About Wife After Prison
Wife After Prison™ was not created in a boardroom. It was born from real life — from pain, unanswered questions, and a reality few people talk about after incarceration ends. It started when I reconnected with Kevin — my first love, my then-husband, and my forever friend — after 38 years apart. When we reunited, Kevin had already been home for four years. We built a life together, believing the hardest part was behind us. But within three years of our marriage, I began to see something I couldn’t explain — emotional shutdowns, distance, anger, and struggles that neither of us had words for. As the founder — an author, reentry coach, advocate, and international speaker — I have carried this message across the world:
We were facing something deeper than reentry struggles — something invisible but powerful. We were battling Post-Incarceration Syndrome (PICS) before it had a name. I searched for help and found nothing. No books. No conversations. No guidance for families trying to rebuild after prison. I realized no one was talking about the emotional sentence that often follows the physical one.
So I built what I couldn’t find. I created what I — and so many others — needed. Out of that need, Wife After Prison™ was born. Today, Wife After Prison™ is more than a brand — it’s a movement. It’s a place for women who feel invisible, for families under pressure, and for individuals on a reentry journey who wonder why freedom feels so hard. Here, I break the silence, tell the truth, and create real plans for healing, not just survival. from Alaska, to London, to Australia, and throughout the United States. This work is my commitment. It’s my promise to every family affected by
incarceration, and to individuals on a reentry journey, fighting to rebuild. At the center of Wife After Prison™ are the Three Pillars of Reentry: The Head, The Heart, and The Hands. We focus on healing the mind, restoring emotional health, and rebuilding lives with practical skills — because true freedom is mental, emotional, and practical. No one should have to walk this journey alone. Here, we reclaim our minds. We heal our hearts. We rebuild our lives — one step at a time.
“I built what I couldn’t find — and what I believe every family affected by incarceration deserves: hope, truth, and a path forward.”
— Shelia Bruno, Founder of Wife After Prison™
My Commitment
At Wife After Prison™, our commitment is clear: to educate individuals and communities about Post-Incarceration Syndrome (PICS) and its profound impact on mental health, relationships, and successful reentry. I am dedicated to equipping families, individuals on a reentry journey, and reentry professionals with practical, real-world tools that foster lasting healing and sustainable growth. Through every resource, program, and message we share, we empower individuals to reclaim their lives — grounded in truth, strengthened by hope, and supported with compassion.
Healing is possible. Freedom is possible. But meaningful change begins with understanding — and that journey starts here.
Welcome to Wife After Prison™, where healing after incarceration is not just a hope, but a reality we work to make possible every day.
What You Need to Know About Shelia Bruno
Shelia Bruno is a Certified Trauma Support Specialist, trained in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, and a powerful voice in the world of post-incarceration recovery and mental health advocacy. As an International Speaker, Certified Life Coach, and Author, she brings lived experience and professional training together to empower justice-impacted individuals and their families. Her groundbreaking work as a PICS (Post-Incarceration Syndrome) Educator and founder of Wife After Prison™ has been a beacon of hope for those navigating reentry, trauma, and relational healing. Shelia’s mission is to awaken and equip others with real tools to thrive after trauma and incarceration through coaching, speaking, and curriculum development.
Shelia Bruno didn’t just survive the aftermath of incarceration — she chose to study it, confront it, and stand in the middle of it so others wouldn’t have to face it alone. What many people don’t know is that Shelia built Wife After Prison™ not just from pain, but from a fierce belief that healing is a right, not a privilege. Behind every book, every speech, and every program she creates, is a woman who knows what it feels like to love someone deeply — and still be blindsided by a system that leaves invisible scars. Shelia knows that incarceration doesn’t end
at the gate. She knows that trauma doesn’t disappear with time. She knows that families carry wounds no one sees — and that pretending doesn’t heal them. She is not afraid to go first. She is not afraid to say what others are too afraid to admit. She is not afraid to name the pain, to walk with you through it, and to show you that healing is not only possible — it is necessary.
Shelia Bruno is living proof that even after devastation, love, wholeness, and new beginnings are possible. She doesn’t just teach healing. She lives it. Every single day.
“There’s a sentence no one talks about — the one that starts after release. I’m here to break that silence and build real healing.”
— Shelia Bruno, Founder of Wife After Prison™
Get Your Head Right First: The Real Work of Reentry
You can’t fix your life with broken thinking, shut-down emotions, and survival habits running the show.
The Three Pillars of Reentry
Everyone talks about second chances. But no one talks about what it really takes to survive one.
Coming home from prison isn’t the finish line. It’s the starting point of a whole new fight—a fight with your thoughts, your triggers, your habits, and your past. And too many people are trying to rebuild their life with nothing but a checklist and a deadline.
That’s why at Wife After Prison™, we do things differently.
We don’t just teach job readiness or compliance. We teach what no one else is saying out loud: if your head isn’t clear, your heart is still armored, and your hands don’t believe they’re capable—you will stay stuck. Or worse, go back.
The Three Pillars of Reentry—The Head, The Heart, and The Hands—are designed to tackle that truth, in that order. Because healing isn’t optional. And freedom without healing? That’s just survival in a new zip code.
The Head
The Heart
The Hands
Mental Health, Mindset, and Inner Dialogue
Emotions, Trust, and Human Connection
Purpose, Action, and Building a Future
Incarceration rewires the mind for survival. The brain learns to scan for threats, suppress emotion, and stay on high alert. Even after release, this mindset sticks—what we call “institutionalized thinking.” The person may be free, but their thoughts are still locked up, shaped by fear, control, and distrust. It shows up as overthinking, emotional shutdown, and struggling in everyday environments.
To loved ones, this can feel like rejection or resistance—but it’s not. It’s a trauma response.
That’s why this pillar comes first. If the mind is still in survival mode, nothing else will work. PICS education helps people understand what they’re carrying so healing can finally begin.
Prison teaches people to shut down emotionally. Feelings become dangerous, so they learn to numb out—not because they don’t care, but because it feels safer not to feel. That doesn’t change overnight. After release, this shows up as distance, anger, or shutting down when things get real. They want connection—but their heart is still armored.
For families, it’s confusing and painful. You’re trying to love someone who doesn’t feel safe enough to fully show up.
That’s why the heart comes after the head. Until the mind starts to settle, emotional healing can feel like too much. But once safety returns inside, trust and connection have a chance to grow.
In prison, every decision is made for you. Purpose is stripped away. After release, people are expected to jump into life—work, goals, stability—but they’re often frozen, unsure, or stuck in survival mode. It’s not laziness. It’s fear, disconnection, and years of being told what to do.
Without healing, people self-sabotage or give up before they even start. Their hands can’t build what their mind and heart don’t believe they deserve.
That’s why this pillar comes last. Movement without healing is chaos. Real action—the kind that lasts—only happens after the head is clear and the heart is open.
Real Stories. Real Healing. Real Talk.
These books don’t sugarcoat life after prison — they speak to the silent struggles,
the emotional aftermath, and the path to healing.
“What you are doing with your book and messages is going to have an impact for DECADES to come. You discuss critically important issues in a way that the public will understand them and begin to ‘care’. Thank you!!” – Dr. Lisa, Expert on Suicide in Jails, Prisons, and Juvenile Justice
“This book clearly breaks down what those of us who have experienced incarceration go through (mentally) as we navigate the process of reintegrating back into society. As much as we appreciate the fact that we’ve been blessed with this opportunity to rejoin society, we can’t pretend that incarceration didn’t affect our mental well-being.” – Jose Burgos, Formerly Incarcerated
Bulk Book Orders & Program Pricing
Are you part of a reentry program, correctional facility, counseling center, or community organization?
The Second Sentence and Wife After Prison; Caught in The Aftermath are both available at discounted bulk pricing for institutions, classrooms, and group programs. These powerful resources are designed to spark real conversations, build awareness of Post-Incarceration Syndrome (PICS), and support trauma-informed reentry.
Send us a message with your organization name, quantity needed, and any special requests. We’re happy to work with you.
Contact us for details today.
Let’s put healing and education into more hands.