Helping Couples Heal Podcast

By Marnie Breecker

Welcome to the Helping Couples Heal podcast. If you have lost hope around healing your relationship due to infidelity, relational or betrayal trauma you have come to the right place. Helping Couple

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FAQs about Helping Couples Heal Podcast:

How many episodes does Helping Couples Heal Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 111 episodes available.

Best of Helping Couples Heal Podcast

The most played episodes among Podcast App listeners.

Number 1: 109. When Needing Feels Unsafe: Understanding Dependency, Shame, and Healthy Interdependence
In this episode, Marnie explores the often misunderstood topic of dependency and how our early experiences shape the way we relate to our needs, our relationships, and ourselves. Drawing on the work of Pia Mellody and the foundations of shame resilience, she examines why asking for help can feel so difficult and how shame can keep us disconnected from the very support we need. Marnie unpacks three common dependency stances: over-dependency, anti-dependency, and the "needless/wantless" adaptation. She explains how each develops as a survival response, how each impacts intimacy and connection, and why these patterns often leave people feeling isolated, overwhelmed, or unseen. She also explores the difference between needs and wants, the role of self-care in emotional health, and what it means to move toward healthy interdependence. Through practical examples and reflection questions, Marnie offers a framework for identifying needs, communicating them more clearly, and building deeper, more authentic relationships. Click here to learn more & join The Healing Room! Download the Understanding Dependency handout and reflection questions here. Want to connect with us? Schedule your free 15-minute call.
August 25, 202635min
Number 2: 108. Who Are You Trusting With Your Betrayal Trauma?
In this episode, Marnie explores the importance of carefully choosing who you trust with your healing. When you have already experienced betrayal, deception, and a loss of trust, finding the right person to support you through recovery can feel scary and confusing. Marnie discusses the difference between clinical expertise, personal experience, and anecdotal advice, and why it is important to understand where the guidance you receive is coming from. Marnie also addresses healing timelines and why there is no universal timeline for recovery. She explores how comparing your healing to someone else's can create shame and make you feel like you are falling behind when, in reality, healing is a deeply personal and non-linear experience. Throughout the episode, Marnie offers practical questions to help you vet therapists, coaches, and other professionals, including specific questions about their training, experience, ongoing education, supervision, and approach to care. She also emphasizes the importance of humility, collaboration, and knowing the difference between evidence, clinical experience, and opinion. Most importantly, Marnie reminds listeners that the helping relationship should never become another betrayal. You deserve to know who you are trusting with your healing, and you deserve support that honors the complexity of what you have been through. Want to connect with us? Click here to schedule your free 15-minute consultation.
August 17, 202629min
Number 3: 110. The Abandonment Wound, Betrayal, and the Road to Healing
In this episode of the Helping Couples Heal Podcast, Marnie welcomes Scott back to the podcast to explore a personal part of recovery: the abandonment wound. Scott shares how an early fear of being unwanted, not mattering, or not being good enough shaped the way he experienced relationships, fueled perfectionism and external validation, and ultimately complicated his ability to show up for Laura after his betrayal was discovered. While Laura was navigating the pain of betrayal trauma, Scott was confronting an intense fear of being rejected and left, creating a painful cycle of pursuit, anger, distance, and repair. Together, Marnie and Scott explore why abandonment wounds can become especially complicated after betrayal, how they can distort our perception of a partner's boundaries and behavior, and why healing requires more than therapy, meetings, or simply understanding where the wound came from. Scott shares what helped him develop greater emotional regulation, take responsibility for his behavior, separate his abandonment wound from his relationship with Laura, and begin learning something he had struggled to believe for most of his life: that he matters simply because he is. This conversation is an honest look at the uncomfortable work of recovery, including accountability, self-awareness, learning to tolerate discomfort, and recognizing when old wounds are driving present-day reactions. Scott also shares what his relationship with Laura looks like today and how developing the ability to care for himself has changed their relationship in profound ways. Visit Scott’s Website and Learn More about Trident Healing Here. Click Here to Schedule a Free 15-Minute Call with Helping Couples Heal.
September 01, 20261h 4min
Number 4: 107. Looking Back, Living Forward: What I Didn’t Say
In this follow-up to the previous episode, Marnie revisits the conversation about grief, healing, and moving forward after betrayal. Reflecting on what she wishes she had said, she expands on two important ideas that deserve further exploration. First, Marnie discusses the reality that healing is not dependent on the outcome of your relationship. While rebuilding a relationship after betrayal is possible when both partners are committed to the work, healing and growth are also possible when the path forward leads elsewhere. She explores the fear that often accompanies both staying and leaving, and why reclaiming yourself is an essential part of the healing process regardless of the choices you make. Marnie also clarifies an important distinction between grief and grieving. While grief is the ongoing experience of loss that accompanies betrayal trauma, grieving is the active process of moving through that loss. Understanding the difference can help create more realistic expectations for healing and offer compassion for yourself as you navigate your healing journey. If you are struggling to make sense of your grief, wondering what healing might look like on the other side of betrayal, or feeling uncertain about the future of your relationship, this episode offers additional perspective on what it means to honor your losses while continuing to move forward. Want to connect with us? Click here to book your free 15-minute call.
July 27, 202611min
Number 5: 99. The Other Side of Betrayal: The Ten Core Wounds of The One Who Betrayed
In December, I released a podcast called The Ten Core Wounds of Betrayal, which explored the deep and lasting wounds experienced by betrayed partners. In this follow-up episode, we turn toward the other side of the rupture - the often unseen and rarely discussed wounds carried by those who do the betraying. This conversation is not about justifying or minimizing betrayal. Instead, it’s about understanding the internal landscape that often exists beneath betraying behavior. Drawing from clinical insight and relational patterns, this episode explores ten core wounds commonly experienced by people who betray - wounds that can show up in both men and women, while also acknowledging that some tend to appear more frequently in men due to socialization, attachment patterns, and emotional conditioning. By naming these wounds - such as shame, emotional disconnection, unmet attachment needs, and identity fractures - we begin to see betrayal not as random or purely selfish, but as something that often emerges from unresolved internal pain. Understanding these wounds can be a powerful step toward accountability, empathy, and meaningful repair. Whether you are a betrayed partner seeking clarity, someone who has betrayed and wants to understand yourself more deeply, or a couple navigating the long road of healing, this episode offers language, insight, and perspective to help move the conversation away from blame and toward connection, healing, and ultimately, transformation. Click here to receive your free worksheet. Want to connect with us? Click here to schedule your free 15-minute Zoom call.
February 10, 202622min