Therapy Thursday with Ellen K

In the first part of a two part interview, legendary actor Billy Zane joins Sarah and Ellen on the show! They talk about everything from gender norms and expectations to Billy's art and love of life. They even go into whether Cal or Jack was the right choice in Titanic. Check out the episode for all of this and so much more!

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Portia is a concierge at her job and has been having an affair with her boss for the past 6 months. She's falling in love with him, but he's married with a kid. He's said, that his marriage is failing and basically over, but hasn't made any real steps in actually ending it with his wife. Portia is stuck between her feelings for her boss and the guilt of knowing that she is one part of a marital affair. Ellen, Ryan, and Sarah try to help Portia understand where she stands in this relationship and what she should do moving forward. 

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Enrico has a business conference in Las Vegas which would really help his career. His wife was onboard until she found out that his ex was going to be at that same conference. Even when nothing has happened between the two in years, Enrico's wife is asking him to stay in a different hotel. Neither Enrico or his wife have had trust issues before so this seems to come out of nowhere. Ellen, Ryan, and Sarah try to get to the bottom of her distrust and solutions that can make both of them happy. 

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Francis is dating a successful guy who seems to love her. There's just one problem: she thinks he's lovebombing her. She wants to take things slower while he keeps making plans for the future. Ellen, Ryan, and Sarah help walk her through and determine if she is being lovebombed, and what to make of this relationship. 

Angel has been married for 8 years, but recently he's grown closer to a woman from work, Stephanie. What started as harmless flirtatious joking at work has grown into something more. They text outside of work hours while the flirting has gotten more intense. He's planning on going to a work lunch without telling his wife. The crew explains to him when flirting crosses the line into an emotional affair and how things can continue to spin out of control. 

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Hillary has recently divorced her husband, Jason, of twelve years and her best friend, Nicole, was there for her during her toughest year of her life. Six months later, Jason and Nicole have come out announcing that they are in a serious relationship together.  Hillary understandably feels betrayed and is questioning how much of her friendship was real during the hard times. Ellen, Sarah, and Ryan help her stay grounded while navigating her feelings of betrayal. 

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Sam is ready to propose to his girlfriend Marta, but when he asked her father for his blessing, he got a firm no. Confused by the rejection, Sam feels he's built a stable future with a successful career, strong benefits, a car, and savings for a house. He's determined to marry Marta anyway, but he hasn't told her about her father's response. Sarah, Ellen, and Ryan help him figure out how to share the news with Marta and move forward while still balancing respect for her father.

In our second session, Richard was looking forward to his 55th birthday dinner until his 28-year-old daughter, Krista, announces she's bringing her new boyfriend, who is a year older than Richard and has two grown children older than Krista. While Richard wants his daughter to be happy, he's struggling to accept the relationship and can't help seeing Krista as his little girl. How can he get through the dinner without letting his discomfort create tension? After all, like Sarah says, people are entitled to their feelings, but not to control other people's choices.

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Melissa's husband, Marcus, accidentally left his laptop open while he was in the shower, and a bank notification popped up on the screen. The alert was for a savings account Melissa had never seen before, an account with more than $14,000 in it. The discovery shocked her. For months, the couple had been discussing replacing their old car, and Melissa had been pinching pennies, making sacrifices, and carefully saving under the impression that money was tight.

When she confronted Marcus, he admitted the account was his and revealed he'd been secretly saving for a month-long solo trip to Europe to celebrate his 50th birthday. Marcus says he wants time on his own to "find himself" as he gets older and believes every married person deserves a solo adventure. But if that's true, why keep both the trip and the account a secret?

Melissa feels betrayed by the lack of transparency, especially while they were supposedly working toward shared financial goals. She's also struggling with Marcus's insistence that he "deserves" this trip and can't help but wonder why he doesn't want her there. Is this simply a milestone birthday journey of self-discovery, or is there more to the story? Melissa turns to Sarah, Ellen, and Ryan for help navigating what she sees as a case of financial infidelity.

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After a magical year of romance, Sonjia’s boyfriend Willie proposed, and she said yes without hesitation. But ever since they got engaged, she’s noticed a shift in his behavior. The affection and attention he once showered her with seem to have disappeared, and now he feels distant and distracted. Was he more interested in the chase than the relationship itself, or was he simply putting on an act to win her over? Sonjia turns to Sarah, Ellen, and Ryan to find out whether this kind of change is normal at this stage of a relationship or a warning sign of bigger issues ahead.

In our second session, Nick has recently leveled up his career, landing a high-paying management job after years of grinding through late nights and double shifts in the restaurant industry. He credits much of his success to his boss, Jezebelle, who runs her family’s restaurant group. But because of her intimidating management style and Nick’s rapid promotion, other employees have become skeptical about how he earned the role. To make matters worse, Jezebelle has started sending him flirty late-night texts and inviting him out for drinks after work. Nick worries he’s being pulled into a situation that could become inappropriate and potentially jeopardize his career, especially since there seems to be an unspoken expectation behind her attention. How can he shut it down before it goes any further without damaging his relationship with his boss or putting the hard-earned promotion at risk?

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Desiree's father passed away from cancer about a year ago, but in recent months, her mom has joined multiple dating apps and started going on several dates a week. Desiree understands that everyone grieves differently and knows her mom has been lonely, but she can't shake the feeling that her mother is moving on too quickly. Seeing her get excited about the attention she's receiving from strangers has left Desiree feeling hurt, conflicted, and even betrayed. At the same time, she genuinely wants her mom to be happy. Now she's turning to Sarah and the crew for help sorting through these complicated emotions.

In our second session, Phoebe married young and spent 16 years with her ex-husband, Ryan. Four years after their divorce, Ryan suffered a serious medical emergency—and Phoebe was still listed as his emergency contact. Seeing him in the hospital brought a flood of old feelings rushing back, and the two have since resumed contact. The complication? Phoebe is now engaged to Greg. As her connection with Ryan deepens, she finds herself torn between a past love she thought was behind her and the future she's built with her fiancé. Unsure where her heart truly belongs, Phoebe is searching for a way forward without hurting the people she cares about.

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Rachel recently discovered that her fiancé has been secretly paying his ex-girlfriend Vanessa’s rent from their joint account for almost a year. He says Vanessa fell on hard times after losing her job and swears there’s nothing inappropriate going on between them. According to him, he only kept it from Rachel because he knew she wouldn’t understand. But for Rachel, the betrayal runs deeper than the secrecy and the shared money being spent on another woman: they’re supposed to be saving for their wedding.Her fiancé argues that Vanessa has no one else to turn to, and that helping her is a reflection of his character. But is this generosity or a major breach of trust?

How should Rachel handle what feels like extreme financial infidelity and the fact that her fiancé is framing it as moral high ground? Could this “charity” spill into other parts of their relationship? Is Rachel being too harsh, or just setting reasonable boundaries? Sarah, Ellen, and Ryan weigh in to help Rachel make sense of this complicated situation.

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