Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Diane & Rick address listener Shary’s dilemma about parenting time with an infant. How much does the co-parent relationship determine the best schedule? The hosts break it down, as well as discuss the similarities between toddlers and teens when it comes to co-parenting issues. Support the show >>>> CONTACT US >>>> RATE...
Jan 21, 2024•39 min•Season 4Ep. 22
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE In another episode in the parenting plan disaster series, Diane & Rick review Camile’s parenting plan language about 1st, 3rd, and 5th weekends. They discuss the problems with wording that seems fair in its attempt, but destined to create all kinds of unnecessary conflict. They provide a definition of “good faith” that would confuse the most a...
Jan 14, 2024•37 min•Season 4Ep. 21
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Listener Michael shares his problematic parenting plan language about birthday parties with Diane & Rick. They discuss not only the problem with the wording, but what really matters to the child — the one being honored by the celebrations. The hosts warn against creating language to manage co-parent conflict at the expense of the child. Suppor...
Jan 07, 2024•35 min•Season 4Ep. 20
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Diane & Rick address a listener’s question about the meaning of dinner in his parenting plan. They discuss how some co-parents go to great lengths to misinterpret parenting plan language to interfere with the other parent’s time with the children. Discussed are ways to avoid these common traps and the unrealistic fears parents can have when th...
Dec 31, 2023•36 min•Season 4Ep. 19
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Listener Colleen writes to get advice on how to manage her emotions and not answer her co-parent’s lying emails and texts. Diane & Rick discuss the importance of becoming desensitized to the other parent’s trigger attempts. As well as practice resisting the temptation to respond as a coping skill for the anxiety. Also discussed are strategies ...
Dec 24, 2023•45 min•Season 4Ep. 18
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Diane and Rick look at a conflict that on the surface might seem easy to resolve for the Non-Impossible parent. But upon further exploration, they unpack long-lasting consequences to giving in to a child’s request to stay away from school events and activities. They also discuss a new segment that will be added to the show to look at problematic p...
Dec 17, 2023•37 min•Season 4Ep. 17
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Diane & Rick address Trudy’s email that asks the question, “Is it too late for me?” They discuss strategies to help a 15-year-old stuck in the crossfire of his parents’ conflict - ABOUT HIM! They also tackle the tough dilemma of the effectiveness of fighting for custody when that may be playing right into the narcissist’s playbook. Additionall...
Dec 10, 2023•43 min•Season 4Ep. 16
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Listener Leah emails that her child is blaming her for his distress over the divorce because she “broke the vows” in her marriage to dad. Diane & Rick know this sentiment is not coming from the child. How do you counter that kind of attack from the other parent? The hosts discuss how to talk with the child to help him understand life choices a...
Dec 03, 2023•36 min•Season 4Ep. 15
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE A non-impossible Facebook group contributor posts about a co-parent who refuses to communicate. Diane & Rick explore the fine line between setting an appropriate communication boundary and ghosting your co-parent. Is it about the technique or the attitude? They discuss the necessity of both. To get a copy of the communication protocol order, C...
Nov 26, 2023•28 min•Season 4Ep. 14
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Listener Travis asks how to manage holidays with the children when his co-parent historically makes plans on his time. He’s tired of her sabotaging every holiday, but doesn’t want the kids to be stuck in the middle. Should he set a boundary with her or let it go? Diane & Rick break it down. Support the show >>>> CONTACT US >>...
Nov 19, 2023•41 min•Season 4Ep. 13
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Diane & Rick reach into the listener mailbag to reveal how listeners are benefitting from the show and how they continue to feel railroaded by the court system. They discuss how some disordered people get away with attaching themselves to good people and then proceed to wreak havoc on their lives! Support the show >>>> CONTACT US &...
Nov 12, 2023•45 min•Season 4Ep. 12
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Co-parenting with an impossible parent can be difficult enough, but what happens when grandparents get involved and make things worse? Listener Chrislyn asks Diane & Rick to weigh in about this on the show. They discuss the importance of boundaries in all relationships, especially the parent/adult child one. They walk Chrislyn through the DRAG...
Nov 05, 2023•45 min•Season 4Ep. 11
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE As a follow up to Part One, Diane and Rick describe the family court hearing they recently attended and interview one of the parties. They get a first-hand perspective about the personal devastation these types of cases cause, even when there is a capable judge in place. How does it feel to prepare for years for a final hearing, only to be complet...
Oct 29, 2023•58 min•Season 4Ep. 10
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Diane & Rick report on a recent court hearing they attended, in which the judge admonished the parties to never come back to the court, if they knew what was best for the children. Diane questions what that really means. Is that possible? What if you have no choice? How can judges have so much power to affect the lives of innocent parties who ...
Oct 22, 2023•39 min•Season 4Ep. 9
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE What if your co-parent informed you, after the fact, that your child was baptized — and according to your child, all of his/her extended family attended?! How do you respond when your child wants to know why you weren’t there? Diane & Rick discuss the difficulty of dealing with a co-parent who purposely leaves the other parent out of major dec...
Oct 15, 2023•36 min•Season 4Ep. 8
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Diane & Rick reach into the mailbag and answer several listener questions about common topics facing parents with impossibles on the other side. They discuss a variety of topics on the show and give episode reference numbers for listeners to hear more about each topic from past episodes. Support the show >>>> CONTACT US >>>...
Oct 08, 2023•43 min•Season 4Ep. 7
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Diane & Rick discuss three types of grief parents can experience after separation and divorce. They focus on complicated and ambiguous grief, when the natural healing process is interrupted by toxic co-parents or alienating behaviors. Also discussed are ways parents can address these more complex processes that can feel so painful and destruct...
Oct 01, 2023•39 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Diane & Rick take a deep dive into what parental alienation feels like from the child’s perspective. From having trust issues in relationships to learning to lie to survive, they explore the destructive impact alienation has for children long-term. Also discussed are ways to respond to an alienated child and what to do if you are an adult surv...
Sep 24, 2023•55 min•Season 4Ep. 5
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE In this unique episode, Diane and Rick stay silent (shocking :-), so the voices of alienated parents can be heard. They discuss their personal pain, but more importantly, how alienation deeply hurts the children and their relationships with siblings and other family members. To learn more about the Center for Navigating Family Change, go to: CNFC....
Sep 17, 2023•50 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Author Dana Laquidara joins the show to discuss her memoir, You Know Who , referring to the mother she was never allowed to talk about as a child. This episode drives home the concept that alienating a child from a parent has lifetime negative consequences. Click here to order the book, You Know Who , and to learn more about Dana, visit www.Dana L...
Sep 10, 2023•55 min•Season 4Ep. 3
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Diane & Rick welcome author William McGee to discuss his novel, Half the Child . The main character in the book struggles with parental alienation and naively thinks the court will rule in the best interests of the child. He has a rude awakening, as he realizes the system designed to help him is destroying his life. To order the book, Half the...
Sep 03, 2023•47 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Diane & Rick begin Season 4 with the final chapter of the Case from Hell. If you haven’t listened to Season 2, binge it before listening to this emotional episode that describes Diane’s experience attending Sarah’s final hearing. This is the perfect episode to kick off our Parental Alienation month in September. Get ready to hear how we plan t...
Aug 27, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE David asks if he should ask the court for more time with his kids because of alienating behaviors he suspects their mom is encouraging. Diane & Rick discuss the risks of making an already insecure parent more insecure by further court action and how that may affect the children. They also provide advice about the importance of the non-custodia...
Aug 20, 2023•26 min
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Tom emails a question about how to respond when his co-parent goes silent on a time-sensitive decision and how to react to the children, who seem to be using the same passive-aggressive techniques with him. Diane & Rick discuss how to resolve time-sensitive conflicts and talk to teenagers who are clearly stuck in the middle of the adult confli...
Aug 13, 2023•30 min
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Diane & Rick respond to an email from Janelle who struggles to please her co-parent without being walked on, and at the same time is afraid to set boundaries for fear her ex and the court will see her as a "bad" co-parent. They discuss what kids really need the co-parent relationship to look like in order to be okay. For more info about the em...
Aug 06, 2023•24 min
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Listener Janelle wonders if it is okay to snoop on her child’s phone and worries that if the other parent finds out, he will be upset. Diane & Rick wonder why this is even a question and discuss the importance of managing phone use, regardless of who bought and pays for the phone. They go over the bullet points of their court order language fo...
Jul 30, 2023•36 min•Season 3Ep. 30
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Diane & Rick discuss the problem of others, like family, friends, and untrained professionals, guilting high-conflict co-parents into trying harder to “just get along”. They explore ideas on how to talk to kids about difficult subjects when one parent is incapable of discretion, putting the other parent in the position of having to help a chil...
Jul 23, 2023•37 min•Season 3Ep. 29
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Diane & Rick discuss how parents should respond when they feel their child is recording them to gather evidence for their other parent. Or are they? They explore the importance of talking to kids about consent in our digital world, but also what might motivate a child to violate privacy with a parent. Support the show >>>> CONTACT ...
Jul 16, 2023•29 min•Season 3Ep. 28
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Diane & Rick address Cassie’s question about her step-son’s mother - who freezes him out if he acts like he had a good time with dad. They discuss the destructive nature of this type of emotional manipulation, as well as the consequences for his future relationships. Support the show >>>> CONTACT US >>>> RATE THE SHOW &...
Jul 09, 2023•30 min•Season 3Ep. 27
Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Listener Kymberly shares that her boyfriends’s ex-wife is so angry at her that she confronts her with name calling and threats during custody exchanges and activities. Diane & Rick discuss the importance of following the same rules in front of the kids as co-parents do with each other. They discuss the importance of moms and step-moms allowing...
Jul 02, 2023•30 min•Season 3Ep. 26
