Let's Chat... Parenting as a widowed parent (with Jeanette Koncikowski)

The Silent Why: finding hope in grief and loss

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#081. Let's Chat... how to find your way with parenting as a widow or widower.
In these Let’s Chat episodes, I (Claire Sandys) chat one-to-one with a guest who has lived experience or expertise in a particular area of grief.
Today I’m talking to Jeanette Koncikowski, a writer, consultant and grief advocate from Buffalo, New York.
In 2014, when she was just 36 years old, Jeanette's husband - Mark - died very suddenly, leaving her with a nine-year-old and a five-year-old to parent. In the four years before this tragedy, Jeanette had also lost a second-trimester pregnancy, her mother, her grandmother and her best friend.
Through her own experience of grief, Jeanette has become passionate about helping other widowed parents, launching the Widowed Parent Project in 2016 as an online resource and support group to connect other young widowed parents. She also has a background in child welfare and family counselling, she's studied trauma counselling and received a Masters degree in Education from Harvard. As well as providing life coaching to widowed people, she's written her forthcoming memoir; Shipwrecked. So she's super qualified for this conversation.
In this chat she honestly talks about the ups and downs of parenting through such a loss, but also shares heaps of practical and theoretical knowledge for those going through it. We also touch on meeting a new partner. In fact, this episode was so full of useful information I couldn’t bring myself to cut it down to the usual episode length! So enjoy all Jeanette has to offer - whether for yourself, or to help you draw alongside others going through this kind of traumatic loss.
This episode is a reminder of the importance of teaching any children about death and learning how to speak to them truthfully about this natural part of life, rather than living in fear of it.
For more about Jeanette you can visit her website: https://www.thrivecommunityconsulting.com/
Or her Widowed Parent Project Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/580595715466580
Or find her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/widowedPP
The book Jeanette recomm

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