Dr. Zoe’s Podcast

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!

Subscribe to the podcast

pod-cast-img

All Episodes

The Epidemic of Not Enoughness: How It Shapes Your Relationships—and How to Break Free-image

The Epidemic of Not Enoughness: How It Shapes Your Relationships—and How to Break Free

That quiet belief- I’m not enough- doesn’t just stay in your thoughts. It shows up in how you love, how you communicate, and how you stay in relationships that don’t fully meet you. In this episode, Dr. Zoe is joined...

When Forgiveness Feels Impossible-image

When Forgiveness Feels Impossible

Forgiveness is often talked about like it’s simple- something you should do if you want to heal. But what if it doesn’t feel freeing… what if it feels impossible? In this episode, Dr. Zoe unpacks the complicated reality of forgiveness—why...

You Can’t Change This (And Neither Can They): The Truth About Temperament in Relationships-image

You Can’t Change This (And Neither Can They): The Truth About Temperament in Relationships

What if the thing you keep trying to change about yourself… isn’t actually changeable? And what if the same is true for your partner? In this powerful and perspective-shifting conversation, I sit down with Dr. Denim Slade, author of Unlock...

What Do I Do When Overwhelming Shame Is Keeping Me From Seeking The Help I Truly Need?-image

What Do I Do When Overwhelming Shame Is Keeping Me From Seeking The Help I Truly Need?

You are my people. Everything I create- this podcast, my writing, these emails- is for one reason: to help you have a better relationship with yourself and with the people you love. And when you ask me questions, I listen....

When You Feel Trapped In A Relationship You Chose-image

When You Feel Trapped In A Relationship You Chose

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...

Love Won’t Heal Your Self-Abandonment-image

Love Won’t Heal Your Self-Abandonment

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...

How Releasing the Need to Be Right Can Heal Co-Dependency and Shame-image

How Releasing the Need to Be Right Can Heal Co-Dependency and Shame

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?...

When Someone You Love Won’t Change-image

When Someone You Love Won’t Change

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...

3 Things My Divorce Taught Me About Co-Dependency-image

3 Things My Divorce Taught Me About Co-Dependency

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...

The “Saving Him” Illusion: Love, Loss, and Finding Freedom-image

The “Saving Him” Illusion: Love, Loss, and Finding Freedom

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...

Listen Like You Mean It – The Relationship Shift That Starts With Listening-image

Listen Like You Mean It – The Relationship Shift That Starts With Listening

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...

Staying Married Is the Hardest Part: Infidelity, Empathy, and the Glue That Holds Us Together-image

Staying Married Is the Hardest Part: Infidelity, Empathy, and the Glue That Holds Us Together

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...

Dear Brave Soul: When Life Doesn’t Go As Planned- Shame, Blame And Other Things We Aren’t Meant To Carry-image

Dear Brave Soul: When Life Doesn’t Go As Planned- Shame, Blame And Other Things We Aren’t Meant To Carry

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...

How Men Are Conditioned to Emotionally Abandon us-image

How Men Are Conditioned to Emotionally Abandon us

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...

Anxiety Is Just Energy: Tools to Calm Your Relationship Anxiety-image

Anxiety Is Just Energy: Tools to Calm Your Relationship Anxiety

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...

Enmeshment, Co-dependence, and What Healthy Connection Actually Looks Like-image

Enmeshment, Co-dependence, and What Healthy Connection Actually Looks Like

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...

Overcoming Guilt, Shame, and Blame in the Face of Our Children’s Struggles-image

Overcoming Guilt, Shame, and Blame in the Face of Our Children’s Struggles

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...

What To Do When You Don’t Trust Your Partner-image

What To Do When You Don’t Trust Your Partner

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...

Why We Need Radical Relaxation-image

Why We Need Radical Relaxation

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....

How Shame Shows Up in Your Parenting—Even When Your Kids Are Grown-image

How Shame Shows Up in Your Parenting—Even When Your Kids Are Grown

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...

How Couples Can Resist Priority Drift In Your Relationship-image

How Couples Can Resist Priority Drift In Your Relationship

In this episode of Stronger in the Difficult Places, I’m joined by transformational relationship guide Nick Brancatofor 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...

Is it Emotional Abuse—Or Something Else?-image

Is it Emotional Abuse—Or Something Else?

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...

The Link  Between Insecure Attachment, Self Abandonment And Chronic Stress-image

The Link Between Insecure Attachment, Self Abandonment And Chronic Stress

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...

What if You’re The Red Flag? And What Do You Do About It?-image

What if You’re The Red Flag? And What Do You Do About It?

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...

How The 12 Steps Can Transform Your Life And Relationships-image

How The 12 Steps Can Transform Your Life And Relationships

In this powerful episode, Ian and I explore how these time-tested principles can radically shift your relationship with yourself and others. We talk about the freedom that comes from radical honesty, the courage it takes to confront your own story,...

Overcoming The Shame Of Your Everyday Addictions-image

Overcoming The Shame Of Your Everyday Addictions

Addiction isn’t just about substances—it can show up in our everyday lives in ways we don’t always recognize. Whether it's scrolling endlessly on social media, emotional eating, overworking, or even seeking validation from others, these everyday addictions can hold us...

Navigating Everyday Grief-image

Navigating Everyday Grief

Grief isn’t just about losing a loved one or experiencing life’s biggest losses. In this episode, I sit down with Natasha Smith to explore the often-overlooked grief we carry in our everyday lives. From unmet expectations to life transitions, we...

How To Advocate For Yourself In Difficult Relationships-image

How To Advocate For Yourself In Difficult Relationships

Why is it so easy to stand up for others but so hard to advocate for ourselves? If you’ve ever felt stuck between not wanting to seem "too much" and not knowing how to use your voice effectively, this episode...

How To Rebuild Your Life When You Didn’t Sign Up For This-image

How To Rebuild Your Life When You Didn’t Sign Up For This

You had a plan for how your life would turn out. You were working your plan and then life happened. How do you cope and how do you rebuild a worthy life, full of joy when it hasn’t turned out...

How Your Masculine Energy Is Affecting Your Relationship-image

How Your Masculine Energy Is Affecting Your Relationship

This masculine/feminine energy debate may feel over discussed, but the more I work with women who are experiencing difficulty in their relationships, the more I see this issue creeping up. In this episode, I address how an imbalance of the...

@drzoeshaw [instagram-feed feed=1]

Get Weekly Encouragement From Me – Join My Newsletter