Journey Beyond Divorce Podcast

Hearing the words "I want a divorce" from your spouse can feel earth shattering, especially if those words come as a surprise. It is normal to experience feelings of deep rejection, confusion, devastation, depression, anxiety, anger, and fear. Your spouse may be impatient or pressuring you to move on and focus on the mechanics of separating and/or getting divorced. After all, they are way ahead of...

Just 7 years into her marriage, there were numerous issues rearing their head. Amy would have kept plowing forward, her husband decided he could not. After being devastated by his decision, Amy was initially overwhelmed with anger, hurt, shame, guilt, and fear. She was struggling to understand how their perfect story went so sideways. Fast forward another 6 years and Amy shares that while the jour...

When children are involved in high conflict divorces, often additional experts are brought in regardless of your legal approach.  Today we speak with a heart centered attorney who represents children in high conflict divorces.  You will learn when an attorney for the child or guardian ad litem is needed.  We discuss how that decision is made and by whom, how the attorney is chosen and paid for and...

As we continue our conversation around Healthy Romantic Relationships, I am beyond excited to introduce today's guests, Harville Hendrix and Helen Hunt. They are authors of one of my favorite books, Getting the Love You Want. Their book is so powerful because it's like therapy and coaching in a book, explaining why we fall in love with the personalities we do, the way our childhood wounds play out...

I used to believe that high conflict divorce and mediation were mutually exclusive, that only amicable couples can mediate their divorce. I was wrong! Listen as Susan Guthrie, Esq. shares how mediation can and does work in high conflict situations. We talk about what you need to know, how to choose the right mediator, other professionals to add to your support team, and how mediation can be signif...

Tune in as KP shares her life as a southern girl growing up in Louisiana and Alabama, her experience in leadership that began as a child and her intuitive sense that coaching was the right fit for her. KP shares how her coach training opened her eyes to the possibility that her challenging marriage might not be best for anyone in the family and how she navigated her divorce with a compassionate he...

Welcome back to our Series on Healthy Romantic Relationships. Today we are chatting with Emmy Hernandez about the "4 Pillars to a Romantic Relationship'. Emmy shares her FORMULA for engaging in and enjoying an "Epic Relationship." We talk about playfulness, sexiness, nurturing and your 'boss babe' and what the ideal formula is in bringing these different aspects of yourself into your relationship...

While navigating divorce, fear of the unknown often drives us to replace our uncertainty with a catastrophic worst case scenario about our future. However, our greatest fears rarely come true. Today's session is designed to provide you with hope and encouragement as you hear one woman's journey from fear and overwhelm to a post divorce life that is very different from what she feared. Tune in as s...

So much of our suffering is due to the voices in our head...the stories of how we have been wronged, or what is happening is bad or the certainty of why s/he did that thing...the 'why' placing us squarely in the victim seat. Divorce is painful, when we suffer, it is our own doing as a result of ruminating about our perspective, judgement, unforgiveness, insecurity, fear, etc. Today's episode shine...

While all decision during divorce are challenging, deciding whether to stay and mend your marriage or to divorce is one of the most stressful and emotionally charged. It is often drenched in judgement, shame, guilt, fear and uncertainty. Today we help you to unweave your fears and limiting beliefs from the circumstances you are assessing so that you can become clear in determining your best next s...

The psychological impact of living with a HCP crushes your self esteem often leaving you, the spouse insecure, reactive and bitter. Dr. Gayle Reed shares how forgiveness is a healing balm for the spouse of the HCP. She explains the traumatic impact of verbal and emotional abuse and the psychological defenses you use to manage the resulting anger, pain and confusion. While forgiveness seems to be f...

Welcome to Today's Episode: Know Your Personal Operating 'Style' and That of Your Partner's. We have a great conversation for you today with Sandy Weiner who brilliantly highlights how important the little things are. She shares the value of a 'Personal Operating Manual' which she developed for her clients that enables them to share their authentic selves with their new partner. It includes Lifest...

Molly knew early on in her marriage that things were not good. She experienced emotional abuse and walked on eggshells to 'keep the peace' with her new spouse. When their child arrived, things got worse as she needed to focus more on the baby than on dad. Once she decided to divorce, she began setting boundaries, finding her voice and her authenticity. The biggest challenge and surprise was how th...

Today's episode is dedicated to your healing journey. Those of us who marry HCPs have our part in the dysfunction as we discussed in episode 2 - Divorcing A Narcissist: The Personality Disorders and Dysfunctional Dance of High Conflict Marriages. We are excited to have Ross Rosenberg with us again today to share deeply effective strategies for healing from codependency, a self love deficiency diso...

Divorce offers a plethora of opportunities to get triggered, react and then remain upset. Today's talk is about the difference between the pain of divorce and the suffering so many of us experience. The difference is your ability to take responsibility for your emotional reaction and ultimately let go. Most of us weren't taught to 'go in' when we get upset, but rather to look outwards and blame ot...

As we began discussing in our last episode, communicating with a high conflict personality (HCP) is often frustrating and fruitless, and leaves us feeling angry, exhausted and unheard. Today's episode offers a unique and powerful approach to communicating with a narcissist that enables you to protect your interests without conflict or drama! This strategy neutralizes combative and emotionally char...

Welcome to our Healthy Romantic Relationship Series and today's episode: Entering New Relationships with a Positive Mindset and Self Compassion. As we dive into this topic, Dr. Jennifer Reid, who is a psychiatrist and award-winning educator with a practice in Philadelphia, shares the importance of realizing how we are wired and therefore how we communicate and react in relationships. Jennifer invi...

Today's powerful episode gives you the strategies and tools needed to communicate more effectively with your spouse's high conflict personality. You have been struggling with criticism, deflection, blaming and black and white thinking. You have doubted your own version of reality, lost your self esteem and tried time and again to reason with your spouse to no end. What you didn't know was that com...

When we are faced with divorce, we go through a grief process. The death of our marriage brings the loss of the hopes and dreams we had as a couple, the loss of our normal family life, friends, community, etc. Grief is the normal reaction to loss. And, no two people will grieve their losses in the same way. You'll learn that there is no "one size fits all" approach to grief recovery, and yet there...

Ann Margaret shares her struggles around faith and family when deciding whether or not to seek a divorce from her spouse of 19 years. As a devout Catholic, she needed to be 'right with God' and sought to understand if and how her desire to leave her marriage was aligned with her deep faith. She goes on to share her concerns for the impact the divorce would have on her children, the challenges of l...

You kids have been experiencing conflict throughout the marriage, even if you think you have 'hidden' it from them. Now that a decision has been made to divorce, tensions will only rise. It is all the more important to focus on protecting your children now while navigating a high conflict divorce. Deciding when, how and what to tell the kids about the divorce is just the beginning. Figuring out ho...

Today's episode is chuck full of valuable tips and guidance around the vitally important question of when to move from dating into a committed relationship…and when not to. Alaya is a Sex and Relationship coach who helps men and women get clear on who and what they want and how to use the dating experience to insure that they get it. Tune in to learn the questions to ask, the key conversations to...

Entering the legal process of any divorce feels frightening and overwhelming. For those entering high conflict divorce, the fear and confusion is escalated due to years of living in a dysfunctional marriage and the complexities involved when divorcing a high conflict personality. There is often a greater need to be in the court system due to the power imbalance in the relationship, the lack of tra...

Divorcing a spouse when there are "bigger" concerns at play - like mental health issues or addiction can add an additional layer of complexity to an already challenging situation. In this episode, Karen & Diane talk about the value of compassion in these difficult times, and how to balance concern and compassion with setting effective limits and boundaries. Ultimately this will support you in avoi...

Living with a narcissist is 'crazy making'. Understanding your role in the ongoing insanity is vital in order to create lasting change. In order to navigate your divorce effectively and strategically and emerge confident and renewed, it is essential that you keep your focus on that which you have power over...your thoughts, feelings and behavior. Today's episode invites you into a 'coaching experi...