In this episode, we revisit the key points from the two episodes on money from Season One. First, you'll hear clips from my conversation with Ed Coambs, CFP and therapist from Healthy Love & Money. Ed joined Season One to discuss the emotional side of money and the need to learn our partner's money history. He explained attachment theory and described how a person's attachment style might impact the way they want to handle money in a relationship. Finally, Ed shared a bit of his own marital financial experiences.

Next, you'll hear clips from my conversation with Natalie Slagle, CFP from Fyooz Financial Planning. Natalie echoed the need for partners to share their money histories, and went on to describe the steps she and her co-founder husband, Dan Slagle, CFP take couples through to help them create a financial foundation for their shared life. Natalie emphasized the importance of aligning your financial decisions with your values and goals.

If you like what you heard...

• Follow Practically Married with Paula Holt on your favorite podcast platform to get every episode!
• Visit PracticallyMarried.net/Newsletter to sign up and receive even more relationship info and resources!
• Follow @getpracticallymarried on Instagram to tell us about your experiences using the strategies you hear on the show!

Edited by Veronica Gruba
Music by Sage Holt-Hall

Practically Married with Paula Holt was specifically created to help dating, engaged, and newly married couples create a firm foundation for a long successful future together.
 
Join us to hear conversations with relationship experts as we address topics such as communication, money, sex, in-laws and more. You'll learn strategies to navigate the typical challenges couples encounter, and how to bring out the best from each other and your relationship.

In this introduction to Season Two, you'll hear...

• Why the show was on hiatus
• A preview of upcoming episode and new resources
• That I've missed you!

If you like what you heard...

• Follow Practically Married with Paula Holt on your favorite podcast platform to get every episode!
• Visit PracticallyMarried.net/Newsletter to sign up and receive even more relationship info and resources!
• Follow @getpracticallymarried on Instagram to tell us about your experiences using the strategies you hear on the show!

Edited by Veronica Gruba
Music by Sage Holt-Hall

This is a wrap on Season One, but we're working on Season Two and looking for dating, engaged or newly married couples who would like to talk to our experts. Please complete the form on the PracticallyMarried.net/podcast if you and your partner are interested.

Thanks for listening and we'll talk to you in the fall!

If you like what you heard...

• Follow Practically Married with Paula Holt on your favorite podcast platform to get every episode!
• Visit PracticallyMarried.net/Newsletter to sign up and receive even more relationship info and resources!
• Follow @getpracticallymarried on Instagram to tell us about your experiences using the strategies you hear on the show!

Edited by Veronica Gruba
Music by Sage Holt-Hall

Having a child is a joyous yet extremely stressful experience for most couples. So, this week I’m talking to Nikki Lively, LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) about some of the conversations couples should begin having years before starting a family. 

We cover a wide range of topics including:

• Deciding if and when to have children
• Fertility issues
• Considerations for how many kids to have
• Gender & personality preferences
• Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
• Parental roles & expectations
• Division of labor
• Boundaries with extended family
• Culture, religion & community
• Childcare choices

Nikki Lively, LCSW is the Clinical Director of the Transitions to Parenthood Program at The Family Institute at Northwestern University. To learn more about Nikki's work, visit:

• NikkiLively.com
• Nikki Lively at The Family Institute

Additional resources:

• The Family Institute Resource Library
• The Fair Play Method
• Get Ready to Say "I Do" (the FREE Practically Married mini-course)

If you like what you heard...

• Follow Practically Married with Paula Holt on your favorite podcast platform to get every episode!
• Visit PracticallyMarried.net/Newsletter to sign up and receive even more relationship info and resources!
• Follow @getpracticallymarried on Instagram to tell us about your experiences using the strategies you hear on the show!

Edited by Veronica Gruba
Music by Sage Holt-Hall

Today, we welcome therapist and author Shemiah Derrick, LCPC, CADC back to the show to discuss the role conflict plays in your relationship. Shemiah brings her Gottman Method training and extensive experience working with couples to our conversation covering:

• How conflict presents an opportunity
• Why we shouldn't avoid conflict
• Perpetual and solvable problems
• How to apologize
• Forgiveness

To learn more about Shemiah’s work, visit:

• ShemiahDerrick.com
• shemiahderrick on Instagram 
• Amazon author page
• Shemiah's "The Words Between Us" couples journals (Use promo code PMPOD20 for 20% discount for Practically Married listeners) 

Resources referenced:

• Robert Taibi, LCSW
• Emotional disconnection (The Gottman Institute) 
• Perpetual and solvable problems (The Gottman Institute) 
• Gentle start-up (The Gottman Institute) 
• Aftermath of a regrettable incident (The Gottman Institute) 
• Marlene Chism
• Dr. Alexandra Solomon
• Get Ready to Say "I Do" (the FREE Practically Married mini-course)

If you like what you heard...

• Follow Practically Married with Paula Holt on your favorite podcast platform to get every episode!
• Visit PracticallyMarried.net/Newsletter to sign up and receive even more relationship info and resources!
• Follow @getpracticallymarried on Instagram to tell us about your experiences using the strategies you hear on the show!

Edited by Veronica Gruba
Music by Sage Holt-Hall

Instructions to leave a review on Apple Podcasts:

1. Select Practically Married with Paula Holt .
2. Scroll down to the Ratings & Reviews section near the bottom of the page.
3. Click a star to select a rating. You can also hold the pointer over the stars, then click or drag to add or remove stars.
4. Click "Write a Review", write your review, then click Save.

Instructions to leave a rating on Spotify:

1. Select Practically Married with Paula Holt .
2. Under the description of the show to the left of the word "Relationships" you'll see a star.
3. Click on the star.
4. You'll see the five stars and you need to click on them until they turn solid white. 

If you like what you heard...

• Follow Practically Married with Paula Holt on your favorite podcast platform to get every episode!
• Visit PracticallyMarried.net/Newsletter to sign up and receive even more relationship info and resources!
• Follow @getpracticallymarried on Instagram to tell us about your experiences using the strategies you hear on the show!

Edited by Veronica Gruba
Music by Sage Holt-Hall

I'm joined by Clutter Coach and Professional Organizer Amelia Pleasant Kennedy of A Pleasant Solution to discuss why creating a fair division of labor is essential for maintaining a harmonious household. Amelia and I discuss:

• Why challenges arise when it comes to division of labor
• The trap of gender-based responsibilities in straight couples
• The "chore gap"
• The Fair Play method for dividing household tasks
• Outsourcing tasks
• Amelia's process for working with couples using the Fair Play method

You'll come away from the episode knowing why conversations around household labor will help you learn more about your partner, and how a fair division of labor can lead to greater self-fulfillment for each of you.

For more information on Amelia's work visit:

• apleasantsolution.com
• A Pleasant Solution: Embracing an Organized Life (available on all podcast platforms)
• Instagram: apleasantsolution

Additional resources:

• Fair Play (for info on the method, the book and the documentary)
• Get Ready to Say "I Do" (the FREE Practically Married mini-course )

If you like what you heard...

• Follow Practically Married with Paula Holt on your favorite podcast platform to get every episode!
• Visit PracticallyMarried.net/Newsletter to sign up and receive even more relationship info and resources!
• Follow @getpracticallymarried on Instagram to tell us about your experiences using the strategies you hear on the show!

Edited by Veronica Gruba
Music by Sage Holt-Hall

Communication Style quiz from Shemiah Derrick

Attachment Style quiz from Ed Coambs

Sexuality Conversation Starter download from the two-part Sex episode with Keeley Rankin

If you like what you heard...

• Follow Practically Married with Paula Holt on your favorite podcast platform to get every episode!
• Visit PracticallyMarried.net/Newsletter to sign up and receive even more relationship info and resources!
• Follow @getpracticallymarried on Instagram to tell us about your experiences using the strategies you hear on the show!

Edited by Veronica Gruba
Music by Sage Holt-Hall

Keeley Rankin is back to continue our in-depth conversation about sexuality in committed relationships. Today, we discuss:

• Monogamy & consensual non-monogamy
• Unmatched levels of desire ( known as "desire discrepancy")
• Pornography's benefits & pitfalls
• Sexual desires & fantasies
• Sexual  performance challenges
• Mental health & sexuality
• Sex therapy

Keeley Rankin has a passion for helping people find and expand pleasure. She has a master’s in Counseling Psychology with a focus on marriage and family therapy, and has been a sex and relationship coach for over a decade. Keeley is a Certified Queer Conscious Educator as well as a Certified Sexological Bodyworker, and she specializes in helping men overcome sexual struggles.

For more information on Keeley's work visit:

• KeeleyRankin.com
• Instagram: keeleyrankinsexcoach
• Facebook: keeleyrankinma

Additional resources:

• Sexual Conversations Starter (including the "Into it, No way, Maybe" list)
• 10 Questions Checklist (download this FREE list of questions covering each of the Practically Married subjects)

If you like what you heard...

• Follow Practically Married with Paula Holt on your favorite podcast platform to get every episode!
• Visit PracticallyMarried.net/Newsletter to sign up and receive even more relationship info and resources!
• Follow @getpracticallymarried on Instagram to tell us about your experiences using the strategies you hear on the show!

Edited by Veronica Gruba
Music by Sage Holt-Hall

Sex and relationship coach Keeley Rankin joins me for the first of two conversations about sex. In Part One, we discuss how you  can deepen your relationship by sharing your sexual history. Before diving into the topic, we discuss what sex is and why it's important. (If you think you know what sex is, listen to Keeley explain an activity she has couples do to expand their definition.)

Keeley and I discuss how your sexual history is more than your "number" or STI's. She defines it as how you first learned about sex, the messages about sexuality and gender you internalized, and what you observed in your parents/guardians in terms of affection and relaxation. Keeley explains how some people observed too much in their childhood and describes how seeing and/or hearing your parents engage in sex may have been traumatic.

The next part of histories we discuss is past sexual partners, and with that the need to know your partner's comfort level with hearing about past experiences before you share them.  Depending on their comfort, you may or may not (carefully) proceed with sharing positive past experiences (no names necessary), but it's especially important for your partner to know about any negative experiences to better understand what to avoid, where to go slow, etc.

Lastly, we discuss sexual communication with your partner and how and when to give sexual feedback after the NRE (new relationship energy) wanes. Keeley emphasizes the need to normalize making corrections/giving feedback and generously uses her own marriage as an example. She suggests using the "sandwich technique" of surrounding your request for a change with two positive comments.

Keeley Rankin has a passion for helping people find and expand pleasure. She has a master’s in Counseling Psychology with a focus on marriage and family therapy, and has been a sex and relationship coach for over a decade. Keeley is a Certified Queer Conscious Educator as well as a Certified Sexological Bodyworker, and she specializes in helping men overcome sexual struggles.

For more information on Keeley's work visit:

• KeeleyRankin.com
• Instagram: keeleyrankinsexcoach
• Facebook: keeleyrankinma

Additional resources:

• Sandwich technique
• 10 Questions Checklist (download this FREE list of questions covering each of the Practically Married subjects)

If you like what you heard...

• Follow Practically Married with Paula Holt on your favorite podcast platform to get every episode!
• Visit PracticallyMarried.net/Newsletter to sign up and receive even more relationship info and resources!
• Follow @getpracticallymarried on Instagram to tell us about your experiences using the strategies you hear on the show!

Edited by Veronica Gruba
Music by Sage Holt-Hall