In the final episode of the family disclosure series, we dig into the actual content of a disclosure conversation, what to say, what to leave out, and how to support kids before, during, and after. Parents often land on one of two extremes: sharing too much graphic detail (which can put kids in an inappropriate emotional caretaker role) or sharing too little (leaving kids doubting their own perception of what's happening at home). Instead, disclosure should rest on three pillars: naming what the child has already witnessed, real accountability from the parents involved, and concrete, actionable next steps rather than vague promises.

We also revisit the series' core idea of witnessing as a "dance." The goal isn't just informing kids of adult failures, but helping them feel truly seen in their confusion and pain, and inviting them into their own healing process. A 24-hour loop-back conversation is presented as essential, not optional, since that's often where real repair begins.

Finally, the episode covers how to help a dysregulated child return to baseline, and why parents' own self-care and nervous system regulation matter just as much as what they say to their kids. This wraps the three-part family disclosure series, with more episodes on the topic possible down the road.

Join us for the Becoming Together: Mother-Daughter Retreat

Register for “Witnessed” coaching groups for teens and adult children 

About the Host

Morgan Ellsworth is a Licensed Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (LAMFT) and Board Certified Coach (BCC) with advanced training in trauma-informed care. She is certified through APSATS as a Certified Clinical Partner Specialist Associate (CCPS-A) and Certified Partner Coach (CPC) and works with individuals and families impacted by betrayal trauma.

Connect with Morgan @Healing.betrayed.families on Instagram or email her directly at [email protected]

Visit Morgan’s coaching website

For those looking for therapeutic support in Arizona, connect with Morgan at her private practice, Ellsworth Family Therapy

Thank you for listening to Healing Betrayed Families.

In this follow-up to our episode on why families choose disclosure, we're diving into the how. Morgan walks through what it takes to prepare for a family disclosure conversation, from getting clear on what to share, to doing the emotional groundwork parents need before they can hold space for their kids' reactions. A recurring theme: disclosure isn't safe unless the parent can stay regulated through shame, discomfort, and their child's emotional response.

The heart of the episode breaks down age-appropriate approaches across four developmental stages, young children (3-7), elementary/preteen (8-12), teenagers (13-17), and adult children (18+), with guidance on what to share, what to protect kids from, and how to avoid turning children into emotional caretakers for their parents. Morgan also touches on why teens especially tend to already sense more than parents realize, even without the specifics.

The episode closes with guidance on what comes after the conversation: making space for ongoing questions, treating disclosure as a process rather than a single event, and connecting kids with professional support to help them process what they've heard. Morgan mentions her companion resource, Moving Children from Confusion to Clarity: Age-Appropriate Disclosure Language in Betrayal Trauma, as well as her upcoming Witnessed support groups for teens and adult children navigating family disclosure or discovery.

Disclaimer: This episode offers general education, not therapeutic or coaching advice specific to your family. Please consult a qualified professional to apply these concepts to your situation.

Join us for the Becoming Together: Mother-Daughter Retreat

Register for “Witnessed” coaching groups for teens and adult children 

About the Host

Morgan Ellsworth is a Licensed Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (LAMFT) and Board Certified Coach (BCC) with advanced training in trauma-informed care. She is certified through APSATS as a Certified Clinical Partner Specialist Associate (CCPS-A) and Certified Partner Coach (CPC) and works with individuals and families impacted by betrayal trauma.

Connect with Morgan @Healing.betrayed.families on Instagram or email her directly at [email protected]

Visit Morgan’s coaching website

For those looking for therapeutic support in Arizona, connect with Morgan at her private practice, Ellsworth Family Therapy

Thank you for listening to Healing Betrayed Families.

In this first episode of a multi-part series on family disclosure, Morgan Ellsworth explores why so many parents fear telling their children the truth about betrayal in the family, and offers a reframe: disclosure isn't the wound, secrecy is. Drawing on the concept of the "witnessing grid," Morgan illustrates the different positions family members can occupy — aware/unaware, empowered/disempowered — and how children often end up in the "black box": aware that something is wrong, but without the language, information, or power to process it. She introduces the idea of "ethical loneliness," the isolating experience of carrying a truth no one will confirm, and explains how thoughtful disclosure helps close the gap between a child's internal sense that something is wrong and a family's insistence that everything is fine.

Also in this episode: enrollment details for the Witnessed educational and support groups for teens and adult children of betrayed families (launching in August, early bird pricing through July 20th), and an invitation to the Becoming Together Mother-Daughter Retreat in Sedona, AZ, September 8–12.

Witnessing Grid (Weingarten, 2000).

Access the Weingarten article

Witnessed group information

Email Morgan for details on registration for the Witnessed groups.

Join us for the Becoming Together: Mother-Daughter Retreat

About the Host

Morgan Ellsworth is a Licensed Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (LAMFT) and Board Certified Coach (BCC) with advanced training in trauma-informed care. She is certified through APSATS as a Certified Clinical Partner Specialist Associate (CCPS-A) and Certified Partner Coach (CPC) and works with individuals and families impacted by betrayal trauma.

Connect with Morgan @Healing.betrayed.families on Instagram or email her directly at [email protected]

Visit Morgan’s coaching website

For those looking for therapeutic support in Arizona, connect with Morgan at her private practice, Ellsworth Family Therapy

Thank you for listening to Healing Betrayed Families.

In this heartfelt conversation, Morgan welcomes Cat Etherington, Director of Recovery at The Naked Truth Project — a UK-based nonprofit working to free lives from the damaging impacts of pornography and problematic sexual behavior. Cat shares openly about her own journey through substance addiction, early motherhood, and the betrayal trauma she later navigated in sobriety. With nearly two decades of recovery behind her, Cat offers a rare and powerful perspective on what it looks like to parent through chaos, rebuild trust with your children, and break generational cycles — not perfectly, but persistently.

Together, Morgan and Cat explore the profound impact addiction and betrayal have on the whole family system, and what it really takes to create safety for your kids — not just as an idea, but as a lived experience. Cat speaks candidly about parenting from shame, learning to regulate herself before she could attune to her children, and the hard-won lesson that repair matters more than perfection. She also introduces the concept of "60% good enough parenting" as a grounding reminder that you don't have to have it all together to be enough for your kids.

If you are a parent in the thick of trauma or early recovery and wondering how you can possibly show up for your children while you're barely keeping your head above water, this episode is for you. Cat's message is both honest and deeply hopeful: it's a marathon, not a sprint, and there is nothing you can't go back and apologize for. Connect with Cat and The Naked Truth Project at nakedtruthproject.com.

About Cat Etherington

Cat Etherington is the Director of Recovery for Naked Truth Project, she lives in Durham in the North East of England and is married with two daughters. Cat is a certified professional life coach and integrative counselling practitioner, working with individuals and couples impacted by problematic sexual behaviour and betrayal. Cat was the first ever European practitioner to be certified by the Association of Partners of Sex Addicts Trauma Specialists (APSATS) and now serves on their Board of Directors. With personal experience of both addiction and betrayal, Cat has unique insight into the journey of recovery and healing.

Connect with Cat 

About the Host

Morgan Ellsworth is a Licensed Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (LAMFT) and Board Certified Coach (BCC) with advanced training in trauma-informed care. She is certified through APSATS as a Certified Clinical Partner Specialist Associate (CCPS-A) and Certified Partner Coach (CPC) and works with individuals and families impacted by betrayal trauma.

Connect with Morgan @Healing.betrayed.families on Instagram or email her directly at [email protected]

Visit Morgan’s coaching website

For those looking for therapeutic support in Arizona, connect with Morgan at her private practice, Ellsworth Family Therapy

Join us for the Becoming Together: Mother-Daughter Retreat

Thank you for listening to Healing Betrayed Families.

Morgan is joined by Ellia Marcum, certified coach and founder of Mood Well Coaching, for a powerful conversation about what teens need most after family betrayal.

Ellia brings both professional expertise and lived experience to this discussion, sharing how betrayal impacts teens emotionally, behaviorally, and relationally, and how parents can support their children without forcing conversations, minimizing pain, or losing necessary boundaries.

Together, they explore the importance of emotional safety, consistency, validation, and witnessing a teen’s experience, as well as signs that a teen may be struggling even when they aren’t talking. The conversation also highlights common parenting missteps after betrayal, when to bring in outside support, and small, doable ways parents can rebuild trust and connection with their teens.

This episode offers reassurance, practical guidance, and hope for parents navigating betrayal while trying to show up well for their children.

About Ellia Marcum:

Ellia Marcum is a certified coach and founder of Mood|Well Coaching, where she helps teens transform emotional pain into personal growth and resilience. She is also the creator of Turning To Peace Magazine (ttpmagazine.org), a faith-based resource supporting partners healing from betrayal trauma. Through her coaching and writing, Ellia guides parents and individuals in cultivating presence, emotional regulation, and purposeful living after life’s most difficult experiences. 

Learn more at www.moodwellcoaching.com and www.ttpmagazine.org

Discount code for the magazine HEALING10

Free resource: How to talk to your children about family infidelity

Complete the interest list for the Becoming Together: Mother-Daughter Retreat

About the Host

Morgan Ellsworth is a Licensed Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (LAMFT) and Board Certified Coach (BCC) with advanced training in trauma-informed care. She is certified through APSATS as a Certified Clinical Partner Specialist Associate (CCPS-A) and Certified Partner Coach (CPC) and works with individuals and families impacted by betrayal trauma.

Connect with Morgan @Healing.betrayed.families on Instagram or email her directly at [email protected]

Visit Morgan’s coaching website

For those looking for therapeutic support in Arizona, connect with Morgan at her private practice, Ellsworth Family Therapy

Thank you for listening to Healing Betrayed Families.

In this episode of Healing Betrayed Families, host Morgan Ellsworth sits down with Hali Roderick and Monifa Ellis-Addie to explore how ADHD shows up across every part of the betrayal trauma family system–from the person with problematic sexual behaviors, to the betrayed partner, to the children caught in the middle. 

These three discuss what standard betrayal trauma treatment gets wrong when ADHD isn’t factored in, and what it looks like for a family to truly heal when both ADHD and betrayal trauma are part of the picture. This episode emphasizes that healing requires more than insight alone—it requires repeated, embodied experiences of safety. Healing Betrayed Families is designed to support betrayed partners, parents, children, and professionals seeking language, understanding, and a compassionate path forward after relational rupture.

Check out Monifa’s website: Banyan Therapy Group 

Check out Monifa’s podcast: Hope & Healing Chats

Check out Monifa’s Instagram: @intimateanswers

Check out Hali’s podcasts: Choosing to Stay After Infidelity and Betrayal & Rooted and Rising Healing After Betrayal

Complete the interest list for the Becoming Together: Mother-Daughter Retreat

About the Host

Morgan Ellsworth is a Licensed Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (LAMFT) and Board Certified Coach (BCC) with advanced training in trauma-informed care. She is certified through APSATS as a Certified Clinical Partner Specialist Associate (CCPS-A) and Certified Partner Coach (CPC) and works with individuals and families impacted by betrayal trauma.

Connect with Morgan @Healing.betrayed.families on Instagram or email her directly at [email protected]

Visit Morgan’s coaching website

For those looking for therapeutic support in Arizona, connect with Morgan at her private practice, Ellsworth Family Therapy

Thank you for listening to Healing Betrayed Families.

In this episode of Healing Betrayed Families, host Morgan Ellsworth discusses how to navigate difficult conversations with your children. When a question from your child catches you off-guard, there are tools you can use to make sure the child is heard, empathized with, and that their question is answered.

Drawing from trauma-informed family systems care, Morgan explains what your child is really asking for when they come to you with difficult questions. This episode emphasizes that you do not need to be a perfect parent, but that meeting your child where they’re at, while not compromising your own health, will lead to the best outcome. Healing Betrayed Families is designed to support betrayed partners, parents, children, and professionals seeking language, understanding, and a compassionate path forward after relational rupture.

Complete the interest list for the Becoming Together: Mother-Daughter Retreat

About the Host

Morgan Ellsworth is a Licensed Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (LAMFT) and Board Certified Coach (BCC) with advanced training in trauma-informed care. She is certified through APSATS as a Certified Clinical Partner Specialist Associate (CCPS-A) and Certified Partner Coach (CPC) and works with individuals and families impacted by betrayal trauma.

Connect with Morgan @Healing.betrayed.families on Instagram or email her directly at [email protected]

Visit Morgan’s coaching website

For those looking for therapeutic support in Arizona, connect with Morgan at her private practice, Ellsworth Family Therapy

Thank you for listening to Healing Betrayed Families.

In this conversation, Morgan is speaking with Amie Woolsey to discuss the often-overlooked impact of betrayal trauma on teens, young adults, and the entire family system. This episode was previously posted on Amie’s podcast “Choose to Be” as part of their series on supporting children through betrayal. In the conversation, Morgan shares both personal and professional insight as someone who experienced betrayal trauma as a teenager and now specializes in helping betrayed families heal through trauma-informed, family-centered care.

Together, they explore how children internalize relational rupture, why many trauma responses in teens are misunderstood, and the importance of giving kids language for their experience without overwhelming them with details. They also discuss emotional regulation, family culture, co-regulation versus punishment, and the delicate balance between protecting children and allowing them space to process their own healing journey.

This episode is an important reminder that betrayal trauma does not stay contained within the couple relationship. Children are deeply impacted too and healing becomes possible when families create space for honesty, emotional safety, validation, and repair.

Read Amie’s Bio

Listen to the “Choose to Be” podcast with Amie Woolsey and Alana Gordon

Listen to Amie “Empowered Divorce” Podcast

Complete the interest list for the Becoming Together: Mother-Daughter Retreat

About the Host

Morgan Ellsworth is a Licensed Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (LAMFT) and Board Certified Coach (BCC) with advanced training in trauma-informed care. She is certified through APSATS as a Certified Clinical Partner Specialist Associate (CCPS-A) and Certified Partner Coach (CPC) and works with individuals and families impacted by betrayal trauma.

Connect with Morgan @Healing.betrayed.families on Instagram or email her directly at [email protected]

Visit Morgan’s coaching website

For those looking for therapeutic support in Arizona, connect with Morgan at her private practice, Ellsworth Family Therapy

Thank you for listening to Healing Betrayed Families.

Welcome to the final episode of the Healing Betrayed Families podcast's DBT Skills series! In this episode, Morgan dives into interpersonal effectiveness, a critical set of skills for enhancing communication and relationships. Morgan emphasizes that these skills play a vital role in healing and relational repair in betrayed families. Mastering interpersonal effectiveness can create safety and help each member of the family system navigate the turbulent relationships after betrayal. By practicing these DBT skills, you can create deeper connections while maintaining your self-respect and values. Thank you for joining us on this journey through the DBT series!

Interpersonal Effectiveness Handout

Complete the interest list for the Becoming Together: Mother-Daughter Retreat

About the Host

Morgan Ellsworth is a Licensed Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (LAMFT) with advanced training in trauma-informed care. She is certified through APSATS as a Certified Clinical Partner Specialist Associate (CCPS-A) and Certified Professional Coach (CPC) and works with individuals and families impacted by betrayal trauma.

Connect with Morgan @Healing.betrayed.families on Instagram or email her directly at [email protected]

Visit Morgan’s coaching website

For those looking for therapeutic support in Arizona, connect with Morgan at her private practice, Ellsworth Family Therapy

Thank you for listening to Healing Betrayed Families.

What does it look like when a mother and daughter do the healing work together? In this special episode, I'm joined by my mom and my sister to pull back the curtain on the Becoming Together Mother-Daughter Retreat, an intimate gathering just outside Sedona, Arizona, designed for moms and daughters who are both actively doing their personal growth work and ready to bring it into their relationship.

We talk about the heart behind this retreat, who it's truly for (and who it isn't), what makes it different from a conference or a girls' trip, and why the stunning off-the-grid location near Sedona, AZ is part of the healing itself.

If you're a mother or daughter who feels the pull to go deeper in your relationship while honoring your own becoming — this episode is for you.

If you're ready for a deeper connection with your daughter(s),⁠ ⁠complete this interest list⁠⁠ for more information about our upcoming retreat - Becoming Together: A Mother Daughter Retreat - hosted by myself and my two daughters near Sedona, Arizona on September 8 - 12th.

Check out Mataia's Podcast: Good Day with Tay

Check out Hali's Podcasts: Choosing to Stay After Infidelity and Betrayal

Rooted and Rising Healing After Betrayal

About the Host

Morgan Ellsworth is a Licensed Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (LAMFT) with advanced training in trauma-informed care. She is certified through APSATS as a Certified Clinical Partner Specialist Associate (CCPS-A) and Certified Professional Coach (CPC) and works with individuals and families impacted by betrayal trauma.

Connect with Morgan @Healing.betrayed.families on Instagram or email her directly at [email protected]

Visit Morgan’s coaching website

For those looking for therapeutic support in Arizona, connect with Morgan at her private practice, Ellsworth Family Therapy

Thank you for listening to Healing Betrayed Families.