When Life Rewrites Your Fairytale: Lessons in Resilience, Love, and Starting Over
Many of us grow up believing in the fairytale ending — that if we just find the right partner, everything else in life will fall into place. But life has a way of teaching us that real strength and happiness come from within.
In a recent episode of the Bent Not Broken podcast, Coach Deborah Griffiths sits down with Heather Krueger, whose remarkable story of survival, love, and resilience reminds us that life rarely follows the script we expect.
The Fine Line Between Love and Hate in Divorce — And Why Your Kids Are Watching
Divorce is rarely just the end of a marriage. It’s the beginning of a new emotional landscape — especially for children.
Understanding Personality Types in Marriage, Dating, and Life After Divorce
Why do opposites attract—and why do those same differences sometimes create tension later?
In my recent conversation with Marita Littauer Tedder, we explored how understanding personality types can transform the way we approach marriage, dating, and even life after divorce.
Divorcing Differently: How to Protect Your Peace and Your Finances
Divorce doesn’t have to be a battlefield.
In my recent conversation with Chattanooga-based divorce mediator and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst Brenda Bridges, we explored what it truly means to “divorce differently.” And one thing became clear: the process you choose can dramatically impact your financial stability, emotional well-being, and long-term future.
From Narcissistic Abuse to Empowerment: Tiffiny Newton’s Story of Survival and Strength
Leaving an abusive relationship isn’t as simple as walking out the door. In this powerful episode of Bent Not Broken, Tiffiny Newton shares the raw truth about emotional abuse, trauma bonding, and the strategic escape that ultimately saved her life.
Refined, Not Ruined: When Survival Turns Into Building
“You are not what came to break you.”
Those words weren’t just spoken on stage—they were lived.
In this powerful episode of Bent Not Broken, we explore the moment everything shifts. The moment when survival ends and building begins. It’s that split second when you realize the fire didn’t destroy you—it refined you.
Healing After Divorce: Breathwork, Boundaries, and Finding Freedom in Midlife
There comes a moment in many women’s lives—often after divorce, illness, or burnout—when the question quietly surfaces: Is this really it?
Surviving High-Conflict Divorce: Legal Abuse, Smear Campaigns, and Finding Hope
High-conflict divorce is not just a difficult breakup—it’s an entirely different experience that can drain finances, erode mental health, and deeply affect children. In a recent episode of Bent Not Broken, I spoke with Lisa Johnson, co-founder of Been There, Got Out, to unpack what truly makes a divorce “high conflict” and how people can survive it with clarity and strength.
Reclaiming Your Voice After a Toxic Relationship: Why It’s Never Too Late
One of the most painful realizations that can surface after a long-term toxic relationship is this: you didn’t just lose the relationship—you lost your voice.
From Financial Fog to Financial Confidence After Divorce
Divorce doesn’t just change your relationship status—it often disrupts your sense of security, confidence, and identity. For many women, finances become one of the most overwhelming and avoided parts of life after divorce. Not because they don’t care, but because money is tangled with fear, grief, and survival mode.
When Your Gut Knows Before You Do: A Veteran’s Story of Divorce and Authentic Living
In a powerful episode of Bent Not Broken, I sat down with Chris Cushing, a US Air Force veteran and founder of VA Victory, to talk about something many people quietly experience but rarely admit: knowing something isn’t right—and moving forward anyway.
From Betrayal to Baby Steps: How Reinvention Happens After Divorce
Reinvention after divorce rarely looks dramatic. It doesn’t arrive with instant clarity, confidence, or certainty. More often, it begins quietly—in survival mode—when life as you knew it suddenly falls apart.
In a recent episode of Bent Not Broken: Life After Divorce, I sat down with Gail Showalter, whose story is a powerful reminder that rebuilding a life after betrayal doesn’t happen all at once. It happens one baby step at a time.
Self-Love, Sovereignty, and Starting Over: What We Learned from Jonathan Aslay
When most people think about self-love, they picture self-care routines, soothing rituals, or inspirational quotes. But in my recent conversation with Jonathan Aslay, one of America’s leading midlife self-love coaches, he reminded us that true self-love is something much deeper—and much harder. It is the courageous act of taking responsibility for your emotional life, examining your patterns, and reconnecting with the parts of yourself that have been buried by trauma, heartbreak, and identity loss.
When Love Erases You: Reclaiming Your Voice After Emotional Manipulation
Emotional abuse doesn’t always show up as bruises or yelling. Sometimes it arrives dressed as poetry, rose petals, and the promise of devotion. In my conversation with author, filmmaker, and survivor Nikki Allen, she shared a truth many women know intimately: the most damaging relationships are often the ones that feel like love at first… until they don’t.
Rebuilding After Divorce: How MaLinda Perry Turned Red Flags Into Renewal
Divorce is rarely just a legal ending—it’s an emotional unraveling, a loss of identity, and for many women, a journey back to themselves. In my conversation with MaLinda Perry, award-winning industry leader, Gallup Certified Strengths Coach, bestselling author, and founder of Happy Girls Don’t Do That, she opened up about her own deeply personal divorce story—one filled with ignored red flags, manipulation, and the slow erosion of self-worth.
Rebuilding Life After Divorce: How Strategy, Clarity, and CBT Help You Heal
Divorce doesn’t just end a relationship—it rewires your sense of self, your confidence, and your belief in what’s possible. In my recent conversation with Dr. Robin Buckley, executive coach, clinical psychologist, and author of Marriage Incorporated, we explored what it truly takes to rebuild your life after separation or emotional abuse. What she shared was powerful, practical, and deeply healing.
Gray Divorce After 50: Hidden Losses, Healing, and Reinvention
Gray divorce—divorce occurring after age 50—is one of the fastest-growing relationship trends of our time. In fact, as my guest Una Metz, LICSW, shared on the podcast, the rates of gray divorce have doubled for couples over 50 and tripled for those over 65. And she sees it firsthand: in just two days, two women in their seventies reached out for support.
From Numb to Alive: How Reclaiming Your Inner Voice Can Change Everything
Depression doesn’t always look like sadness. Sometimes it looks like numbness—moving through life without joy, without emotion, and without purpose. That’s how empowerment teacher David Allen Brown described his experience on the Bent Not Broken podcast, and his story offers a powerful roadmap for anyone navigating divorce recovery, emotional burnout, or identity loss.
Healing After Emotional Abuse: Why Small Decisions Feel So Hard (and How to Reclaim Yourself)
Leaving an emotionally abusive or toxic relationship is often described as the hardest step — but what many people don’t talk about is what happens after you leave.
Psychological Abuse Doesn’t Happen All at Once: Healing After Divorce and Gaslighting
Psychological abuse rarely announces itself.
There is no single explosive moment. No clear line where you suddenly realize, This is abuse. Instead, it happens quietly—chip by chip, moment by moment—until your sense of self slowly disappears.
In a recent Bent Not Broken bonus coaching episode, I reflected on my powerful and raw conversation with Kristen Crabtree, a certified divorce coach and creator of the Paramore Paradox. Kristen spent 22 years in a psychologically abusive marriage, and what she shared resonated deeply with so many listeners navigating divorce, emotional abuse, and gaslighting.