Clare was beaming when we began talking, so excited about her new lease on life. She had a marriage that had been dead for a while, with little communication or emotional support. She found herself more anxious and depressed, even praying for a way out of life...until one day, she got really sick and found herself facing death which ironically gave her a desire to live again! The journey to health also led her to re-evaluate her life, decide what was important. Clare began reading and learning a...
Jun 06, 2023•37 min•Ep 265•Transcript available on Metacast 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 parenting one through divorce. She highlights the likelihood that if you have a complex kid, either you and...
May 31, 2023•42 min•Ep 264•Transcript available on Metacast 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 following two Team Talks, Karen McMahon and Lisa Brick discuss an alternative approach to attacking, ...
May 25, 2023•54 min•Ep 263•Transcript available on Metacast 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 resources, organizations and advocates ready to assist you, financial support available for schooling a...
May 17, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep 262•Transcript available on Metacast 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 keep the divorce peaceful and save her family from being torn apart. Nicole shares the emotional rolle...
May 16, 2023•39 min•Ep 261•Transcript available on Metacast 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 many challenges we face when triggered or navigating past traumas. We look at expectations, discernm...
May 09, 2023•56 min•Ep 260•Transcript available on Metacast 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 characters into conversation with one another. We can then tap into their respective strengths and cho...
May 03, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Ep 259•Transcript available on Metacast 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 shifting your parenting paradigm from the highly intimate relationship of parenting with your spouse to the...
Apr 28, 2023•49 min•Ep 258•Transcript available on Metacast 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 gritty details to guarantee a rock solid agreement. This is one of the most stressful aspects of your div...
Apr 25, 2023•45 min•Ep 257•Transcript available on Metacast 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 explore their part in the dynamic, and discuss the fine line between having compassion and caretaking ...
Apr 19, 2023•38 min•Ep 256•Transcript available on Metacast 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 dragged through the court process and strangers make parenting decisions for you. Our guest, Larry ...
Apr 19, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep 255•Transcript available on Metacast 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 step and the immensely valuable impact this practice has on your daily life as a parent and your rel...
Apr 17, 2023•55 min•Ep 254•Transcript available on Metacast 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 financially to care for two children on her own. Tammy shares her story of the day her heart for ser...
Apr 11, 2023•35 min•Ep 253•Transcript available on Metacast 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 without filters and how hard this season is for mom's and dad's to navigate consciously. After explaining...
Apr 07, 2023•30 min•Ep 252•Transcript available on Metacast 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 such different perspectives, values and approaches to parenting our children. In order to keep the pe...
Apr 06, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Ep 251•Transcript available on Metacast 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, Elizabeth elaborates on the 5 Keys to preparing financially for your divorce. She invites you to examine ...
Mar 29, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep 250•Transcript available on Metacast 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. Co-parenting during and after divorce can be extremely challenging and stressful. It is not uncommon ...
Mar 27, 2023•52 min•Ep 249•Transcript available on Metacast 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 roofs. Today’s guests have a brilliant 6 Step process for calming your reactivity, shifting your focus, ...
Mar 24, 2023•58 min•Ep 248•Transcript available on Metacast 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’ and not that involved in the family. She had stopped asking questions. While she navigated the divo...
Mar 20, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep 247•Transcript available on Metacast 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. It is important that you prepare for the questions that you want to ask yourself prior to telling. B...
Mar 20, 2023•49 min•Ep 246•Transcript available on Metacast 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 setting effective boundaries and ensuring they feel heard and loved. Randi Rubenstein coaches parents...
Mar 16, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Ep 245•Transcript available on Metacast 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 signal & one worth listening to". Dr. Learner wrote this book as an invitation to give ourselves perm...
Mar 11, 2023•33 min•Ep 244•Transcript available on Metacast 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 lose the opportunity to communicate effectively. He shares a tool he has created to help couples stay...
Mar 08, 2023•44 min•Ep 243•Transcript available on Metacast 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 consciously raising your kids. As we will do throughout this series, we discuss the challenges of navigat...
Mar 06, 2023•50 min•Ep 242•Transcript available on Metacast 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 right path for you. Today's guest, Andrea Vacca, Esq is a mediation and collaboration attorney. She expl...
Feb 28, 2023•49 min•Ep 241•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ensuring you have enough insurance coverage to exploring and updating other trust and estate issues. Consid...
Feb 27, 2023•51 min•Ep 240•Transcript available on Metacast A common place people feel stuck in indecision is whether to continue trying to mend their marriage or to end it. In this podcast, Karen and Carrie talk about the limiting thoughts and behaviors that keep you stuck in indecision, what it costs you to stay there indefinitely, and some ways to start moving forward. The first thing is to give yourself permission to know what you know. How do you do that? Join us to hear about a powerful approach to gaining clarity, calm, and courage to hear the voi...
Feb 22, 2023•45 min•Ep 239•Transcript available on Metacast Collaborative divorce is the newest ‘kid on the block’ when it comes to divorce. It is a process in which you and your spouse commit to staying out of the court system and working in a spirit of creative problem solving, transparency and trust. Beth Dalena, Esq. shares what a Collaborative Divorce looks like and who is a good couple candidate and who is not. We also explore the emotional, legal and financial benefits of divorcing outside the court system. Learn more about Beth Dalena, Esq. here:...
Feb 20, 2023•55 min•Ep 238•Transcript available on Metacast One of the complexities involved in Divorce with a Family Business is the real estate holdings beyond the family residence. While many affluent families, in addition to their primary residence have vacation homes, when dealing with a family business, commercial real estate is often involved adding complexities to the overall financial picture. In either case, a residential or commercial appraiser is vital to assess the value of those properties. Choosing the right appraiser is key and today I am...
Feb 17, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep 237•Transcript available on Metacast Jodi recently emerged from a 2 year high conflict divorce. She and her family were integrally involved in a local community of faith and she shares how her practice of devotionals and prayer were a regular part of her life. Jodi shares how her faith at first kept her stuck in an unhealthy marriage as she believed that no matter how bad, God would fix things and divorce was not an option. Over time, she found a healthy support team, received counsel encouraging her that her experience of marriage...
Feb 15, 2023•46 min•Ep 236•Transcript available on Metacast 
