Journey Beyond Divorce Podcast

Today we are discussing what happens when Divorce Collides with Raising Complex Kids. If you are raising a complex kid, you know the unique challenges you face. These difficulties may even have played a role in the dissolution of your marriage. Today we're joined by my dear friend and colleague, Diane Dempster. She walks us through what she means by 'complex kid' and what's different about parenti...

It is an all too human tendency to react to stressful situations in counterproductive ways, to attack out of intense emotion without a clear purpose, to accommodate long after it's healthy to do so, or to avoid addressing situations that are destructive. While these are rarely wise strategies, they are disastrous strategies prior to, in the midst of, and post divorce. During this episode and the f...

Raising special needs children has a unique set of gifts and challenges. When negotiating divorce, it is essential that you can advocate for the support they will continue to need. Guest, Randi L. Karmel, PLLC, specializes in this area and discusses the pitfalls inherent and possibilities available through the negotiation process. Randi shares negotiation danger signs to be aware of as well as res...

After 2 decades in a marriage that was kind and amicable yet completely lacking the emotional intimacy Nicole desired, she made the difficult decision to divorce. What followed was a painful negotiation that left her questioning if her then husband even cared about her. As someone who always searches for meaning and growth, Nicole reached out for coaching support to try to hold to her desire to ke...

In Today's episode of Healthy Romantic Relationships we discuss "The Psychological Aspect of Healthy Sex - How Past Experience Informs Future Pleasure. We are exploring What is the healthiest way to engage your sexuality as you enter dating and healthy relationships? Karisa opens with a powerful statement of the connection between sex and spirituality, the beauty of the act when connected and the...

Today Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor and I are discussing "A Roadmap to Deep Inner Peace: Understanding the Four Characters in your Brain". We are exploring Jill's concept that our brain has "Four Characters". She shares the role (dare I say personality) of each of these characters. She also shares a powerful tool she has created called the Brain Huddle. This tool guides us to consciously invite all our ch...

Welcome to The Business Partnership Approach to Successful CoParenting. Parenting is one of the most difficult jobs we are called to do. In healthy marriages, parents come from different parenting experiences and values and can be challenged to find common ground, how are you to co parent when divorcing when there is so much that is not aligned? Today's guest shares the vital importance of shiftin...

Your emotions are tender and your fears heightened while negotiating custody. Notice your nightmare stories around custody that fan your fear and create tension and conflict, derailing your negotiations. Matrimonial attorney Josh Hecht shares strategies to cut through the acrimony, negotiate for both the current and the long term needs of your children, and ensure that you consider the nitty gritt...

How do you handle coparenting when your spouse (or soon to be ex) is behaving more like a kid? There may be underlying issues like substance use, neurodiversity or they just may be (much) less responsible than you wish they were. How do you navigate things like shared custody and lifestyle decisions for your kids, when they just aren't in the same place? Karen & Diane challenge our listeners to ex...

How do you choose the approach to negotiating custody with your children's mental and emotional health front and center? Children can experience significant emotional damage as a result of divorce, but they don't have to. While it is understandable that you want to fight for your fair share of time with the kids, we want you to understand the risks that accompany a legal fight wherein children are...

I am so excited to chat with today's guest about her 3 A's to Conscious CoParenting. How you VIEW your child and their behavior, your ability to self regulate amidst the storm and the skill of presence and responsiveness as you address your child's behavior is a brilliantly powerful way to parent…yet by no means easy. Today's Guest, Mikki Gardner walks us through the 3 A's, the importance of each...

Tammy shares her personal and professional experiences related to divorce in this episode. She grew up as a child of divorce with an absentee father, living in poverty and experiencing physical and emotional neglect as a result. Having no contact or support from her father, Tammy's mother worked 3 jobs to make ends meet, making her unavailable physically, mentally and emotionally while struggling...

Learn how you can parent through divorce in a way that protects your children from the animosity between you and your spouse and honors their rights. Dr. Mark Banschick, a child psychiatrist shares the negative impact and long term affects children experience when parents do not protect them from the hostility. Dr. Banschick discusses why we tend to act out and react in front of our children witho...

If you found divorce and coparenting with your ex challenging, today's guests share the added complexities in merging two families where the children can fall into mine, yours and ultimately ours. After 2 decades of coaching Step Parents, today's guests share the secret (and vital necessity) to becoming effective parenting partners. They talk about the "culture clash" of parenting as we all have s...

Your finances are certain to change during and after divorce and therefore raise fear in just about everyone facing this transition. Today we speak with Elizabeth Polizzi, a financial expert who specializes in strategizing around the finances of divorce. She discusses how vital it is to be informed and educated in order to negotiate the best possible settlement. In this straightforward talk, Eliza...

Effective co-parenting requires keeping the children front and center – they are all that matters now. This requires letting go of conflict, competition, resentments about the marriage, and hostility toward the other parent. While divorce itself is not harmful to children, ongoing conflict between their parents is. Your marriage has ended, but your roles and responsibilities as parents have not. C...

After your divorce is finalized, it is so important when stepping off the divorce battlefield, to put down your weapons, take off your coat of armor and begin the process of navigating your post divorce life. When co parenting is a part of that life, it is so easy to slip back into old patterns of arguing, blame and accusation. It can feel like nothing has changed except you are now under two roof...

Trish reached out for coaching post divorce. She had already done so much work even prior to finding out about her spouse's infidelity that became the beginning of the end of a 17 year marriage. With three children ages 11-18, Trish faced a harsh wake up call. She had been running on auto pilot, doing almost all the work of the household and raising the kids and her spouse was always 'out working'...

Once you decide to divorce, the question of who to tell, when and how much can be overwhelming. In the early stages of divorce we experience a powerful emotional sting. Coming to terms with the fact that divorce IS part of your reality often happens when you begin to tell others about it. When telling your spouse, children, family, friends and others about your divorce fear and resistance arises....

We often talk about a child centered divorce and while one or both parents may make every effort to do so, there is trauma for our children in the transition of divorce. Today we are going to look at our kids' 'bad behavior', what parents so often do under stress when frustrated with your kids and a N.I.C.E. framework that today's guest teaches that enables you to support you child's needs while s...

Today Karen and KP examine the emotion of Anger. We explore it's value, why so many of us are afraid of it and how it can both inform and guide us in ways that can bring value. Understanding the root of our relationship with anger informs our conflict oriented, conflict resistant or conflict neutral approach to disagreements. The book, "Dance Of Anger" by Dr. Harriet Lerner describes anger as "a s...

Living with your soon-to-be-ex under the same roof while navigating divorce is incredibly challenging. Holding onto your peace may seem impossible. The most effective way of approaching this challenge is creating healthy boundaries and refining your communication and problem solving skills. Dr. Dan Thomason explains how easy it is to get caught in arguments about how you are communicating and to l...

This episode kicks off our All Things Parenting series discussing The Secret to Effective Single Parenting During and Post Divorce. Today's expert navigated a 12 year custody battle and wrote a powerful book for single mom's entitled, When Momma's Happy, Everyone's Happy. We're about to explore emotional triggers, personal power and the inner work necessary to stay centered and present while consc...

Mediation is a non-adversarial approach to divorcing outside of the court system. It is often considered a less expensive approach and is most definitely a less adversarial approach to divorce. Yet it isn't for everyone. If you have a high conflict marriage with a lack of ability to communicate, compromise, be transparent and keep the kids central in your decisions, mediation might not be the righ...

We wrap up our Divorce and The Family Held Business Series with a critically important piece that is often overlooked or attended to only at the end of the divorce. In the chaos of negotiations and the emotional turmoil that accompanies divorce, there are critical conversations and decisions that need to be made around the business of your estate. Everything from changing beneficiaries and ensurin...