Cottage Conversations
Cottage Conversations are conversations around betrayal trauma, lonely marriage, emotional abuse, psychological abuse, betrayal, bad marriage advice, healthy marriage advice, marriage therapy, how to find a marriage therapist, deciding whether to stay or go, divorce, healing after divorce, recovery, narcissistic abuse and everything in between.
- Update frequency
- every 12 days
- Average duration
- 38 minutes
- Episodes
- 13
- Years Active
- 2024 - 2025
Family Court, Mediation, and the Truth About Protecting Yourself
When you finally decide to leave a narcissist, you think the hardest part is over. But in family court and mediation, the manipulation often just shifts—and the system is rarely equipped to recognize…
He lied. You Shattered. Here's How You Heal
What really happens to a woman’s mind, body, and soul after betrayal? In this powerful episode, Bethany revisits the betrayal trauma framework of Dr. Omar Minwalla — and expands on it using Dr. Debi …
When Couples Counseling Makes It Worse: The Hidden Risks of Therapy in Emotionally Abusive Relationships
When Couples Counseling Makes It Worse: The Hidden Risks of Therapy in Emotionally Abusive Relationships 💬 Episode Summary: If you’ve ever sat in a couples therapy session hoping a professional would…
Navigating a Custody Battle with a Narcissist
In this empowering episode, I walk you through the complex and emotionally challenging process of navigating a Guardian ad Litem (GAL) during a custody dispute—especially when dealing with a narcissi…
Co-Parenting
In this episode, Bethany and Nicole share tools that have helped them navigate the co-parenting dynamic with an abusive partner.
You can find Bethany on Instagram and TikTok @toolsoftexascottages
Fin…
Thoughts on "It Ends With Us"
Bethany and Nicole share how specific scenes in the movie relate to the lessons they've learned in recovery and their experiences with abuse, whether directly or indirectly.
National Domestic Violen…
A Thankgiving Story
In this episode, Nicole shares her insights from the year that she discovered her husband's infidelity. Link to support network: https://sanon.org/
The F Word
Today's discussion is about forgiveness-including the complexities and nuance and how there is no right or wrong way to go about this. It is not a one-size-fits-all like some brand of underwear Nicol…
Guilt, Anger and Internal Family Systems therapy
We tackle a few questions from our listeners today. We discuss the feelings of guilt and shame that overwhelmingly surround women leaving or considering leaving their marriages, even when it's toxic.…
The Truth Is In His Actions
We call these The 5 Ws and they are your guide to knowing if there is a real change on the horizon in your partner. He says it's going to be different this time and that he will do whatever it takes …
Episode 3
Podcast Resources:
The voice of the Heart by Dr. Chip Dodd https://www.amazon.com/Voice-Heart-Call-Full-Living/dp/098439916X
Scream Free Parenting by Hal Runkel https://www.amazon.com/Screamfree-Par…
Episode 2
Nicole and Bethany are continuing our conversation from last week about Dr. Minwalla's model of The Secret Sexual Basement.
Cottage Conversations
Bethany and Nicole give overviews of their own marriage stories while exploring Dr. Omar Minwalla's model of The Secret Sexual Basement and IMR (Intentionally Manipulating Reality) which differs sign…