The Brothers Discuss: the power of God's grace, challenging the protagonist to question their long-held beliefs about an all-punishing, transactional God in order to break free from their shame-filled cycle of addiction. Often people have a distorted view of God that leads to feelings of shame and disconnection instead of love and peace. This distorted view can start at a young age through a rigid family system, or a church culture that teaches principles but doesn't explain the why behind them....
Feb 15, 2023•32 min•Season 3Ep. 209
Caller Jay: grew up in Arizona in a family of 10 with a father who had a sexual addiction and masked it by using his mother's credibility. Despite thinking he had a normal childhood, Jay began to act out with porn and lust and kept it a secret from his wife. With therapy, Jay and his wife stayed together and his sister opened up about her and Jay's experience of being molested by their father. Jay and his nine siblings then took action to remove their mother and two brothers from the home. Despi...
Feb 13, 2023•41 min•Season 3Ep. 208
Caller Kat's Question: "My husband has been in recovery from porn addiction for about 4 years now. His addictive behavior has affected me and our relationship in a number of ways over our 12 years together — he has lied, kept secrets, hidden files, and items, given partial disclosures, and attempted to gaslight me many times, so that for the first few years I took on the role of “porn police”, searching his devices and taking charge of accountability. He has also admitted in the past that porn u...
Feb 08, 2023•42 min•Season 3Ep. 207
Caller Ashley's Question: "How can you approach recovery/continued commitment or deal with your addict's extramarital attraction in a scenario where they don't have those sexual feelings/attraction to you? I got married not knowing about my spouse's physical sexual preferences... he was not open about his preferences/attraction which is mainly towards people/types that are very different from me. The assumptions I made that I was his "type" (assumptions he fostered dishonestly) were blown apart ...
Feb 06, 2023•51 min•Season 3Ep. 206
Caller David: had struggled with an addiction to pornography since he was seven. After years of shame and guilt, he finally hit a breaking point and decided to open up to his wife about his addiction and the emotional affair he had. He also started going to therapy, talking to his pastor, and attending a Twelve Step program to learn more about addiction and recovery. Through all of this, he began to empathize with his wife and find the strength to work through his addiction and trauma. He now ha...
Feb 01, 2023•45 min•Season 3Ep. 205
Caller Chadwick: Chadwick is a common law spouse of 6 years who has recently started formal therapy to address his childhood trauma, addiction, and relationship issues. He is passionate about recovery and rebuilding trust in his relationship. "The only measuring stick is your heart putting your effort in, and if you gave it today, you win today." After six years of a seemingly perfect relationship, Chadwick discovers his and his partner's hidden childhood traumas and addictions and must now deci...
Jan 30, 2023•45 min•Season 3Ep. 204
Caller Moises: has been struggling to find purpose and passion in life, numbing his feelings to survive. Through talking with Tyler and Brannon, he learned how to sit with fear and discomfort, and understand that failure is part of the process. "The road to success is full of failures. Take away the anesthetic and allow yourself to go through the withdrawals, feel the pain, and step into it - there's some peace, there's some light, there's some answers to your purpose and passion in your life on...
Jan 25, 2023•49 min•Season 3Ep. 203
Caller Austin: is a former only child and grandchild who has experienced the pressure of performing for his family in order to receive love. He is now trying to find a balance between undersharing and oversharing with his fiancee in order to create trust, safety, and a healthy relationship. "It's more important to be trusted than to be loved. And what that's really saying is that I can't really fully be loved unless I'm seen. And the way that I'm seen is by being honest and being transparent and...
Jan 23, 2023•48 min•Season 3Ep. 202
Caller Steve: is a 35 year old man in a committed relationship with his fiance. He is working to reclaim his true self and heal from the trauma of his past, including his previous marriage and his relationship with his parents. "The very things that you were using to protect yourself as a child are actually the exact things that are destroying your current relationship." Steve is struggling in his relationships due to his addiction and lies he has told in the past. He has come to the realization...
Jan 18, 2023•45 min•Season 3Ep. 201
Therapy Brothers Discussion: Do you ever feel like you can't seem to get a grip on your life? Do you battle with yourself trying to stay afloat while the waves of life come crashing down? We often find ourselves struggling to manage the different cycles and seasons of life, but what if we could learn to embrace them? In this episode, we’ll discuss the benefits of cycles and seasons and how it can help us to not only survive, but thrive in life. From the real Talk Recovery Podcast, two brothers a...
Jan 16, 2023•38 min•Season 3Ep. 200
When Caller Shea, a woman desperately trying to escape the trauma of an abusive upbringing and a deceitful marriage, discovers the power of her own resilience and self-worth, she must confront the anxiety of entering the dating world and the fear of being "tricked" again. "I am learning to be grounded in who I am, working towards understanding this idea of who God has told me that I am, and I am definitely going to have my eyes wide open to a partner that will cherish me." Shea grew up with a fa...
Jan 11, 2023•44 min•Season 3Ep. 199
Caller Emily: After four years of an emotionally toxic relationship and numerous affairs, Emily is desperately trying to reclaim her life and trust in humanity, but finds herself struggling to overcome her shame and accept the truth that her 'fairytale' was never real. Stop settling for scraps and start real recovery with the therapy brothers. Welcome to Real Talk Recovery with the Therapy Brothers. "You are worthy of love, trust, and a healthy commitment from an actual partner who is there for ...
Jan 09, 2023•42 min•Season 3Ep. 198
Callers Brent & Robyn are a married couple navigating the effects of past trauma on their relationship. They are committed to each other's individual healing process and creating a safe space for one another to process their emotions. When trauma and codependency collide, true connection and healing emerge with honest communication and a commitment to each other's growth. "When you come into the relationship with trauma and you come into the relationship with shame, you're naturally going to...
Jan 04, 2023•49 min•Season 3Ep. 197
Therapy Brothers Discussion: The brothers talk about reclaiming your purpose and how to overcome the void and emptiness that can come with achieving the goals we have set out. Tyler and Brannon discussed the lies we have been sold about what success is, and how to reclaim our purpose. Brannon suggested that we start by asking ourselves the question: who did God design me to be? We must take action in order to follow our purpose. Tyler shared his own example of how he found his purpose through hi...
Jan 02, 2023•37 min•Season 3Ep. 196
Brannon and Tyler have a conversation about Setting boundaries with family. I learned that setting expectations that are not based on reality can cause more pain and suffering and that in order to be successful in interacting with family, we need to be honest about our boundaries and not take things personally. It is important to have a plan in place to manage triggers, as well as to take care of our own physical and emotional needs while spending time with family. A protective protagonist must ...
Dec 28, 2022•35 min•Season 2Ep. 195
Therapy Brothers Discussion: Cody Parker is a 38 year old therapist and recovery coach who has struggled with sexual addiction, alcohol and drug abuse, and childhood trauma. After facing the consequences of his actions, he found healing and purpose in helping others on their own journey to recovery. "You overcoming your deepest, darkest demons will be the blueprint for someone else to overcome theirs, so don't give up." In This Episode: 1. How to stay motivated to help people when they're not mo...
Dec 26, 2022•42 min•Season 2Ep. 194
Therapy Brothers Discussion: "Forgiveness is about freedom and liberation from the burden that we get dumped on through no fault of our own." A woman was married to a man who was emotionally abusive, gaslighting her and cheating on her with her best friend. She worked hard to make the marriage work, but after finding out about the affair she was crushed. She went through a process of shock, confusion, anger, sadness, and devastation. She felt betrayed and couldn't trust him. Eventually she reali...
Dec 21, 2022•42 min•Season 2Ep. 193
Therapy Brothers Discussion: After years of hiding his addiction and breaking his wife's trust, a man must face his demons head on to rebuild any chance of a future with her and become a better man. I had broken my partner's trust by betraying her and engaging in harmful behavior. I was desperately trying to hide it, but she had eventually discovered what I had done. We had reached a point of broken trust and I wanted to fix it, so I began to work on myself. I looked inwardly and honestly at my ...
Dec 19, 2022•42 min•Season 2Ep. 192
Caller Larry's Question: "We’re almost a year since D-Day why do I continue to lie and gaslight my wife when all she wants is honesty?" Larry is a married man who has had a series of betrayals in his marriage over the past 15 years. He recently had a 15-month physical affair and has been seeing a CSAT since August to work on recovering his marriage. He is looking for his wife and children to see him differently for the things he has done. Larry is looking for validation and connection from other...
Dec 14, 2022•42 min•Season 2Ep. 191
Caller Jared's Question: "Why does recovery work stress me out? Doing things like daily work, connecting to God, avoiding slips are all still hard for me. I feel like I am doing something wrong. I have been in this state for several years now and cannot seem to grasp full recovery. It's like I am stuck in 75% recovery." // SUBMIT A QUESTION + SCHEDULE A CALL // We would love to answer any questions you have about addiction, trauma, recovery, healing, and anything you can think of. Click the link...
Dec 12, 2022•49 min•Season 2Ep. 190
Caller Brooke's Question: "I have been with my husband for 10 years since I was 17. We have 4 kids. I so deeply love the life we have built. I recognize I don’t have anything except this. It has now been revealed that my husband has consistently used porn since he was 6 years old. He has used porn daily throughout our entire marriage. I now understand that I am not in the marriage and partnership I thought I was. After all of this came out and he committed to no porn. He binged porn on a 4-day w...
Dec 07, 2022•43 min•Season 2Ep. 189
Therapy Brothers Discussion: Brannon and Tyler process some of the obstacles they're facing in doing therapy with their clients. "I'm a therapist, and I've been working with a lot of couples lately. I've seen a lot of success when both people in the couple are working hard on their individual recoveries. But lately, I've been running into a sticking point with some of my couples. I see one person working really hard on their recovery, and the other person appears to be working hard too. But for ...
Dec 05, 2022•39 min•Season 2Ep. 188
Therapy Brothers Discussion: How do Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), and experiential therapies help heal trauma and allow us to reach our potential? Do you struggle with trauma and addiction? Are you looking for a way to get trust, safety, and healing? Do you know how to Face the beast and slay it? What if the key to healing your traumas and fears was to face them head-on? "I was sitting in a therapy session recently, working through so...
Nov 30, 2022•38 min•Season 2Ep. 187
Caller Madison's Question: "My husband and I have been going through our recovery journey for the last 4 years. We’ve done a lot of therapy, listening to your podcasts, and learning all we can to strengthen our marriage but there are still times every so often that my husband relapses and acts out. Does there ever come a point in recovery when there are no longer relapses?" Todd and his wife Madison have been married for five years and have been on their recovery journey for most of that time. T...
Nov 28, 2022•49 min•Season 2Ep. 186
Therapy Brothers Discussion: We love talking about these themes and two different styles of energy: "Masculinity empowers femininity, and femininity empowers masculinity". "What a lot of times the feminine will do when they feel that lack of masculinity in a relationship is they'll start to step into that masculine role because they're looking for stability and safety and consistency." In This Episode: 1. The difference between masculine and feminine energy, and how they work together. 2. The im...
Nov 23, 2022•42 min•Season 2Ep. 185
Caller Heather's Question: "My husband and I have been married 22 years together 26. We have a complex relationship, and to be honest, I’m not even sure where to start. I have had intense trauma from my husband since we were dating. In 2014 I discovered a text from a stripper, that story took months to tell and it changed all the time, I discovered some other relationships but again the story is never the same. We both have significant childhood trauma that I know affects us. We both love each o...
Nov 21, 2022•50 min•Season 2Ep. 184
Caller Brad's Question: "I’ve struggled with sexual addiction since childhood. Now I’m married and have kids of my own. Several times I’ve started on the path to recovery but I don’t know that I’ve ever done it for the right reasons. I’ve heard over and over again that recovery doesn’t begin until the pain of the addiction becomes worse than the pain of healing. I am tired of having to admit to church leaders and my wife that I’m struggling. I’m tired of not getting things done at work because I...
Nov 16, 2022•49 min•Season 2Ep. 183
Caller Ryan's Question: "I am a husband, father of 2, soon to be 3, and am a man who is working on identifying the false agreements that I have built up over my life. I have recently come to realize that PTSD plays a major role in my compulsory acting out behavior within my sex addiction. I am a survivor of covert incest, as well as other traumatic events that affected my sense of safety and security. I have been no contact with my family for approaching two years. As I am beginning the work of ...
Nov 14, 2022•57 min•Season 2Ep. 182
Caller Kathryn's Question: "I’m scrambling to finish the separation agreement and meeting with mortgage companies and legal services and financial services and I better concentrate on this and make space to talk in October. I can’t wait! I’d like to know why some addicts don’t choose recovery and my X hates recovery even though he goes to celebrate recovery at church" You can listen to Kathryn's first call with us on Episode #134: My Marriage Started With Trauma And Has Continued To Be Traumatic...
Nov 09, 2022•47 min•Season 2Ep. 181
Caller Jacqueline's Question: "Hello and foremost thank you for your podcast. My husband (second marriage for both of us of 5 years) has been using PMO (for decades, he is 63) & was visiting cheating/porn dating sites. I also discovered a photo of a partially naked woman on his phone in his photo folder (a place where there were pictures of his entire family but none of me) Some background which may have significance : *My husband calls everyone by their name or gives them a nickname yet for...
Nov 07, 2022•33 min•Season 2Ep. 180
