The Widow Podcast

In this episode of The Widow Podcast, I'm joined by Rachel Hart-Phillips, who created the Afterglow Space, which offers holistic grief support, and founded Love Loss Disco Balls, a greetings card company.

Rachel lost her dad when she was 20 and her mum when she was 34. In 2019 her husband Ant died by suicide while she was pregnant with their son. Rachel talks about what followed: hearing "at least you've got the baby" when she felt "very trapped by it", the resentment of those first months, and how, not having "a clue" who she was as a widow and a new mum, she and her son "sort of grew together".

She speaks honestly about suicide loss, the signs she only saw afterwards, and how she has talked to her son about his dad. We also talk about meeting Warren when her son was just eight months old, and where we both land on whether grief is only sadness.

We discuss:

• Hearing "at least you've got the baby" while grieving, and the mix of resentment and bond in the early months

• The online support of young widows, including two women who were pregnant when they lost their husbands to suicide

• Signs that are easy to put down to stress and only seen in hindsight, and being kind to yourself about it

• Explaining to a six-year-old that "you can also get sick in your mind"

• Meeting Warren when her son was eight months old, and holding love for two people at once

• Why we both believe grief is so much more than sadness

• Knowing there is "another side to it"

If you have lost someone to suicide, or you are learning to hold love and grief at once, I think this one will meet you where you are.

For More Support:

The Widows Membership: karensutton.co.uk/the-widow-membership

Coaching and retreats: karensutton.co.uk

Rachel's photo by Sara Swallow

In this solo episode of The Widow Podcast, I explore what it really means when our relationships change after the loss of a life partner.

I recorded this in the middle of Awakening Hope, my free week-long online event for people grieving the loss of a life partner, and the same questions kept coming up all week. Why have my friends disappeared. Why have people stopped checking in. Why do the people who love me most not understand. And underneath all of it, what do I say when somebody rings and asks if there's anything I need.

I'm honest about both sides of this. I talk about my very good friend from junior school. Her mum died and it put a real strain on our relationship. I did keep showing up, but everything I was doing wasn't hitting the mark, but my God, I was trying. I talk about the fortieth birthday trip I wasn't invited on after Simon died, and the conversation months later when my friend told me they just hadn't thought I'd want to come. I talk about the mask we get so good at wearing, and why the people around us take what they can see as the truth.

I talk about:

• Why "if there's anything you need, let me know" so often leaves the griever with nothing to say
• The anger, resentment and jealousy we can feel towards the people we love, and the shame that comes with it
• Why it is not easy to show up for somebody who is grieving
• Why no one person can meet every practical and emotional need we have
• Debbie's Wonder Woman pants, and giving people a way to ask how you are
• Checking in on a scale of one to ten instead of saying "I'm fine"
• Being left off the invite list for a friend's fortieth after Simon died
• Asking for one thing, even when you don't know what you need
• Building new community when the people around you aren't your people

You don't have to know everything you need. You only have to know one thing, and ask for that.

For More Support:

The Widows Membership: karensutton.co.uk/the-widow-membership

Coaching and retreats: karensutton.co.uk

In this episode of The Widow Podcast, I'm joined by Rosie Moss, host of the Widowed AF podcast and author of Widowed AF: A Guidebook for Grieving Your Partner.

Rosie's husband Ben died in a diving accident in 2018, when she was 37 and their three children were very young. His body was never found. Rosie talks about the day he went out to dive, the knock at the door that evening, and the decision she made that first night to tell her children he had died, rather than that he was missing.

What followed was a grief with no body and no certainty: a funeral without a coffin, the practical fallout of a sudden death, and the long process of having Ben legally declared dead.

We discuss:

• Choosing the word died from the very beginning, and why it mattered for her children

• What it is to grieve without a body or any answers

• Keeping Ben present in family life in small, everyday ways

• Finding love again in early grief, and what losing that stirred up

• What changed when she got sober, and the grief that was still waiting

• What she has learned from nearly 200 conversations about loss

Rosie tells a very hard story with enormous warmth and honesty. If your person died without warning, I think this one will steady you.

For More Support:

The Widows Membership: karensutton.co.uk/the-widow-membership

Coaching and retreats: karensutton.co.uk

It's just me again, following on from my last episode where I shared what I've learnt about grief. There was so much that I tried to cram it all into that one episode, and realised that I couldn't. And as I tried to separate it out, what came to me was that a lot of it wasn't about grief at all. It was about life.

Some of the things I want to share with you might feel a little bit uncomfortable, especially if you are in the very early raw days of your grief, and I say that with so much love. You don't have to think the way I think. My way is not the right way, this is just my way, this is just where I've got to, and if yours is different, I love that for you.

I talk about:

• Simon died and it was horrendous. I did not. I was still alive, and I didn't want two people's lives to end because one person died

• Believing at 39 that I was too old to start a new career or make anything of myself, and why I'm determined to make my 50s the best decade of my life

• Nobody is coming to save us, and there is no white shining knight on a horse who is going to make everything magically better

• Why having to do it for yourself does not mean that you have to do it by yourself

• You have so much more within you than you could ever dream possible

• Our lives will be as good as we allow them to be, and the ceiling we put on them without realising

• Love is not finite, and your heart will expand to the depth that you allow it to expand

• Don't compare the life that you have now with an imaginary future

• The thing I find most difficult to say out loud: that I have stopped wishing my life were different

For More Support:

The Widows Membership: karensutton.co.uk/the-widow-membership

Coaching and retreats: karensutton.co.uk

I'm so excited to be back. It has been nearly a year since I recorded an episode of The Widow Podcast and I've really missed it.

This one goes out in the week of Simon's tenth anniversary. So I wanted to share what I've come to believe. Not because I have all the answers, not because I've figured it all out, not because my life is perfect. My mission has always been about helping people feel less alone in their grief, and helping people to find hope.

I talk about:

• Why what I believe is that love lasts forever, rather than grief lasts forever

• Why the depth and the length of your pain are not a reflection of the depth and the length of your love

• Stop trying to get grief right, because there is no right way of doing this

• Befriending your grief, when grief has this reputation of being an enemy

• Why time alone does not heal your grief and your wounds: it creates space and distance, but you will not heal with time alone

• Please don't mistake growth for betrayal

• Learning that not every hard feeling belongs in the grief bucket

• There is a life out there that you cannot see, that you cannot imagine, but is absolutely available to you

For More Support:

The Widows Membership: karensutton.co.uk/the-widow-membership

Coaching and retreats: karensutton.co.uk

In this final episode of season four, I take some time to reflect on the journey we’ve been on together and what this season has taught me about healing after loss.

Over the past few months I’ve spoken to so many incredible people who’ve shared their stories with such honesty and courage. I’ve also had my own moments of reflection, especially as I reach ten years since Simon died. My connection with him continues to evolve in beautiful ways, and I’ve come to understand that healing isn’t about moving on but about going deeper into ourselves, into life, and into love.

I talk about what I’ve learned through this year’s grief retreats at Tofte Manor, the extraordinary women I’ve met, and a powerful moment of truth that reminded me how gratitude and growth can exist within grief. I share why I believe that life after loss can hold meaning, joy and purpose again, and how the gifts that come from our pain can become the foundation for a new and peaceful chapter.

We explore:

For More Support: 

The Widows Membership: karensutton.co.uk/the-widow-membership

Coaching and retreats: karensutton.co.uk

In this episode of The Widow Podcast, I'm joined by Debbie Dawson, mentor, retreat supporter and treasured community member, to talk about life beyond loss and what it truly means to live fully again after grief.

Debbie shares her widow journey from joining the community in 2020, two and a half years after losing her husband suddenly in 2018, to where she is now, seven years on and living with a sense of freedom, purpose and excitement about the future she never thought possible. We explore how the shift from grief work to life work happened through Vibrant Living and the transformative Rise and Renew retreat, and why discovering hidden parts of yourself after loss can be both surprising and liberating.

We discuss:

It's an uplifting conversation about transformation, self-discovery, rebuilding after loss, and the beautiful truth that anything is possible when you're ready to do the work.

For More Support: 

The Widows Membership: karensutton.co.uk/the-widow-membership

Coaching and retreats: karensutton.co.uk

In this episode of The Widow Podcast, I talk with Orla Blackburn, holistic widow guide, yoga teacher and mother, about what it really means to invest in yourself after loss.

Orla shares how, seven years on from losing her husband, she’s found strength and self-belief through journaling, movement and meditation. We explore how yoga helped her reconnect with her body and emotions, how she’s learned to regulate her nervous system while parenting a neurodivergent child, and why small, consistent steps can lead to deep transformation.

We discuss:

 • How grief and identity evolve over time

 • Why investing in yourself is an essential part of healing

 • The role of movement, journaling and mindfulness in recovery

 • Parenting and self-regulation through grief

 • The power of community and accountability

 • Rebuilding confidence, purpose and peace after loss

It’s a grounded, compassionate conversation about healing and rediscovering who you are when life changes forever.

For More Support: 

The Widows Membership: karensutton.co.uk/the-widow-membership

Coaching and retreats: karensutton.co.uk

In this episode of The Widow Podcast, I speak to Sam Southern, suicide prevention and bereavement manager at Solace at Empowerment Charity in Blackpool. Sam shares her personal story of losing her husband Glen to suicide in June 2020, during the height of the COVID pandemic. He was 46 years old, and together they had six children, the youngest just two and five at the time.

Sam talks about the shock and trauma of losing a partner to suicide, the complex grief that followed, and the stigma that still surrounds suicide loss. She also explains how blogging her experiences online became an unexpected lifeline, connecting her with others who truly understood. Today, that same community spirit drives her professional work supporting people bereaved by suicide.

In this conversation, we discuss:

 • The unique challenges of grieving a partner lost to suicide, including guilt, anger, and unanswered questions

 • How stigma and silence around suicide complicate grief and isolate families

 • Why asking directly about suicidal thoughts can be a powerful step in prevention

 • The importance of peer support and online communities in surviving loss

 • How language matters – why saying “died by suicide” helps reduce stigma

 • Suicide statistics in the UK, and why more awareness and training are urgently needed

Sam’s openness helps break the silence around suicide bereavement and offers comfort to those facing similar heartbreak. Her story is a reminder that connection and conversation can save lives.

For More Support: 

The Widows Membership: karensutton.co.uk/the-widow-membership

Coaching and retreats: karensutton.co.uk

Solace at Empowerment Charity: empowermentcharity.org.uk

Follow Sam on Instagram: @sammysuns

In this episode of The Widow Podcast, I’m joined by Meghan Riordan Jarvis, trauma trained psychotherapist, grief and loss specialist, TEDx speaker, and host of Grief is My Side Hustle. Meghan is also the author of End of the Hour and Can Anyone Tell Me, and creator of the Grief Mentor Method.

Meghan’s story is both professional and deeply personal. After the loss of her father to cancer and the sudden death of her mother just two years later, she found herself plunged into a level of grief that no amount of training had prepared her for. Checking herself into inpatient care, she came face to face with the reality that most of us are never taught what to do with grief, even those who are supposed to help.

In this conversation, we explore:
• Why therapists are often not trained in grief, and what that means for those seeking support
• The difference between “normal” grief and when grief becomes traumatic
• How unresolved grief shapes our lives and sense of connection
• The six core components of the Grief Mentor Method, and why movement, nourishment, and ritual matter
• Learning to tolerate grief as energy in the body rather than something to “fix”
• Why we need cultural change around grief education, support, and bereavement

Meghan’s honesty about her own breakdown and recovery is powerful. She challenges the myths we are told about grief and shows how truth, embodiment, and simple practices can open a way forward.

For More Support:
The Widows Membership: karensutton.co.uk/the-widow-membership
Coaching and retreats: karensutton.co.uk