This week I sit down with Roz McElwee for an honest and moving conversation. Roz speaks about loosing her beloved mom to cancer.

Interwoven throughout this episode is a very open discussion about baby loss, fertility struggles, miscarriage, and the journey toward surrogacy. Roz shares her story with such vulnerability, touching on the quiet grief that so many people carry while trying to build a family often in silence.

This is a conversation about layered loss, grieving a parent while also navigating the heartbreak and hope that comes with fertility challenges and the strength it takes to keep going when life doesn’t unfold as expected.

For those looking for ongoing support, I’ve created a private membership space called After the Flowers.

You can find more information here https://after-the-flowers.circle.so/checkout/after-the-flowers-membership

Content note: This episode includes discussion of suicide, mental health struggles, and family estrangement.

In this weeks episode I’m joined by Ailbhe O'Donnell, who shares her experience of loss, survival, and the long-term impact of family estrangement.

Ailbhe speaks openly about loss in its many forms the loss of family connection, the loss of identity, the loss of belonging and what it means to grieve people who are still alive.

This episode also explores Alva’s journey through profound mental health struggles in her early adulthood, her experience of feeling unsupported at critical moments, and the slow, hard process of rebuilding a life rooted in self-worth, resilience, and compassion. At its heart, this is a conversation about survival, and learning how to become your own source of care when no one else can.

This episode does not seek to assign blame or make allegations about any individual. All reflections shared are from Ailbhe’s personal perspective, memory, and emotional experience and are presented as such.

Listener Care

This episode may be difficult for some listeners. Please take care while listening, pause if you need to, or skip this episode entirely if it feels like too much right now.

If this conversation brings anything up for you, support is available:

• Ireland: Samaritans — 116 123 (24/7)

• Contact your GP or local mental health services

• International listeners: please seek crisis or mental health support services in your own country

You don’t have to go through this alone.

After the Flowers – Grief Support Membership

If this episode has resonated with you, I’ve recently opened a gentle support space called After the Flowers, a low-cost monthly membership for people navigating grief in all its forms.

It’s a place to connect with other people who understand, take part in group conversations and live Zoom support calls, and access sessions designed to support the nervous system through grief, including breath work, meditation, EFT, and grounding practices. Members also receive exclusive access to podcast video episdoes and conversations.

There’s no pressure it’s simply there if and when it feels right for you.

You can join here

https://after-the-flowers.circle.so/checkout/after-the-flowers-membership

This week’s episode is a catch-up conversation with previous guest Sophia Murphy where we reflect on how she has navigated Christmas and the months since we last spoke.

Sophia’s grief journey is complex and deeply personal. In this episode, she speaks about surviving childhood sexual abuse at the hands of her father, the long-term impact that trauma has had on her life, and the work she has done around healing. She also shares her experience of engaging in restorative justice, including visiting her father in prison to confront the past, and how this process has supported her own recovery.

This is an honest, thoughtful conversation about trauma, survival, and the different paths people take toward healing. We also reference our previous episode together which listeners may wish to revisit for further context. Just search for Family Flowers Only with Sophia Murphy.

⚠️ Content notice: This episode contains discussion of childhood sexual abuse, sexual assault, and trauma, which some listeners may find distressing. Please take care while listening.

For those looking for ongoing support, I’ve created a private membership space called After the Flowers.

Join here - https://after-the-flowers.circle.so/checkout/after-the-flowers-membership

To hear more from Sophia her own podcast is called "Having the chats with Peter and Sophia" and you can find that wherever you get your podcasts