Stronger in the Difficult Places
Dr. Zoe, a licensed psychotherapist and relationship coach walks with you on your journey through fixing your difficult relationships, including that sometimes difficult one with yourself. Here, she offers a space where you can look at yourself and your relationship through a lens of psychology, faith and a dash of her own kind of feminism. Stronger in the broken places podcasts hosts guest from all over the world, from celebrity tv therapists to everyday women, authors and scientists, offering therapeutic tips, encouragement, camaraderie and support, helping women stay strong and transform difficult relationships. We're not fixing them, we're fixing you and that changes everything! Ask Dr. Zoe a burning relationship question https://www.drzoeshaw.com Or find her on Instagram @drzoeshaw
Episodes
What happens when the relationship you once chose begins to feel heavy and you quietly tell yourself you're stuck?
In this episode, Dr. Zoe speaks directly to the woman who feels trapped not by crisis, but by clarity she's been avoiding. The kind of clarity that comes when love hasn't disappeared, but ease has. When you're still committed, but something inside you is tired.
This is not an episode about whether you should stay or ...
Many women believe that if they are loved well enough, they will finally feel secure, whole, and at peace.
But here's the hard truth: love doesn't heal self-abandonment—it reveals it.
In this episode, Dr. Zoe explores why self-abandonment forms, how it shows up in romantic relationships, and why expecting love to fix it quietly sabotages intimacy. This conversation is compassionate, direct, and deeply hopeful, especially if you'v...
Do you ever feel like you have to be "right" in order to feel safe? Or that if you could just figure out the answer, the relationship, or the next step, then the anxiety and shame would finally go away?
If so, you're not alone. Many women stuck in co-dependency and complex shame cling to certainty as a way to feel secure—but often it only leaves us more exhausted, more disconnected, and further from ourselves.
In this episode of St...
We've all been there—wishing someone we love would finally be different. Maybe it's a spouse who won't listen, a parent who won't soften, or a friend who keeps repeating the same destructive patterns. The temptation is to pour our energy into fixing them—but what if the real path to peace and change begins with you?
In this episode, I unpack why clinging to the hope that someone will change can keep you stuck, frustrated, and rese...
What do you even call a divorce anniversary? Two years after the end of my marriage, I find myself reflecting—not on celebration, but on growth, healing, and the lessons heartbreak leaves behind. In this deeply personal episode, I'm sharing the three truths divorce taught me about co-dependency and how I'm learning to live and love differently.
Whether you're walking through the rubble of a relationship, navigating the lonely space...
So many women in difficult relationships hold onto a dangerous belief: if I just love him enough, I can save him.
Psychotherapist and author Shavaun Scott knows this illusion all too well. In her memoir Nightbird (Pierian Springs Press, May 12), she unflinchingly shares her journey through an emotionally abusive marriage, her husband's tragic suicide, and the painful yet liberating process of rebuilding her life.
In this conversati...
In a world where we're taught to speak up, make our point, and persuade, the skill of listening often gets overlooked—and undervalued. Yet listening, when done well, can transform our relationships far more than talking or lecturing ever could.
In this episode of Stronger in the Difficult Places, Dr. Zoe sits down with Licensed Professional Counselor Gina Yanovitch to explore how truly hearing others can deepen understanding, foste...
What does it really take to make a long-term marriage work and why do so many couples struggle to stay connected over time? In this episode, I sit down with psychologist and author Dr. Bonnie Comfort to explore the hard truths and hopeful tools behind enduring love.
With over 30 years of experience working with couples, Dr. Comfort offers a candid look into the complexities of modern marriage, the emotional minefield of infidelity,...
What do you do when life takes a turn you never asked for? When the diagnosis, the betrayal, the loss, or the slow unraveling of your plans leaves you feeling like the wrong person for the job?
In this deeply personal and compassionate episode, Dr. Zoe reads a letter to anyone facing a life they didn't expect. Originally written for an anthology, this letter was adapted for anyone navigating life-changing pain, disorientation, or s...
Why do so many women find themselves in relationships where they're doing all the emotional labor? And what role does childhood—and especially the way we raise boys—play in this dynamic?
In today's powerful episode, Dr. Gloria K. Vanderhorst joins me to unpack the lifelong impact of early emotional conditioning—particularly for boys. With over 50 years of experience working with individuals, families, and schools, Dr. Gloria bring...
What if anxiety wasn't the enemy, but a signal? In this powerful episode, Dr. Zoe talks with psychotherapist and transformational coach Bonnie Brindle about why anxiety is just energy—and how to channel it instead of being ruled by it. Bonnie shares her own story of living with intense anxiety, what finally helped her break free, and the surprising way your energy system could be sabotaging your calm.
You'll walk away with practica...
Welcome back to Stronger in the Difficult Places. I'm your host, Dr. Zoe, and today we're digging deep into a topic that hits close to home for so many women in difficult relationships: the difference between enmeshment, co-dependence, and healthy interdependence.
These patterns can be hard to recognize when they're all you've ever known. Maybe you were taught that love means sacrifice. That closeness means never saying no. That bo...
In this powerful episode, Dr. Zoe sits down with author and biblical life coach Dawn Ward to talk about the often-invisible toll that guilt, shame, and self-blame take on mothers of addicted children. Dawn shares how faith helped her move forward in her calling, even while her loved ones were still in the midst of their struggle. Together, they explore how trauma can keep us stuck, what it means to truly feel again, and how to rec...
Trust is the foundation of every healthy relationship—and when it breaks, it can feel like your world is unraveling. In this deeply honest and empowering episode, Dr. Zoe speaks to the woman who finds herself in the painful in-between: staying in a relationship with a partner she no longer fully trusts.
Whether the betrayal is emotional, financial, or physical—or the result of consistent minimization of your needs—Dr. Zoe shares f...
If you're feeling tired—but not just in your body, in your soul—this episode is for you.
Dr. Zoe sits down with Tracie Braylock, holistic nurse, educator, and author of Radical Relaxation: Releasing the Stress You Were Never Meant to Carry. Together, they unpack what "radical relaxation" really means (hint: it's no...
Parenting doesn't end when your kids become adults—and neither does the complicated relationship we have with shame as parents. In this powerful conversation, I'm joined by family coach, former educator, and licensed mental health expert Anastasia Arauz to explore how shame weaves its way into our parenting, our family dynamics, and even into the lives of our adult children.
Anastasia brings her...
In this episode of Stronger in the Difficult Places, I'm joined by transformational relationship guide Nick Brancato for a powerful conversation on a subtle but common challenge in long-term relationships—priority drift.
Nick opens up about his own relational journey and how even the most connected couples can find themselves slowly drifting apart when life's demands begin to compete with their shared values and intentions. We unpa...
Have you ever found yourself wondering, "Is this emotional abuse… or just a hard relationship moment?"
You're not alone.
In today's episode, Dr. Zoe breaks down the crucial difference between emotional abuse and other common relational struggles—like conflict, insensitivity, emotional immaturity, or human imperfection. When you've grown up in dysfunction or carry the weight of Complex Shame™, it can be hard to trust your internal r...
In this episode, we dive deep into the body's role in healing with Kate, a physical therapist, author, and embodied freedom and transformation coach. Kate specializes in helping service-driven women who feel like they're falling apart—overwhelmed, exhausted, and trapped in cycles of chronic anxiety, pain, and fatigue.
We also unpacked how shame shapes our identity and how the unhealed stress and trauma we carry doesn't just affect ...
We've all been taught how to spot red flags in others—but what if we're the red flag?
In this powerful episode, Dr. Zoe unpacks the uncomfortable but essential question: could your own behaviors, coping mechanisms, or unresolved trauma be playing a role in your relationship struggles? With compassion and clarity, she explores how complex shame and survival patterns might show up as self-sabotage, emotional unavailability, or codepe...
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