A Guide to After Life

In this final episode of mini series on relationships after loss, Dr. Monika Wieliczko discusses the complexities of dating after the loss of a spouse. She emphasises the importance of honouring the memory of a late partner while making space for new relationships. The conversation covers emotional boundaries, the significance of memories, and how to navigate conversations about the past with a new partner. Dr. Wieliczko provides practical tips for integrating past experiences into new relationships and encourages listeners to embrace the future with hope and self-compassion.  

Takeaways

If you’ve found this mini-series helpful and you’d like extra support, I invite you to join my Dating After Loss Workshop. It’s designed to help widows and widowers like you navigate dating with confidence, self-compassion, and practical guidance. You can find more details at www.guidetoafterlife.com.

Thank you for joining me in this special podcast series. I hope it has helped you gain clarity, confidence, and hope for your future. If this series resonated with you, please share it with others who may need it. And don’t forget to subscribe to A Guide to After Life for more episodes on grief, resilience, and rebuilding life after loss.

Take care, and remember—you are worthy of love and happiness again.

Dr. Monika Wieliczko discusses the challenges of facing societal opinions, setting boundaries with friends and family, and the importance of self-reflection in the grief journey. The conversation emphasises that grief is a unique experience, and individuals must navigate their own paths while honouring their late partners. Dr. Wieliczko encourages listeners to communicate openly with loved ones and to prioritise their own feelings and needs as they consider dating again.  

If you’re joining this mini-series for the first time, I highly recommend you start from Episode 1, as each episode builds on the last. Also, if you haven’t yet, take a moment to complete the Are You Ready for a Relationship After Loss? quiz at www.guidetoafterlife.com/dating. It only takes a couple of minutes and will provide you with a grief-friendly guide tailored to your personal journey.   Takeaways

In this conversation, Dr. Monika Wieliczko discusses the complexities of dating after loss, focusing on how to navigate conversations about a deceased partner and the challenges faced by parents dating again. She emphasises the importance of transparency, emotional readiness, and the need to communicate effectively with both new partners and children. The discussion highlights the delicate balance between honouring past relationships and embracing new opportunities for love and connection.  

if you haven’t already, take a moment to complete the “Are You Ready for a Relationship After Loss?” quiz at guidetoafterlife.com/dating. to receive personalized insights into your readiness for a new relationship as well as access to the grief-friendly dating guide that we’ll be using throughout this series.

In this episode, Dr. Monika Wieliczko discusses the practical aspects of dating after loss, focusing on modern dating apps, preparing for first dates, and identifying red flags. She emphasises the importance of emotional wellbeing and provides insights on choosing the right dating app based on individual intentions, as well as tips for creating an authentic dating profile, setting healthy boundaries, preparing for first dates, navigating conversations, identifying red flags. She emphasises the importance of self-care, emotional safety, and being mindful of expectations while dating.

If you haven’t already, I encourage you to complete the "Are You Ready for a Relationship After Loss?" quiz at www.guidetoafterlife.com/dating. It only takes a couple of minutes, and your personalised results will give you essential insights as you move through this journey.

takeaways

In this episode of 'A Guide to After Life', Dr. Monika Wieliczko discusses the complexities of dating after loss, focusing on the feelings of guilt that often accompany the desire to move forward. She emphasises that these feelings are normal and offers practical steps to navigate them with compassion. The conversation explores how to honour the memory of a late partner while embracing new relationships, and the importance of self-compassion in the healing process.

This episode is part of our special Dating After Loss mini-series, where I guide you through the emotional and practical steps to prepare yourself for a new relationship. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to pause here and complete the "Are You Ready for a Relationship After Loss?" quiz at www.guidetoafterlife.com/dating. It only takes a couple of minutes, and you’ll receive a personalized grief-friendly dating guide. I’ll be referring to the tasks in that guide throughout this series—so be sure to download it and follow along.

In this episode of 'A Guide to Love After Loss', Dr. Monika Wieliczko shares her personal journey of navigating love after the loss of her husband. She discusses the emotional complexities of dating after loss, the importance of self-reflection, and recognising readiness for new relationships. The episode emphasises the validity of mixed emotions and the necessity of honouring past relationships while making space for new love.

Before we dive in, if you haven't done so already, I invite you to take my free quiz: Are You Ready for a Relationship After Loss? It only takes two minutes, and you’ll receive personalized results and a grief-friendly guide to dating after loss. Pause the episode and head over to www.guidetoafterlife.com/dating.

Throughout this series, I’ll be referring to the tasks and exercises within the guide, so make sure to download it and follow along.

Main taekaways:

We've reached the end of Season 2! Over these past six months, we've heard from 23 incredible voices - psychologists, artists, fellow widows, writers, parents, and researchers. Each person brought their unique perspective on grief, reminding me (and hopefully you) that grief has many faces and touches every aspect of our lives.

If there's one message I want you to take from this season, it's this: pay attention to how your grief shows up in your body, your choices, your relationships, and your vision for the future.

Grief doesn't always look like despair. Often, it wears the mask of rage, exhaustion, numbness, burnout, or physical pain. Our bodies remember even when our minds try to forget. If you're experiencing stomach pain, headaches, or getting sick constantly, please check in with your doctor. Grief can seriously impact both your physical and mental wellbeing.

I believe grief is something we learn to live with, not something that should take over our entire lives. There's room for both grief and life, and with the right support, you can rebuild after devastating loss.

In our final episode, I spoke with Natalia Millman about her moving art exhibition "Letters to Forever," based on letters sent to her from people around the world. The exhibition opens August 7th for about three weeks in St. Albans, just a short train ride from London.

You can learn more about this powerful project at https://www.nataliamillmanart.com/griefletterproject

I'd love to meet you there! I'll be at the exhibition on August 13th from 12-4PM. This immersive experience is filled with stories of loss that I think you'll find deeply inspiring. There are workshops and activities planned throughout the three-week run, so check the program and sign up. If you're planning to come, please email me at [email protected] so I know to look for you!

Thank you for sharing this Season 2 journey with me. If you're new here, welcome! I encourage you to check out our previous episodes.

I'm excited to share some news about what's coming next. One topic that repeatedly emerged this season was how to navigate relationships after loss. I've noticed this question comes up frequently in our community, often loaded with guilt, fear, pressure, and conflicting feelings.

Some of you feel pushed to move forward with life, while others can't imagine a future with someone new. You might worry about judgment from others (or yourself), feel guilty for thinking about new relationships, or fear opening your heart again.

If you've been feeling stuck or uncertain about relationships after loss, I've created something special for you. This September, I'm launching a free six-part audio mini-course all about relationships after loss. We'll cover:

Navigating modern dating as a widow/widower

Handling judgment from family, friends, and yourself

Preparing your children for your dating life

Breaking the news that you're seeing someone

Managing grief while building new relationships

As always, everything will be grounded in psychology, packed with practical tips, and informed by lived experience. Visit https://www.guidetoafterlife.com/dating to join the waiting list and be first to know when it launches. You'll also receive my grief-friendly dating guide filled with exercises to help you reflect and prepare.

It's been such an honor to share this journey with you. I hope you have a restorative summer break, and I look forward to seeing many of you in St. Albans on August 13th!

Connect with me on Facebook and Instagram @guide_to_afterlife for more grief tips and resources. And don't forget to visit guidetoafterlife.com to send me your questions and access the grief MOT, your free first aid program for grief.

Thank you for being part of our community. Season 3 begins in September with our special focus on relationships after loss.

This week’s conversation is with Natalia Millman—a Ukrainian-born, UK-based artist—whose exhibition Letters to Forever transforms grief into a deeply immersive, multisensory experience.

After losing her father in 2019, Natalia found herself unable to return to her former art practice. Instead, grief redefined her identity as both a person and an artist. In this moving conversation, Natalia opens up about how her father's death sparked a creative metamorphosis—and how the need to do something with grief gave rise to a global project of shared mourning.

Together, we explore:
💌 The origin and emotional power of Letters to Forever
🌀 Why unspoken grief needs a physical space
🌊 The role of sound, scent, and embroidery in expressing loss
🎨 How creativity can bypass language when words are not enough
🌍 Cultural grief, diaspora identity, and the war in Ukraine

Natalia also shares powerful reflections on co-creating parts of the exhibition with her mother, a fellow mourner, and why art has become their shared language of remembrance.

If you’ve ever struggled to talk about your grief or wished for a space to simply feel it—this conversation will speak to your heart.

🖼 About the Exhibition: Letters to Forever

🗓 Dates: 6–28 August 2025
📍 Location: St Peter’s Church, St Albans, Hertfordshire (30 mins by train from London via Thameslink)
🌐 www.nataliamillmanart.com

Letters to Forever is not just an exhibition—it’s an act of communal healing. Visitors will encounter grief letters from around the world, transformed into visual and sensory artworks. The exhibition features a walk-in cube installation made of letters and drawings, sound healing stations, grief meditations, interactive creative areas, and live performances.

🎤 Opening Night:

7 August, 6:30pm

Live music, drinks, performance readings, and an informal welcome

🎭 Closing Performance:

28 August, time TBA

Collaborative sound and video piece featuring Natalia’s live letter readings, created with another artist in memory of their respective parents

🧘 Workshops (advance booking required):

Grief Yoga

Mindful Play: Building a Grief Container

Breathwork & Journaling Circle

Grief Support for Carers of People with Dementia

Creative Grief Workshop for the Ukrainian Community

All proceeds donated to Cruse Bereavement Support. Spaces limited.

Resources:

Guest’s Bio:
I'm Natalia Millman, a multidisciplinary artist born in Ukraine and based in the UK for 24 years. After my father's death in 2019, I turned to art as a way to process grief. My latest project, Letters to Forever, invites the public to write letters to their lost loved ones, which I transform into drawings, installations, and performances. It is a tribute to love, loss, and what still connects us.

Connect with Natalia:
🌐 www.nataliamillmanart.com
📸 Instagram: @nataliamillmanart

This week on A Guide to After Life, Dr. Monika Wieliczko is joined by clinical psychologist and author Dr. Claire Plumbly to explore the often-overlooked intersection between grief and burnout. Together, they unpack how the nervous system responds to grief, why burnout is so common after loss, and how we can begin to rebuild capacity when simply getting through the day feels overwhelming.

Claire shares insights from her book Burnout: How to Manage Your Nervous System Before It Manages You and offers a powerful framework for understanding the nervous system like a car engine with different gears—and how knowing what gear you’re in helps you navigate recovery more effectively.

They explore:

How grief-related burnout differs from emotional exhaustion

What it means to be in “survival mode” and why you can’t just breathe your way out of it

The three types of burnout and how they show up in widowhood and solo parenting

Why nervous system regulation matters—and how to start shifting gears gently

How professional identity, parenting, and purpose get redefined after loss

Resources:

Where to Buy Claire’s Book:
📘 Burnout: How to Manage Your Nervous System Before It Manages You (UK edition)
📘 The Trauma of Burnout (US edition)
🛒 Buy the book directly from Claire’s website: www.drclaireplumbly.com/burnout-book

Guest Bio:
Dr. Claire Plumbly is a clinical psychologist with expertise in trauma, burnout, and nervous system regulation. She is the author of Burnout: How to Manage Your Nervous System Before It Manages You and founder of Good Therapy Ltd. in Somerset, UK. Claire is passionate about helping people understand that burnout is not a personal failure, but a nervous system stuck in survival. Her practical tools and compassionate approach empower people to reclaim their energy, purpose, and self-trust after loss.

Connect with Dr. Claire Plumbly:
🌐 Website: https://www.drclaireplumbly.com
📱 Instagram: @drclaireplumbly
📘 Facebook: Claire Plumbly Psychology
🔗 LinkedIn: Dr. Claire Plumbly
🎥 TikTok: @drclaireplumbly

What happens when grief is more than just sadness—when it floods your entire system, leaving you feeling unsafe in your own body and mind?

This week on A Guide to After Life, Dr. Monika Wieliczko sits down with Dr. Chloe Paidoussis Mitchell, a UK-based Chartered Counselling Psychologist and author of The Loss Prescription, to explore grief through the lens of trauma. Drawing on over 20 years of clinical experience, Chloe offers a powerful and compassionate roadmap for anyone navigating the devastation of traumatic loss.

Together, they dive into:

What makes grief traumatic—and why it matters

How grief affects the nervous system and mental health

The difference between grief and suffering—and how to reduce the latter

The vital role of nervous system regulation in trauma recovery

Tools and therapeutic “prescriptions” to rebuild life after loss

How to honour your emotions without becoming overwhelmed by them

The intersection of personal loss, chronic pain, and resilience

Whether you’ve lost a partner, a parent, or a sense of who you were, this conversation will help you feel seen—and give you practical ways to begin healing.

💡 Resources & Next Steps:

🔍 Take The Grief MOT – your free first-aid tool to help you assess and understand your grief journey.
👉 Take the quiz at guidetoafterlife.com

📖 Buy Chloe’s book, The Loss Prescription, on Amazon – a holistic, trauma-informed guide to grief recovery
👉 Get it here

🎧 Subscribe to A Guide to After Life podcast to hear more real conversations on grief, trauma, and rebuilding after loss.
💬 Book a free 15-minute consultation with Dr. Monika Wieliczko to discuss your Grief MOT results.
🤝 Join a Grief Therapy Group led by Dr. Wieliczko for shared healing and support.
📖 Not sure whether to see a psychologist, psychotherapist, counsellor or grief coach? Read this blog post to learn more.

👤 Guest Bio:
Dr. Chloe Paidoussis Mitchell is a Chartered Counselling Psychologist, trauma specialist, and the founder of The Grief Clinic. Her groundbreaking book The Loss Prescription blends evidence-based psychological tools with deeply personal insights to support people through grief in all its forms. Chloe is passionate about normalizing conversations around trauma, grief, and the nervous system, and currently advocates for a more compassionate, holistic approach to healing after loss.

📚 Buy her book, The Loss Prescription, on Amazon

📲 Connect with Chloe:

Website: https://thegriefclinic.com

Instagram: @dr.chloemitchell

LinkedIn: Dr. Chloe Paidoussis Mitchell