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 are taking a short break. To round out season four, they are featuring interviews where they were guests on other podcasts! This week they join Seth and Pete of How to Split a Toaster for an engaging conversation about the DRAGON method of approaching co-parent conflict. They explore how parents can conquer their fear of communica...
Aug 18, 2024•50 min•Season 4Ep. 52
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 are taking a short break. To round out season four, they are featuring interviews where they were guests on other podcasts! This week, they share the interview they did with Sarah Edmondson and Nippy Ames of the A Little Bit Culty Podcast. Sarah and Nippy were featured on the popular HBO docuseries, The Vow , which explored the ab...
Aug 11, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 4Ep. 51
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 Sherry emails about her concern that her co-parent is not paying attention to their infant’s medical needs. But when the girlfriend enters the picture, things blow up. Diane & Rick discuss the importance of not alienating support people from the mix, especially when it involves a child who cannot speak for herself. Support the show &g...
Aug 04, 2024•36 min•Season 4Ep. 50
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 explore how AI might assist co-parents in constructing productive co-parent communication. What they learn is that AI has not yet learned enough about toxic people to understand how certain types of communication may feed into their motivations, instead of managing them. They conclude it could be a helpful resource, but is not yet...
Jul 28, 2024•36 min•Season 4Ep. 49
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 Veronique shares that she is paying for all her children’s activities, but they have no idea their other parent is shirking his responsibility. Is this protecting the kids or hurting them? Will they just take advantage of mom if they don’t know it’s hard for her to bear this financial burden alone? Diane & Rick discuss that saying”no”...
Jul 21, 2024•33 min•Season 4Ep. 48
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 passionately to Danielle’s email about feeling the need to file a court case, knowing it will only embolden her co-parent to continue his campaign against her. They discuss the risks/benefits and the true dilemma she faces in making this very difficult decision. Also explored are the ways to navigate parenting while managi...
Jul 14, 2024•41 min•Season 4Ep. 47
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 Robert wants to know what an acceptable amount of co-parent communication is when two co-parents are getting along well. His recent relationship tanked when his girlfriend couldn’t abide his overly friendly interactions with his ex. Diane & Rick explore the need for boundaries and how kids can blame a new partner when the relationship...
Jul 07, 2024•33 min•Season 4Ep. 46
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 explore the possibilities of transforming the parental alienator when he/she grows emotionally over time. They discuss the importance of BOTH parents recognizing the passage of time and respecting their child’s developmental growth. The parent who accuses the other of alienation can have more responsibility in the process than the...
Jun 30, 2024•44 min•Season 4Ep. 45
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 Jake, a mental health professional, joins Diane & Rick on this episode to tell his story of dealing with narcissistic abuse and alienation from his mother growing up. They discuss how it felt to him as a teen, how he came to realize his mother’s disorder, and how he reconnected with his father, who represented Jake’s emotional place of safety....
Jun 23, 2024•49 min•Season 4Ep. 44
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 part one of a three-part series on parental alienation, the hosts take a complicated look at the phrase "parental alienation" and what the various forms are. They discuss the oversimplification of this issue in the family court system, and the desensitization professionals experience as a result of it being over-used as a defense strategy. Part...
Jun 16, 2024•45 min•Season 4Ep. 43
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 fallacies of traditional “anger management”. They also talk about different types and reasons for anger, and how it is important to respect the nuances, especially when dealing with an impossible parent. They explore the responsibilities co-parents have to manage anger appropriately for the sake of the children, and th...
Jun 09, 2024•44 min•Season 4Ep. 42
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 Maria asks what she can do to run interference with her kids when their step-mother seems bent on turning them against their mom. Even dad has apologized to mom for his wife’s behavior, but he does little to make things better for the kids. Diane & Rick discuss what can and can’t be done when a person who is not a party to the legal p...
Jun 02, 2024•30 min•Season 4Ep. 41
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 explore self care from the perspective of working on the root cause of co-parent stress, rather than treating the symptoms of the stress. They discuss it from the point of you of the divorce professional, as well as those in the midst of a toxic co-parent relationship. Also explored is the importance of understanding your process ...
May 26, 2024•42 min•Season 4Ep. 40
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 John asks the all-important question, “Should I fight?” Diane & Rick break down the risks and benefits of letting go vs. holding on to the conflict. They explore the complexity of balancing children’s needs with parental rights and conclude that so much depends on the type and temperament of the other parent. S4.E34. is the show Diane refers t...
May 19, 2024•51 min•Season 4Ep. 39
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 week off to spend time with their families, so today’s episode is featuring a new podcast created by a Co-Parent Dilemmas listener! Jack, the host, speaks poignantly about what he’s learned as an alienated dad and how he maintains a strong bond with his children, despite the mountain of obstacles his co-parent puts in their...
May 12, 2024•28 min•Season 4Ep. 38
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 Has the co-parent world gone absolutely crazy? In some ways, yes! Diane & Rick discuss the disturbing patterns they often see in their work, and hear about from listeners, that signal the need for an evolutionary change in thinking for those who suffer their co-parent’s psychopathic behaviors. The hosts discuss the importance of accepting the ...
May 05, 2024•38 min•Season 4Ep. 37
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 Claire writes in and asks what to do about a co-parent who takes more than 5 minutes to say goodbye to their daughter at each exchange. Diane & Rick discuss the importance of taking care during exchanges to send the message that parents will be okay, no matter which house the child Support the show >>>> CONTACT US >>>> ...
Apr 28, 2024•38 min•Season 4Ep. 36
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 Amanda writes to Diane & Rick regarding her co-parent’s complaint about their daughter’s activities being too inconvenient for him and his spouse to endure. The hosts discuss the concept of time with children being the co-parents’ “turn” to be responsible, not their time to dominate the child’s interests. They also explore alternative...
Apr 21, 2024•33 min•Season 4Ep. 35
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 Ashley is frustrated by both her husband and her co-parent. She frequently finds herself caught between them, and none of it is helpful to her 12-year-old son. Diane & Rick explore the difficulties of navigating this dilemma, and discuss both sides of the equation. Support the show >>>> CONTACT US >>>> RATE THE...
Apr 14, 2024•33 min•Season 4Ep. 34
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 a listener’s question about withholding parenting time due to a history of domestic violence and continued toxicity in their other home. What are the steps to determine safety issues? How do parents balance protecting children with the risk of being accused of parental alienation? The co-hosts break it down. Support the...
Apr 07, 2024•41 min•Season 4Ep. 33
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 answer listener Carlos’ question about the confusing paragraph in his parenting plan regarding the summer schedule. His co-parent is attempting to manipulate the schedule to get more time than the plan intends. The hosts discuss alternative ways to structure a plan like this and the importance of minimizing conflict for the children...
Mar 31, 2024•33 min•Season 4Ep. 32
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 wants to stop communicating with her co-parent so she can get emotional relief. Diane & Rick revisit the importance of following the structured email protocol and talk about the pitfalls of going silent or ignoring the impossible co-parent. WE HAVE A RESOURCES PAGE ON THE WEBSITE! Visit www .CPDilemmas.com/resources to view th...
Mar 24, 2024•34 min•Season 4Ep. 31
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 Zachary’s question about how to get his co-parent to stop bringing her toxic boyfriend to the children’s activities. He worries the children will get in the middle of the conflict. They discuss the purpose of setting a boundary is for proactive self-protection, not to manage the other parent’s behavior. Support the show &g...
Mar 17, 2024•40 min•Season 4Ep. 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 address listener Danny’s question about the top three issues facing high-conflict parents and how to resolve them. The hosts discuss the fact that the issues are not the problem, but what lies underneath them, such as the fears and threats that drive the conflict. They explore the idea that some conflicts are not worth fighting fo...
Mar 10, 2024•40 min•Season 4Ep. 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 Shawn asks a question about how to help her 19-year-old daughter repair her relationship with her father. Diane & Rick discuss the importance of acting parental no matter how old the child is. The discuss the daughter’s dilemma of not only competing for her father’s time, but dealing with the fact he married someone close to her age. Support t...
Mar 03, 2024•26 min•Season 4Ep. 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 Sometimes approaching your court case without an attorney can leave you vulnerable and without all the information you need to make good decisions. Diane & Rick explore a listener’s frustrations about her parenting plan language and how things may have been different if she had not run out of money and had to act pro se. Support the show >&...
Feb 25, 2024•33 min•Season 4Ep. 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 Diane & Rick answer listener Ryan’s question about which therapist he and his co-parent should choose for their daughter. The one nearest dad or mom? What really matters? Is it possible to have a “harmonious” discussion, as their parenting plan orders them to do? You might be surprised by their answers. CLICK HERE to access the paragraph about...
Feb 18, 2024•36 min•Season 4Ep. 26
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 mental health issues that are connected to someone with an extremely self-focused personality disorder, also known as a Narcissist. They differentiate the clinical information from what is promoted on social media and help listeners to determine how to respond to a narcissistic co-parent with good boundaries and not as...
Feb 11, 2024•54 min•Season 4Ep. 25
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 explore the phenomenon of children engaging in “gaslighting” as a strategy to either survive their parents’ conflict or to manipulate a parent to get what they want. Is it a learned behavior from an alienating parent, or is it part of something deeper? The hosts break it down. To get a copy of the communication protocol order, CLI...
Feb 04, 2024•36 min•Season 4Ep. 24
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 Heather shares a paragraph from her parenting plan entitled “Special Considerations”. Diane& Rick explore how you can go too far in trying to explain an abstract phrase and find yourself right back into the conflict that prompted the language to begin with! Ultimately, they settle on the simple concept of doing what is right without e...
Jan 28, 2024•27 min•Season 4Ep. 23
