The Parenthood and Relationship Podcast | Matrescence | Relationship after baby | Motherhood life

Many couples don’t lose love after becoming parents.
They lose exposure.

In this episode, we explore why emotional connection can feel thin, even when there’s commitment, shared history, and genuine care. Why you may feel appreciated, needed, even admired… yet still not deeply known.

This isn’t another conversation about communication techniques or “trying harder.”
It’s about something far more uncomfortable and far more powerful.

Drawing from years of therapeutic work, I share a surprising insight from inside the therapy room: people become magnetic not when they are impressive, ar...

Motherhood today isn’t just exhausting. It’s mentally relentless.

In this episode of The Parenthood and Relationship Podcast, I sit down with Valerie Recore, productivity coach for moms and certified Fair Play facilitator, to unpack what’s really happening beneath the surface of modern parenting.

This isn’t a conversation about doing more, delegating better, or “just asking for help.”

It’s about the mental load, the invisible labor, and the emotional weight mothers carry, often even when partners are willing and well-intentioned.

We explore why this generation of mothers fee...

The holidays are supposed to feel magical, but for many couples, they quietly become a season of exhaustion, tension, and unspoken resentment.

Behind the twinkling lights and wrapped gifts often sits one overwhelmed partner (usually a mother) carrying dozens of invisible tasks: remembering, planning, budgeting, anticipating everyone’s needs, and holding the emotional weight of “making it special.”

In this episode of The Parenthood and Relationship Podcast, we peel back the glitter to talk honestly about the mental load of holiday gift giving - why it feels so heavy, why it’s often gendered, and what it’s...

Holidays are supposed to bring us closer… but if I’m honest, for a lot of couples, they do the opposite. They quietly surface tension, resentment, and those unspoken power dynamics no one wants to name.

Have you ever paused mid-holiday chaos and thought, wait… whose holiday is this really?

Whose traditions are being centered?
Whose are politely tolerated?
And what happens when the family traditions we grew up with no longer fit who we’ve become, especially after kids?

That question is what led me to record this episode...

The holidays promise magic, but for many parents, December brings something very different: pressure, exhaustion, emotional overload, and a quiet sense of “I should be enjoying this more.” 

In this tender and insightful episode of The Parenthood and Relationship Podcast, we look at why the season that’s supposed to bring joy so often creates tension between partners, overstimulation for parents, and a mental load that silently grows heavier with every school event, family dinner, and shopping list. 

Drawing from real stories and psychological research, we explore the gap between holiday expectatio...

When a baby arrives, two births happen at once: a child AND two brand-new parents. 

Yet somewhere inside the chaos of sleep deprivation, emotional overload, invisible labor, and identity shifts, couples often look at each other and quietly wonder: 

What happened to us?

In this deeply honest conversation with fatherhood mentor Jason Seeman, we explore the profound but rarely-discussed experience of patrescence, the identity shift men go through when they become fathers. 

While mothers are often flooded with support, societal narratives, and conversations around matrescence, father...

Parenthood has a way of making the invisible suddenly very, very loud.
Especially when you’re the one keeping track of school emails, birthday gifts, doctor’s appointments, holiday planning, emotional stability, and which child currently refuses the “wrong” pair of socks.

This week on The Parenthood and Relationship Podcast, we’re taking you inside the mental load, the relentless cognitive and emotional labor that keeps a household running but often goes unseen, unshared, and deeply unacknowledged.

If you’ve ever said, “Why am I the only one who knows all of this?” or felt more like y...

The “tradwife” trend is everywhere - soft dresses, sourdough starters, spotless kitchens, angelic lighting. It’s presented as serenity, simplicity, and the antidote to overwhelm. 

But beneath the aesthetic lies a deeper story about real motherhood, pressure, identity, and what women are actually yearning for.

In this episode of The Parenthood and Relationship Podcast, we dismantle the trad-wife aesthetic with compassion and context, not judgment. 

Because this trend isn’t just about homemaking. It’s emerging from the exhaustion, contradictory expectations, and emotional labor that mothers carry today.

Many wom...

When was the last time you truly asked a new dad how he’s doing? Not how the baby sleeps, not how mom is coping, but how he really feels.

Because while we often picture fathers as the steady anchor while mothers weather the storm, research shows that paternal postpartum depression, also known as postnatal depression in dads, is far more common than we think.

In fact, 1 in 10 men experience what’s sometimes called male postpartum depression or PPD in men, a reality that still hides behind workaholism, irritability, silence, or ange...

Becoming a parent changes everything… your body, your sleep, your relationship, your identity. 

But for many mothers, that transformation also brings something much heavier: an invisible weight that few dare to name.

In this episode of The Parenthood and Relationship Podcast, we dive deep into the emotional reality of postpartum mental health, from depression and anxiety to rage, intrusive thoughts, and the quiet guilt that shadows new motherhood.

This isn’t another “baby blues” conversation. 

It’s a compassionate, science-backed exploration of what really happens when hormones crash...

What if the version of you that’s struggling right now, with perfectionism, exhaustion, or that endless loop of “I should be better,” isn’t broken, but wired for survival?

In this week’s episode, I sit down with Dr. Ashleigh Moreland, neuroscientist and founder of the Re-Mind Institute, for a conversation that might just change how you see yourself, your mind, and even your parenting.

Together, they explore what it truly means to unbecome who you had to be in order to survive, and why real healing often looks less like “self-improvement” and more like...

Have you and your partner ever argued about something trivial, a birthday cake, a chore, or a tone of voice, and realized it was really about something deeper? 

In this episode of The Parenthood and Relationship Podcast, I unpack how love, once effortless, can begin to feel like an obligation when unspoken fears and fatigue take over.

This isn’t an episode about blame. 

It’s about understanding.

Why resentment builds even in loving relationships.
Why partners often feel unseen despite their effort.
And how to move from scorek...

Do you wonder if you’ve fallen out of love with your partner?

Is this more intense after kids?

When love starts to feel like labor, and home feels more like a to-do list than a refuge, it’s not because you’ve fallen out of love. 

It’s because you’re both carrying A LOT - more than anyone can see.

In this episode we break down the silent struggles of parenthood: 

the mental load, emotional labor, and invisible pressures that quietly reshape relat...

Have you ever found yourself explaining your parenting choices a little too much? 

…Not because someone attacked them, but because something inside you felt the need to justify?

In this episode of The Parenthood and Relationship Podcast, we explore what’s really happening beneath those subtle moments of parental defensiveness

… the guilt, the identity shifts, and the deep desire to feel like we’re doing enough.

Through a real-life story of two moms at a school gate - one working full-time, one a stay-at-home-mom (SHAM) - we unravel how...

Parenthood doesn’t just change your schedule.

It shifts who you believe you are.

 In this episode, we dive into those quiet, sometimes painful cracks in identity that open once kids arrive:

We explore how couples can hold space for one another, learn tools to rebuild intimate connection, and begin to reclaim identity without resentment, guilt, or disconnection. 

This isn’t about returning to “pre-kids you.”

It’s about in...

Download the [free] Reconnection Roadmap [for him] !!

Fatherhood is more than showing up at bedtime or paying the bills. Yet too often, dads enter parenthood without the same acknowledged transformation that mothers undergo.

This episode of The Parenthood and Relationship Podcast pulls back the curtain on patrescence - the emotional, psychological, and relational journey of becoming a father.

While society expects women to evolve when they become mothers, men are still told to “provide, not process.”

The result?

Emotional disconnec...

Get the [free] Reconnection Roadmap [for him] that I referred to!!

 Have you ever looked over at your partner in bed and thought, we’re right next to each other… but it feels like we’re living on different planets?

If so, you’re not alone. 

This episode is all about what psychologists call emotional drift:
that quiet, subtle distance that creeps into so many relationships after kids arrive.

Today, we unpack one of the most common questions couples ask:
“Why do couples feel like roommates aft...

In this deeply moving and highly intentional episode of The Parenthood and Relationship Podcast, we explore what happens when parenthood collides with identity, neurodiversity, and the gentle yet powerful art of designing your life with purpose.

I sit down with Dr. Leonaura Rhodes, whose unique journey as a physician, neurofeedback therapist, life coach, and parenthood strategist moves beyond the clichés to the core questions:

How do we grieve the life we thought we’d have?
How do we rebuild a family culture that reflects both challenge and deep love?

Dr. R...

Have you ever felt like the invisible leader in your home?
Like you’re the one carrying the emotional weight, asking the big questions, and trying to shape a family culture while your partner seems to coast? You’re not alone.

In this week’s episode of The Parenthood and Relationship Podcast, we explore the reality of being the “vision bearer,” the parent who notices the gaps, feels the tension, and holds the dream of what family life could be.

While it’s a powerful role, it can also lead to exhaustion, resentment, and loneliness i...

GET THE WORKSHEET HERE

In today’s episode, we explore a deceptively simple, but deeply messy, question: Whose values are you parenting from?

It’s a gentle, courageous invitation to uncover the scripts we’ve inherited; values absorbed from our families, communities, even the culture at large, and ask: Are these values yours… or just familiar?

Join me as we unravel what “values” really mean: not slogans, but the guiding principles that show up when you’re tired or triggered.

We'll look at where those values come from, how they can misali...

Here’s the truth:
You’re shaping your family culture every single day — not through grand gestures, but in the tiny, repeated choices that give your home its emotional tone. What you say when someone’s upset. How you transition between activities. Where your attention lands.
That’s all culture.

In this episode of The Parenthood and Relationship Podcast, we break down the Three Rs of shaping an intentional family life: Rituals, Rhythms, and Roles. These are the invisible building blocks that can transform a home from reactive and scattered… to grounded, connected, and harmonious.

Ritual...

Many parents don’t even realize they already live within a culture - an emotional ecosystem fueled by inherited patterns, repeating phrases, rituals (or the lack thereof), and relational rhythms.

You might feel like your family is stuck on autopilot, responding to tantrums or tensions without curiosity or clarity. You might rely on bribes, punishment, or reactive conflict, with no sense of intentional design.

But here’s the good news: shifting your family culture doesn’t require a revolution. It starts with a pause… a breath between the stimulus and your response.

Today, we explo...

Is overstimulation quietly unraveling your relationship?

In this vulnerable and illuminating conversation with certified Health & Wellness Coach Sara Sandland, we peel back the layers of what’s really happening when moms feel “touched out,” irritable, or emotionally distant from their partners - and why it’s not a personality flaw, but a physiological reality with deep relational consequences.

Sara and I unpack:

GET THE INTIMACY in 5 MINUTE GUIDE!

Ever walked away from a heartfelt conversation feeling more alone than before you spoke?

You thought you said it right.
You were calm.
You had a point.

But somehow, your partner shut down, got defensive, or brought up the dishwasher from last week.

If that sounds familiar, this episode is for you.

In this week’s episode, we’re diving into the often-missed difference between reactive and relational communication.

It's not about perfect phrasing.
It's about the p...

What if the fights that feel like they're tearing you apart could actually bring you closer together?

In this transformative episode, we're diving deep into the hidden world of couple fighting styles and healthy conflict resolution that can revolutionize your relationship.

If you're a parent feeling caught in endless cycles of marriage conflict patterns, this episode is your roadmap to freedom. We explore why happy couples don't avoid conflict... they transform it!

From the pursuer-withdrawer dance to the protective parts that hijack our conversations, you'll discover the relationship communication skills that actually work when...

[GET THE INTIMACY in 5 MINUTE GUIDE!]

Ever said something totally harmless and watched your partner’s face fall like you just insulted their soul?

You’re not alone.

This episode dives into the invisible gap between what we say and what our partner hears, especially when we’re tired, touched out, and trying to survive modern parenthood. 

Because good intentions don’t always translate into connection. 

Sometimes, they land as daggers.

Join me as I unpack why even loving wor...

Have you ever wondered why communication tools sometimes don’t appear to work in relationships, even when you’re trying your best? Or why you and your partner keep having the same argument again and again? If you’ve been asking yourself, “how to fix emotional distance in a relationship,” or “why am I not feeling heard in my marriage,” this episode is for you.

In today’s powerful conversation, I sit down with Dr. Randall Alifano, a clinical psychologist, therapist of 40+ years, and author of Listening in the Raw, to explore what real listening in a relationship loo...

GET THE INTIMACY in 5 MINUTE GUIDE!

If you’ve ever found yourself lying next to your partner at night feeling more like co-parents than lovers, wondering why you feel disconnected despite still loving each other then this episode is for you.

In this week's episode of The Parenthood and Relationship Podcast, we’re diving deep into the invisible force that could be draining your emotional closeness without either of you realizing it: emotional labor in parenting.

Maybe you're not arguing. Maybe your schedules are full. Maybe the kids are thrivi...

Have you ever felt like you're the one holding your relationship and family together — not just with tasks, but with emotional glue? Like you're the radar, the planner, the peacekeeper… and no one really notices?

In this episode of The Parenthood and Relationship Podcast, we name it: emotional labor. But not the oversimplified version you see in viral posts. We go deeper into the invisible roles we inherit, the silent deals we never consented to, and the part of you that believes: “If I don’t hold it together, we’ll fall apart.”

You’ll explore the su...

Have you ever sat next to your partner, not angry, not even distant on purpose, and still felt miles apart?

This episode is for couples who love each other deeply… but no longer feel it. 

We go beyond the usual communication advice and explore how emotional intimacy is often blocked not by a lack of love but by a nervous system that no longer feels safe.

If you’re parenting, stretched thin, or just too exhausted for deep talks, you’ll discover why co-regulation, somatic cues, and body-based safety matter more than ever in your...

So many parents I work with tell me the same thing:
“I thought I’d be different.”

We want to be gentle, connected, patient. But when the pressure builds… we feel hijacked by old patterns.

This week, I sat down with trauma-informed parent coach Jaspreet Chopra Lewis to talk about why that happens — and what to do about it.

We talked about inherited patterns like emotional invalidation, the exhausting pendulum between too much control and too much guilt, and how nervous system work can help you shift in real-time, not just in hi...

What if healing isn’t something you have to do before parenting but something you do within it?

In this episode of The Parenthood and Relationship Podcast, we explore what healing really looks like when you’re not at a retreat, but in a home full of snack crumbs, emotional meltdowns, and endless to-do lists.

This isn’t about becoming a brand new person.
It’s about becoming a softer, braver, more present version of yourself, right in the middle of the mess.

We talk about how parenting can awaken the parts of us th...

Have you ever caught yourself reacting to your child in a way that feels all too familiar, perhaps echoing your own parents' responses?

These moments often reveal the invisible family patterns we've unconsciously inherited.

In Episode 57 of The Parenthood and Relationship Podcast, we explore how these unseen scripts shape our parenting styles and emotional responses.

We'll discuss how to identify these patterns, understand their origins, and take the first steps toward conscious change.

Today we explore:

Have you ever surprised yourself with how intensely you reacted to your child?

That flood of anger or shame? The moment where a small behavior felt so deeply personal?

This episode of The Parenthood and Relationship Podcast dives into the tender truth that parenting often reawakens childhood wounds—and that’s not a flaw, it’s an invitation. 

When our children act out, they're often unknowingly tapping into something buried within us: a memory, a hurt, a part of ourselves still waiting to be seen.

In this...

Why do couples who love each other still drift apart after having children?
Why do the very efforts meant to show love often miss the mark?

In this heart-opening conversation, Marriage & Family Therapist Lodovica Guidarelli joins us to unpack why emotional disconnection happens even in committed marriages, and how love languages, unspoken expectations, co-leadership, and even undiagnosed neurodivergence can quietly erode intimacy.

We don’t just blame “communication issues.”
We get honest about what really pulls couples apart, and more importantly, how they can find each other again.

If you're feeling unseen...

What if the problem isn’t your partner… but that you’re both trying to love each other in old ways that no longer fit?

In this gentle and reflective episode of The Parenthood and Relationship Podcast, we explore how relearning love is essential after parenthood — especially when the spark feels faint, but the love is still there.

You may not be in crisis, but if you're feeling more like roommates in marriage than lovers, or wondering why the emotional connection after babyfeels different, you are not alone.

We’ll talk ab...

You’re doing your best—making lunches, folding laundry, handling bedtime routines.

Yet, something feels off. Your partner seems distant, and despite your efforts, the emotional connection is missing.​

In this episode of The Parenthood and Relationship Podcast, we delve into the complexities of love languages in the context of parenting.

As responsibilities increase, couples often find themselves expressing love in ways that may not resonate with their partner.

This mismatch can lead to feelings of being unappreciated and misunderstood.​

We explore...

Have you ever thought, “Why doesn’t love feel the same anymore?”
Maybe you used to love hugs, long talks, or sweet texts… but now, you just want someone to do the dishes or give you five minutes alone.

If this sounds familiar, you're not alone.

In today’s episode, we talk about something a lot of people wonder but don’t always say out loud:
"Why doesn’t my love language work anymore after having kids?"

If you've been searching things like:

There’s a version of you that no one sees anymore—not because she’s gone, but because life got so loud and she got so quiet.

In today’s episode, we sit down with that forgotten part of you and whisper: “I still see you.”

Through real listener questions, I explore the hidden emotional terrain so many parents walk silently:
from grieving lost freedom, to watching your partner thrive while you unravel, to the numbness that creeps in and replaces passion with survival.

There is nothing wron...

Have you ever wondered if your back pain, discomfort during intimacy, or even that nagging feeling that “something’s just off” might be rooted in your birth experience — even if it happened years ago?

In today’s powerful conversation, I’m joined by Lynn Schulte, a pelvic health physical therapist with over 30 years of experience and a pioneer in recognizing what she calls the “open birthing pattern.”

Together, we unpack how childbirth — even when it seems “normal” — can leave lasting, unspoken impacts on our body, emotions, and relationships.

From misunderstood C-s...