This exciting new episode explores the rapidly emerging world of AI companionship and its impact on relationships, attachment, and mental health.

Conversations hosts, Jeanne Vattuone, Dan Drake, Tim Stein, and Wendy Conquest are joined by Elizabeth Abbruzza and Connie Zollner of Bellevue Trauma Recovery Center to unpack how artificial intimacy is showing up in clinical practice. They examine why AI companions can feel so compelling and how that appeal can quickly become addictive, especially for individuals with trauma or insecure attachment.

The conversation also dives into the relational consequences, including how AI use can disrupt partnerships, create secrecy, and lead to experiences of betrayal. With thoughtful insights and real clinical examples, this episode sheds light on a complex and fast-growing issue that is reshaping how we understand intimacy, connection, and addiction.

Meditation isn’t about clearing your mind. It’s about changing your relationship to it. Conversations Hosts, Wendy Conquest and Tim Stein, explore how meditation can strengthen recovery for addicts and support grounding for partners.

They unpack the myth of “emptying the mind,” the power of sitting with discomfort, and how building mental resilience helps interrupt addictive cycles and emotional reactivity. This conversation highlights meditation as a practical, trainable skill for creating space, choice, and ultimately, peace of mind.

Join Wendy and Tim as they share real-world insights on building a consistent practice and why meditation is powerful but not a quick fix.

Conversations host Dan Drake and Wendy Conquest explore with Jeanne Vattuone and Tim Stein on their new workbook 'Finding the Way Through'. It is a comprehensive, 15+ year-in-the-making resource for sex and pornography addiction recovery.

What sets this workbook apart is its integration of rigorous sobriety work with a consistent focus on partner sensitivity, challenging the traditional “stay on your side of the street” model. The conversation unpacks how the book guides readers through the full arc of recovery, from denial and early sobriety to emotional growth, relational repair, and long-term healing. Each chapter blends education, practical exercises, real-life addict stories, and dedicated partner sensitivity sections that help bridge the empathy gap between addicts and betrayed partners.

This Conversations episode offers a powerful look at a shifting paradigm in recovery, one that centers empathy, inclusion, and mutual understanding from day one. Subscribe today!

In this new episode, Conversations hosts, Jeanne Vattuone, Tim Stein, Wendy Conquest, and Dan Drake talk with guest, Dr. Stevie Cotet, about empathy and why it matters so deeply in sex addiction recovery and relationship healing.

Dr. Stevie explains empathy as both an internal process and an external response, and discusses common barriers like shame, dysregulation, and skill deficits. The conversation also explores how empathy shows up differently in individuals and couples, why realistic expectations matter, and how assessment can help clarify strengths and growth areas. Dr. Stevie shares research-based insights on building empathy, supporting partners, and understanding the emotional challenges that often come up in recovery.

Listen to the full episode today! Do you want to learn more about the online assessments? Visit relationalempathy.com. 

In this latest episode on Conversations on Sex Addiction and Relationships, the team dives into a tough but essential question: Why do addicts lie and are they even aware they’re doing it?

Tim Stein, Dan Drake, and Wendy Conquest, unpack how lying often starts as an early survival strategy rooted in trauma, where being fully authentic didn’t feel safe. Over time, this evolves into patterns of denial, omission, and “motivated reasoning,” where the brain unconsciously twists reality to avoid discomfort, conflict, or shame. The hosts explore why even small lies can deeply damage trust, how ongoing dishonesty erodes relationships more than the truth itself, and what it actually takes to rebuild honesty in recovery. If you’ve ever struggled to understand dishonesty in addiction or felt the impact of it in a relationship, this episode offers real insight and clarity.

Listen or watch the full episode on Conversations Podcast, and don’t forget to follow and share to help others find these conversations.

What counts as an emotional affair? In this episode of Conversations on Sex Addiction and Relationships, Wendy Conquest, Tim Stein, Jeanne Vattuone, and Dan Drake unpack emotional affairs. How they begin, and why they can be deeply painful even without physical cheating.

The conversation will look at how emotional affairs can blur lines through texting, personal disclosure, and unmet emotional needs, especially when someone starts turning outside their primary relationship for support or intimacy. If you’re wondering whether a connection has crossed the line, this episode offers practical insight into emotional infidelity, trust, and how to respond with honesty and accountability. Listen now on all podcast platforms and subscribe for new episodes.

What does it really mean to be a sex addict? In this episode of Conversations on Sex Addiction and Relationships, hosts Tim Stein, Jeanne Vattuone, and Wendy Conquest unpack the confusion around sexual compulsivity, pornography use, betrayal trauma, and intimacy issues. They explore how to tell the difference between normal sexual behavior and addiction, what red flags to look for, and how shame, secrecy, and early exposure to sexual material can shape lifelong patterns.

Join the discussion about anxiety, coping, trauma, and the healing power of self-awareness and recovery. Whether you’re questioning your own behavior or supporting a loved one, this episode offers grounded insight from certified sex addiction therapists (CSATs).

When someone is caught in the cycle of sex addiction, it can appear that their only value is acting out in the addiction itself. But beneath the surface lies something much deeper. In this episode on Conversations on Sex Addiction and Relationships, Tim Stein, Wendy Conquest, and Dan Drake unpack what values really mean in sex addiction recovery. They explore the disconnect between what addicts say they value, like connection, honesty, and loyalty, and the behaviors that often contradict those beliefs.

Together, they examine how trauma shapes values, why autonomy and intimacy can feel unsafe, and how recovery offers a path to realignment moving from “I value” to “I want to value.” Drawing from their clinical experience, the hosts discuss how humility, awareness, and action help recovering addicts not just define their values, but live them authentically.

In this mailbag episode 'The High-Functioning Addicts' on Conversations Podcast, Wendy Conquest, Tim Stein, and Dan Drake tackle a listener’s question about “high-functioning” sex addicts.

These are people who appear to have everything under control yet still find themselves in patterns of secrecy, betrayal, and shame. What happens when addiction wears the disguise of success?

The Conversations Podcast hosts explore the subtle defenses that protect the illusion of control, the difference between compulsivity and authenticity, and why recovery work can be transformative even for those who don’t see themselves as “out of control.” Join the conversation as they discuss denial, ego, and the quiet chaos that lies beneath the surface of the “high-functioning” addict’s life and how true freedom may begin with humility and honest self-reflection.

#transformational #addictionrecovery #selfreflection #authenticity #betrayal 

Conversations Podcast hosts - Wendy Conquest, Dan Drake, and Tim Stein sit down to name the everyday dynamics that quietly erode even committed relationships.

They move beyond sex addiction to look at what harms connection in “ordinary” couples: assumptions and misattunement, the numbing presence of smartphones, the difference between healthy anger and aggression, dishonesty and lack of authenticity, and the pull of fantasy over reality. Using concepts like the “three H’s” (Do you want to be Helped, Heard, or Held?), love languages, and attunement, they offer practical scripts and questions partners can use in real time to reconnect instead of disconnect. They also explore how AI, social media, and cultural pressures make it harder to show up honestly and what it looks like to practice mindful “etiquette” so honesty doesn’t become brutality.

If you’ve ever wondered why your relationship feels stuck, distant, or “off” even without obvious betrayal, this conversation offers a clear, compassionate roadmap back to emotional and physical intimacy. Subscribe to Conversations on Sex, Addiction & Relationships today to watch their latest episode!