public voicemail box, encouraging people to share their stories anonymously. She has incorporated some of these stories into her live performances. She said thousands of people have called in to share their experiences of loss.<\/p>\n
She told the student crowd that hearing the callers\u2019 stories has strengthened her relationship with her audience.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never felt closer to the audience,\u201d Bareilles told Reporting Texas. \u201cThere\u2019s so much wisdom. There\u2019s so much creativity. There\u2019s so much vulnerability and courage,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m just in awe of what people are sharing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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