Show Details

Biography

DR. BETH ERICKSON

… could tell you that she:

• completed her Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota in 1976;
• then completed two years’ post-doctoral training in marriage and family therapy at The Family Institute, which is part of Northwestern University;
• has practiced marriage and family therapy for over three decades;
• is an executive and life coach, media host, and professional speaker;
• authored three books, the most recent of which is Marriage Isn’t For Sissies: 7 Simple Keys to Unlocking the Best Part of Your Life, as well as a dozen juried articles for professional publications;
• has developed a teleseminar series to accompany Marriage Isn’t for Sissies;
• previously was host of “Mirrors of the Soul,” on which she interviewed bestselling authors, women movers and shakers, and ordinary people doing extraordinary things;
• has been sought for interviews on NBC Chicago, Voice of America, Cosmopolitan, USA Today, Better Homes and Gardens, and The Miami Herald, among others;
• makes her home in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.

But those aren’t her real qualifications for hosting a show on relationships. Dr. Beth is a proud wife, stepmother of 3, mother-in-law, grandmother of 5, great-grandmother of 1, aunt, great aunt, sister, sister-in-law, cousin, cat and dog mother, friend, coach, and mentor.

That’s good to know. Because she will be talking about the importance of our connections with people to our quality of life and own survival as individuals, and to the continuation of us as a people and even as a civilization. Along the way, she’ll offer tools for evaluating, maintaining, strengthening, and ending relationships of all kinds.

Dr. Beth is a regular columnist for Womens Online Marketing and is known as “The Best Part of Your Life” Doctor.

Archived Shows

• Relationships 101 – Adult Attachment Styles and Marital Conflict, and When a Beloved Brother Dies

  Dr. Beth’s (www.drbetherickson.com) first guest was Dr. Amir Levine (www.attachedthe book.com) who co-authored the book Attached that looks at the influence of attachment styles learned in childhood on couple relationships. Then she spoke with Emily ...

• Relationships 101 – Updating Your Job Search Strategy, and Networking Singles

  Dr. Beth (www.drbetherickson.com) first spoke with Ginny Clarke (www. mycareermapping.com) about her inspiring book called Career Mapping. Her strategies go far beyond writing a résumé and pounding the streets. They empower. Then she spoke with radio...

• Relationships 101 – Recovering from Quadriplegia, and Conversation Is Sexy

  Dr. Beth’s (www.drbetherickson.com) first guest is Doug Smith (www.dougsmithperformance) who was an NHL first round draft pick whose hockey career ended when he hit the boards head on at full speed, thus making him a quadriplegic. He wrote Full Perfo...

• Relationships 101 – Integrating an All-White School, & Successful Entrepreneurship

  Dr. Beth (www.drbetherickson.com) interviewed E.D. Arrington (www.edarringtonauthor.com), author of Stay the Course, about the pain of feeling invisible when she integrated an all-white high school in rural North Carolina in the 1960s. Then she intervi...

• Relationships 101 – Someone Else’s Twin, and Explaining Unhappiness

  Unhappiness Dr. Beth (www.drbetherickson.com) spoke first with Dr. Nancy Segal (www.drnancysegal.com) about her work on twins that spans three decades. Her newly released book is Someone Else’s Twin which discusses twins who were switched at birth. S...

• Relationships 101 – Body Traders, and Boys Coming of Age

  Dr. Beth (www.drbetherickson.com) spoke first with Bruce Starr (www.luvcoach.com), author of Body Traders and former AOL love coach about how people look for love in all the wrong places, and then they give up in despair. We spoke about options short o...

• Relationships 101 – Attachment Styles, and Male Victims of Domestic Violence

  Violence Dr. Steve Olivas discussed how the quality of people’s emotional attachment to their parents in childhood has a profound impact on the health of the intimate relationships they develop as adults. Then researcher Dr. Denise Hines discussed he...

• Relationships 101 – Triumphing Over One Crisis after the Other, and Meet to Marry

  Dr. Beth (www.drbetherickson.com) first spoke with Terry Jones-Brady (www.terryjones-brady.com), author of A Mosaic Heart. Terry began to write as a way to deal with the heartache that life gave her when her children were born with the inherited and ul...

• Relationships 101 – Life for Poor Folks, and Creating a Calm Home

  Dr. Beth (www.drbetherickson.com) first spoke with Joe Schwartz, author of The Games Men Play, which is a collection of 21 short stories about the day-to-day life of America’s lower class workers. It is written in a man’s, and it appeals to men. It...

• Relationships 101 – "Nancy Grayson Beckerman and Bruce Cameron"

  The theme of both segments of this week’s show is recovery from loss. Dr. Beth (www.drbetherickson.com) first spoke with Nancy Grayson Beckerman, author of Out of Time, a memoir about her journey with her husband through his cancer diagnosis and beyo...

• Relationships 101 - Developing Mental Toughness, and First Love, First Loss Dr. Beth

  Loss Dr. Beth (www.drbetherickson.com) first spoke with Mental Toughness coach, Dr. Jason Selk (www.jasonselk.com) about his newest book Executive Toughness. He was the performance coach for the 2006 and 2011 St. Louis Cardinals in their wins of the Wo...

• Relationships 101 – Pedophiles and Sex Traffickers, & A Twinless Twin

  Twin Dr. Beth (www.drbetherickson.com) spoke with Marie Crist (www.mariecrist.com), author of the novel Citizen Out, which is about pedophiles and child sex traffickers. They decried the small movement to decriminalize and normalize pedophilia, and tal...

• Relationships 101 – Ambitious Women, and Surviving a Heart Attack and a Stroke

  Dr. Beth’s (www.drbetherickson.com) first guest was Dr. Debra Condren (www.AmbitionIs NotaDirtyWord.com), author of a book by that name who talked with her about why ambitious women are criticized for following their career goals while men are called...

• Relationships 101 – Does He Cheat? and Smarter Dating

  Dr. Beth (www.drbetherickson.com) first spoke with Hollywood screenwriter and Recovering Cheater, Sterling Anderson (www.doeshecheatthebook.com)about the book he and Stephanie Dart wrote based on interviews of 50 cheaters called Does He Cheat? Their pr...

• Relationships 101 – Job Search Advice for Newly-Minted College Grads, & Communing with Your Unborn Child

  Dr. Beth (www.drbetheric kson.com) first had a nuts-and-bolts conversation with Michelle Riklan (www.Riklan Resources.com) about how new college grads can stand out from the herd when job searching in this tight economy. Then she spoke with Scott Blum ...

• Relationships 101 – Having a Chronically Ill Sibling, and Overscheduled Kids

  Dr. Beth (drbetherickson.com) first spoke with Heather Cariou (sixtyfiverosesthebook.com), author of Sixty-Five Roses: A Sister’s Memoir, about the challenges of growing up with both a sister and a brother with Cystic Fibrosis. Heather clearly had to...

• Relationships 101 – How 9/11 Changed America and Americans, and Conversation with an American Muslim

  Dr. Beth (www.drbetherickson.com) did one of her famous Chalk Talks about the residue of fear and even paranoia that is now prevalent in our country after the attacks on 9/11. Although it a natural human tendency to fear the other, it has been heighten...

• Relationships 101 – Narcissist-Codependent Dance, and Causes of Addictions Revisited

  Dr. Beth’s (www.DrBethErickson.com) first guest is Darlene Lancer (www.darlenelancer.com) whose area of expertise is codependence. People who are codependent have little sense of self, and the narcissist is full of him/herself, making the classic rel...

• Relationships 101 – Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers, and Emotionally Abusive, Narcissistic Fathers

  Dr. Beth (www.drbetherickson.com) spoke first with Stephanie Roth (www.leapfrogconnections.com), the daughter of a highly narcissistic mother whose parenting matched the typical traits of that disorder, leaving her child feeling empty, unloved, and unl...

• Relationships 101 – Marrying a Narcissist, and What Makes a Successful Entrepreneur

  Dr. Beth (www.drbetherickson.com) interviewed Crystal Clancy (www.crystalclancy.weebly.com) for the second in a four-part series on narcissism. Crystal spend 4 years with a narcissist, became engaged, but broke it off before disaster ensued and she mar...

• Relationships 101 – Married to a Narcissist, and Incarcerated Youth

  Dr. Beth (www.drbetherickson.com) first interviewed Marlene Landrum who has been married to a narcissist for sixteen years. Her experience was a springboard to help listeners define a narcissist, to talk about what being married to a narcissist is like...

• Relationships 101 – What Makes a Happy Marriage, & Three Additional Ingredients of a Happy Marriage

  Dr. Beth (www.drbetherickson.com) first interviewed family studies researcher Dr. Peter Larson (www.prepare-enrich.com), co-author of The Couple Checkup, on some of the 15 to 20 abilities that couples in happy marriages possess that make them successfu...

• Relationships 101 – Mistaken for ADHD, and Being Gay and Black

  Dr. Beth Erickson (www.drbetherickson.com) first interviewed Dr. Frank Barnhill, a family physician and author of Mistaken for ADHD, (www.mistakenforadhd.com) about the frequency of misdiagnosis of ADHD in children and teens. Then she spoke with Aaron ...

• Relationships 101 – The Transformative Power of A Faith Crisis, and Transformed by Gratitude

  Dr. Beth (www.drbetherickson.com) speaks with Dr. Greg Hunt (www.gregorylhunt.com), author of Blackbirds Singing in the Dead of Night. His memoir invites the reader into a pastor’s conversations with a Silent God. Imagine a pastor, plagued by doubts,...

• Relationships 101 – Holistic& Integrative Medicine, and People’s Relationship with Money

  Money Dr. Beth (www.drbetherickson.com) spoke first with physical therapist and author Deborah Howell (www.victoryinaction.com), author of Straight from the Heart, about the power of alternative medicine when combined with traditional Western medicine ...

• Relationships 101 – A Danish Family’s Legacy as Members of the Their Country’s Resistance During World War II, and What is a Master Teacher?

  Dr. Beth first spoke with Jasmine Tritten about her family’s heroism risking their lives to harbor Jews during the Nazi occupation. We focused on the concept of legacy. Then I spoke with teacher Patty O’Hare about what makes her a master teacher (w...

• Relationships 101 – Why Remarriage Is So Challenging, and a Successfully Remarried Couple

  While the divorce rate for college-educated couples in first marriages is inching down to the mid 40%,the divorce rates for second and third marriage are much higher (60-67% of second marriages end in divorce, and 70-73% of couples in third marriages d...

• Relationships 101 – Being Parents of a Drug Addict, and Older Women Dating Younger Men

  Dr. Beth (www.DrBethErickson.com) first spoke with Brad DeHaven (www.rxdrugaddict.com), the father of a recovering Oxycontin addict. They spoke about causes of an addict’s drug abuse, and stopping enabling. Next, Hattie Wiener (www.holisticallyhattie...

• Relationships 101 – Building Better Marriages, and Understanding Identity Confusion

  First, Dr. Beth Erickson (www.drbetherickson.com) spoke with Dr. Priscilla Hunt (www.bettermarriages.org) and Dr. Greg Hunt who have been successfully married for 35 years. They shared some of their success secrets, the primary ones being to maintain t...

• Relationships 101 – Selfishness of Parental Alienation, and Succeeding Against All Odds

  Dr. Beth Erickson (www.drbetherickson.com) interviewed well known San Diego family lawyer Michele Lowenstein (www.LowensteinBrown.com) on parental alienation, which is a particularly egregious form of child abuse. Then she spoke with Chitoka Webb (www....

• Relationships 101 – Day Sex Solution, and Children of Incarcerated Parents

  One of the biggest challenges in a long-term marriage is keeping up the sexual connection couples had when they met. Dr. Victoria Wilson co-authored The 30-Day Sex Solution with her husband, John, to help address this issue. Dr. Yvonne Lutter, Director...

• Relationships 101 – Fathers Are Essential for Children’s Welfare

  Far too many people think that fathers are superfluous, optional, and disposal, including some fathers themselves. Nothing could be farther from the truth, as my guests discuss. My first guest is Julia Espy, who is the author of If I Were Your Daddy, ...

• Relationships 101 – What Can Happen to Foster Children, and Being Proactive as a New Stepmother

  She is the author of The Gray Zone, a novel about how one abused and neglected child survived some potentially devastating situations by using her wits. Then Barb Goldberg, whose blog is The Evil Stepmother Speaks, spoke about how she proactively took ...

• Relationships 101 – 053011

  Earlier this month, I interviewed a guest who said he had been depressed his whole life. Today, I will talk with All-American Keshawn Durant who became situationally depressed after an injury required him to quit sports. I will compare and contrast the...

• Relationships 101 – Surviving Life in a Cult, and Blessings and Challenges of Intermarriage

  Joan Miller, author of The Transformation of Joan Faith, talked about having been reared in a cult, and what it was like to extricate herself from its clutches. It was a harrowing process. Then Gerald Fierst, a Civil Celebrant and author of The Heart o...

• Relationships 101 – Launching Adult Kids, and “Landing” Mr. Right

  Patricia Harmon, author of Arms Wide Open, shared her sadness and joy in her three young adult sons developing their own lives and leaving home. Nothing would ever be the same again after they left home. We talked about how to grieve their absence wit...

• Relationships 101 – Inconceivable

  Because of a medical mistake, Carolyn and Sean Savage became the parents of a child who wasn’t theirs to keep. They had had their previous child using in vitro fertilization, so once again they turned to medical science for help. Only something went ...

• Relationships 101 – 050211

  Dick Sederquist, author of Hiking Out, spoke with me about his lifelong depression and how he has healed from it, with self-help and the assistance of a psychiatrist and a psychologist. Now he volunteers at a medium security prison to help inmates with...

• Relationships 101 – Trust in Business, and Facing Retirement

  Building trust in business is as important as trust building is at home. Jim Villwock, author of Trusted Relationships, knows first hand from his years inside large corporations as well as from his own business. Then retirement isn’t just for people ...

• Relationships 101 – Boomerang Kids, and When a Child Dies

  Marie Gordon has a boomerang kid because her 27 year-old son was seriously injured and bedridden for a year. I suggested the myriad feelings her son inevitably must experience that cause him to act out his anger, disappointment, lostness, rejection, an...

• Relationships 101 – Fuel for Addictions, and the Sandwich Generation

  Rocky Barretto and Trevor Patience, both addicts in recovery, spoke about their fractured childhoods that left them isolated and lonely, which became major contributors to their addiction to drugs of all kinds. Then Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter ...

• Relationships 101 – Collaboration, and Forgiveness

  Patty DeDominic is a successful entrepreneur who built her businesses on collaboration within organizations and with other outside professionals. Synergy results when professionals network and collaborate with each other. Mary R. Bailey then spoke with...

• Relationships 101 – Recovering from Trauma, and Increasing your Happiness Quotient

  Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) occurs when people experience a traumatic event, as Jim Tritten did. He was piloting a plane back to an aircraft carrier when it crashed. Learn the markers of PTSD and how it affects intimate relationships. Then Mu...

• Relationships 101 – Epiphanies, and Apologies

  Elise Ballard and I talked about interviews she has done with over 50 movers and shakers and some lesser knowns to learn about their epiphanies, which is a sudden burst of insight that transforms people’s lives in an instant. She is the author of Epi...

• Relationships 101 – Prediction of a Murder-Suicide, and Post-Divorce From Hell

  Sheila Lowe is a handwriting analyst who predicted her daughter’s new boyfriend would be a danger to her. Nine months later, both daughter and boyfriend were dead, and his handwriting foretold the tale. Barbara Reed has been divorced many years and s...

• Relationships 101 – Being Ready for a Relationship, and Final Drive

  Marla Martenson, a Beverly Hills matchmaker and author of Excuse Me Your Soul Mate Is Waiting, and I discussed how to attract an appropriate relationship and how to tell if you are ready for one. Then I spoke with Shelly Hess whose memoir is called Fin...

• Relationships 101 – Secret Side of Anger, and Great Relationships Begin Within

  Janet Pfeiffer, author of The Secret Side of Anger joined me to discuss the differences between assertion, aggression, and passive aggression. We also discussed how anger is easily prostituted when it substitutes for more vulnerable emotions. Maryanne ...

• Relationships 101 – Secrets of the Teenage Brain, Travel Log of Newfoundland, Secrets for Finding Love

  Dr. Sheryl Finestein, author of Secrets of the Teenage Brain, talked with me about how teenagers’ brains are different from the adults they are going to become or the children they have been. Parents of teens and educators are urged to listen to this...

• Relationships 101 – Pernicious Addictions, and When an Infant’s Mother Dies

  William Cope Moyers’ addiction to alcohol and cocaine began in his college years, although he had used before. When he admitted his problem, he stubbornly wanted to become clean and sober his way, which hampered his sobriety. His saga is detailed in ...

• Relationships 101 – Ed and Eddie Rinehardt talked about Ed’s 32-year search for his father who abandoned the family when Ed was 9.

  Despite this, Ed played a pivotal role in Eddie’s recovery when he was brain injured on the football field. These journeys are detailed in You’re OK, Kid. Dr. Jacqueline Olds, co-author of  The Lonely American, spoke about the loneliness woven int...

• Relationships 101 – Love for No Reason, and Is Marriage Obsolete?

  Best-selling author Marci Shimoff discussed her new book on finding unconditional love called Love for No Reason. Unlike love for good reason, which means you love because of certain traits and attributes, this is becoming the embodiment of love. Then ...

• Relationships 101 – Promoting Healthy Marriages, and Job Interview Secrets

  People who are happily married are healthier, wealthier, and sexier, says Hillary Bravo, Program Coordinator of the Healthy Marriages Project in New Mexico. We discuss benefits to individuals and to our society. Tamra Nashman and I discuss the ways to ...

• Relationships 101 – Transformed By a Loved One’s Death, and Grandparents Rearing Grandchildren

  Kristine Carlson’s memoir Heartbroken Open describes her journey from brokenness to healing after the death of her husband, bestselling author Richard Carlson. Dr. Elizabeth Wohl and I spoke about grandparents rearing their grandchildren for whatever...

• Relationships 101 – Cults and Spiritual Terrorism, and Becoming an Entrepreneur

  The work of Dr. Boyd Purcell, author of Spiritual Terrorism, stands at the crossroads of psychology and theology. What makes some people susceptible to spiritual abuse while others are immune? What gives cult leaders their power? Kristen Brown became a...

• Relationships 101 – The Power of Mentors, and Fathers’ Grief When Their Wives Miscarry

  The life of Elvin Dowling was literally and psychologically saved by his having a mentor. By age19, his brothers and cousins had all been killed by drugs and gang violence, while he went on to become Chief of Staff of the National Urban League. Dougla...

• Relationships 101 – Mother’s Prenatal Stress and Her Child’s Developing Brain, and Tips for Beating the Holiday Blues

  My first guest, Dr. Gail Cloud, is not a typical chiropractor. She helps adult patients rework the effects on them of their mother’s stress when they were in utero. And Janet Pfeiffer and I talk about strategies for fending off depression and lonelin...

• Relationships 101 – End-of-Life Decisions, and Life in a Military Family

  Zoe FitzGerald Carter’s memoir, Imperfect Endings, details her conversations with and feelings about her mother’s final choice. It is an impactful talk about the moral and ethical dilemmas she faced in light of her mother’s decision. Then I talk ...

• Relationships 101 – Building Resilience and What Women Want from Men

  What is the nature of resilience? Is it nature or nurture? Is it possible for children to develop it and for parents to instill it in them? These are the questions my first guest, James Krehbiel, author of Troubled Childhood, Triumphant Life and I disc...

• Relationships 101 – Grip, and Resolving Regrets & Starting the New Year Clean

  Sallie and Conway Felton shared about how Conway’s depression has overshadowed their entire 37-year marriage, and strategies they have learned to keep it from ruining their life together. Then Jennifer Hoffman shared her regret of not pursuing her dr...

• Relationships 101 – Single by Choice, and Conversations That Rewrite History

  Celeste Friedman is an award-winning singer who has tried marriage twice and has had many live-in boyfriends. Now she remains happily single, and she has written Single 101. When Cora Lonning’s parents divorced when she was 17, she held the divorce a...

• Relationships 101 – Rage-aholics, and the Ritual of Family Dinners

  Dr. Simon Casey, author of Couples in Chaos, spoke with me about road rage and rage-aholics. The primary fuel for this explosive rage is not power, as these people would like to believe, but fear and hurt which the rage covers. John Nowicki shared his ...

• Relationships 101 – Building a Chosen Family, and Choosing to Remain a Family of Two

  Two I spoke with Glenn Plaskin, author of Katie Up and Down the Hall: The Story of How One Dog Turned Five Neighbors into a Family, about chosen families, second chances, life and death, loneliness, and adapting to change. My second guests were a coupl...

• Relationships 101 – Secondary Stress Disorder Among Reporters Who Cover Disasters, and The Unheard Voice of Aging Parents

  Kathleen Koch was a broadcast journalist for CNN sent to the Gulf Coast to cover Hurricane Katrina. She was based in her Mississippi hometown, so her job was all the more emotional. She suffers from regrets even today. Dr. Barbara Kaplan and Carol Ball...

• Relationships 101 – Developing a Post-Divorce Co-Parental Team, and Childlessness by Choice

  When Marlene Clay divorced, she vowed not to repeat the mistakes of her parents and stepmother. So she forged a co-parental team with her ex and his new wife. Laura Carroll, author of Families of 2, interviewed 30 couples who are childless by choice th...

• Relationships 101 – How to Become a Recovering “Control Freak,” and A Program to Help Abused Men

  My first guest, Dan Walker, is a self-confessed “control freak.” When his life as he had known it collapsed, he had to face how his personality style was sabotaging his whole life. My second guest, Jan Elizabeth Brown, runs a national helpline whic...

• Relationships 101 – Parenting Your Parents, and Adopting a Challenging Child

  My first guest, Lori La Bey, has been the care giver for her father for the 4 ½ years he had brain cancer and for her mother who has late stage Alzheimer’s. We discussed the risks and rewards of care giving. Then I spoke with Stephanie Roth who adop...

• Relationships 101 – 21st Century Relationships, and Parental Alienation

  My first guest was Dr. Billy Kidd. His cutting edge research with 20-somethings is detailed in Low Stress Romance. He has concluded that 21st century relationships have changed so much that there are no rules and much confusion. My next guest, Dr. Amy ...

• Relationships 101 – Effects of Your Internalized Family on Work, and Extricating Yourself from a Borderline Personality Disordered Spouse

  It is impossible not to bring your family to work with you in the form of internalized patterns you learned from your childhood family. Dr. Sylvia Lafair spoke with me about her book Don’t Bring Your Family to Work, examining how vestiges appear at w...

• Relationships 101 – Giving Birth to a “Savior Child,” and Complementarity in Intimate Relationships

  I spoke with Beth Whitehouse, an award winning journalist at Newsday who wrote The Match: “Savior Siblings” and One Family’s Battle to Heal Their Daughter. It details a couple’s heart wrenching journey to save their child’s life. Then I spoke...

• Relationships 101 – Parenting Grown Kids Who Go Sideways, & Mother/Daughter Business Collaboration

  Collaboration Elle Mansfield, co-author of Cutting the Cord, discussed how and why some parents inadvertently enable their adult kids to remain irresponsible and stuck. Christine Marie Peters and her daughter, Julie, described how they happily share th...

• Relationships 101 – From Failure to Fearless, and Clergy Killers

  Killers I talked with Susanna Abbott about the skills and mindset required to move from being undone by life’s setbacks to making lemonade from them. People need to learn to use their feelings as a data source for sound decision making. In the news, ...

• Relationships 101 – How the Internet Is Restructuring Our Brains and End of Life Ethical Dilemmas

  I spoke with Dr. Madelyn Blair, author of Riding the Current, about what is happening to America’s creativity and how TV and Internet use are diminishing our creativity and sense of community. Deb Savage, R.N. then spoke with me about the increasing ...

• Relationships 101 – Marital Arguments and Advocating for a Child with ADHD

  Sharon Rivkin, marriage and family therapist and author of two books on managing marital arguments where one or both spouses has gotten hooked into old or painful material was my first guest. Then Karen Lowry, a pediatric nurse whose son has Attention...

• Relationships 101 – : Why Long Term Marriages End, and Marital Conflict Sparked by Sibling Positions of Spouses

  Spouses Dr. B. Janet Hibbs, author of Try to See It My Way, and I spoke on why couples who have managed to stay together for a long time end their marriage. Then marriage and family therapist, Dr. Karen Gail Lewis, shared how spouses’ sibling positi...

• Relationships 101 – Toxic and Great Parenting

  Diane Tegarden did a “parentectomy” of her father who was verbally and physically abusive. Her first memory of being hit with a closed fist was when she was 5 or 6, after she expressed her opinion in response to his question. I offered multiple str...

• Relationships 101 – A Cultural Critique and Life-Changing Events

  Marla Martenson, author of Diary of a Beverly Hills Matchmaker, was back by popular demand to dish with me about the shallowness of people who only seek mates who are arm candy and American Express cards. Then brain tumor survivor Bob Gibbs spoke with ...

• Relationships 101 – Sex Addiction and Care for Caregivers

  Recent stories about philandering husbands has brought the subject of sex addiction to the fore. Alex Katahakis, author of Erotic Intelligence, and I discussed what makes a sex addict and how to help them and their partners. Then Chris Tatevosian, auth...

• Relationships 101 – Replacement and Returning Children

  Judy Mandel’s memoir Replacement Child tells of her parents’ decision to have a replacement child when her older sister was killed in a plane crash. Living with a phantom sister overshadowed her existence and made Judy invisible as an individual. M...

• Relationships 101 – Cures for Loneliness

  Howard Eisenberg and Shirley Friedenthal met online after their spouses died in their 70’s. Each other’s One and Only, they collaborated on a book It’s Never Too Late to Date written for the over-50 set. Marla Martenson, author of Diary of a Beve...

• Relationships 101 – Difficult Father’s Days and Family Conflict around Weddings

  Not everyone is privileged to have a healthy relationship with their father. Kelly Meister discussed her long journey of healing from her father’s molestation and her stepfather’s verbal and physical abuse of her, in the context of Father’s Day. ...

• Relationships 101 – Fatherless Adult Children and Women Leading for a Change

  Change Dr. Richard Horowitz spoke with me about the dramatic impact of fathers’ absence on their children’s lives. It leaves a hole in their soul that is extremely difficult to fill, and they carry this father hunger into adulthood until they deal ...

• Relationships 101 – The Circle of Life: Death and Birth

  Carole Brody Fleet, author of Widows Wear Stilettos, was widowed at age 40 when her husband’s death from ALS turned her life upside down. We discussed unhelpful ways well-meaning people responded to her, as well as what to expect when grieving. Then ...

• Relationships 101 – Coaches for Kids’ Teams and Looking Good at Any Age

  My first guest was David Salter, author of Final Four Leadership. Having coached youth sports for 13 years, he has worked with some parents who behave more like children than their kids. We discussed strategies for dealing with these bullies. My second...

• Relationships 101 – Asking “Should I Divorce?” and the Challenges for Professional Women in Finding a Mate

  My first guest is Dr. Beverly Hyman, co-author of  How to Know If It’s Time to Go. The book and our conversation provides a reality check on the implications of their dissatisfaction. My next guest is Dr. Veronica Anderson, M.D. who recently divorce...

• Relationships 101 – Daughters Restructuring Their Relationship and Working with Their Mother

  I spoke with Karel Murray about mother-daughter relationships from the daughter’s perspective that was rocky until she took control of it at 26. Karel wrote Hitting Our Stride: Women, Work and What Matters. Next I spoke with Abby and Cathy Dees about...

• Relationships 101 – Mothers and Daughters Part II and Rethinking Conception by an Anonymous Sperm Donor

  In the second of a 3-part series, my first guest is Julie Pech. Some people just have a knack for knowing how to parent, and she is one. My second guest, Elsa Prado, discussed some of the moral issues she struggles with now, that she wasn’t aware of ...

• Relationships 101 – Mothers and Daughters Part I On Stage and In Life

  The first of a series of shows about why Mother-Daughter relationships can be so conflictual, I spoke with family therapist Dr. LeslieBeth Wish, to get her perspective on this very important topic. We discussed tips for making this relationship constru...

• Relationships 101 – The Promise and Perils of Adoption and Internet Dating

  My first guest was Nicole Witt, Executive Director of The Adoption Consultancy. We had an animated conversation about the potential risks and rewards of adopting children. My next guest, Lynne Lorberg, talked with me about her experiences with Internet...

• Relationships 101 – Claim New Beginnings From Endings

  My first guest, Len Stauffenger, is the author of Getting Over It! Wisdom for Divorced Parents. He was married 10 years when his wife said she wasn’t happy and wanted a divorce. So Len became the primary parent of his two girls, aged 6 and 8. My next...

• Relationships 101 – Extreme Challenges for Parents and Kids

  Veronica Gillotti discusses the challenges parents of autistic children face. Although her son is 11, he speaks only one syllable words. She writes about coming to terms with his limitations in her novel Crowd Pleasers. Then Betty Hoeffner, Co-Founder...

• Relationships 101 – The Crisis of Black Marriages and Transition Times

  First, Dr. Harold Arnold, Jr., author of Marriage Rocks, discussed Black Marriage Day as one way to address the alarming situation of Blacks having the lowest marriage rate and the highest divorce rate of any group in the country. Then Barbara Penn-Atk...

• Relationships 101 – Special Relationships

  Drs. Charles and Elizabeth Schmitz were my first guests. For 27 years, they have studied the ingredients of successful marriages on 5 continents and over 40 countries. They co-authored of Building a Love That Lasts: The 7 Surprising Secrets of Successf...

• Relationships 101 – Bullies in the Workplace and in Cyberspace

  Roger Hall, author of How Do You Pet a Porcupine: Solutions to Your Prickly Communication Problems, is my first guest. He traveled the world helping companies cope with bullies and other Energy Vampires. My next guest is Danielle Tiano, author of The T...

• Relationships 101 – Breaking Addictions to Media, Pornography and Relationships

  People become addicts by attempting to fill a hole inside. My first guest is psychotherapist Jeff Ford who specializes in the treatment of addictions of all kinds. My second guest is Susan Elliott, author of Getting Past Your Breakup: How to Turn a Dev...

• Relationships 101 – Children Need Both Parents

  Parents Our children live in a completely different world than we did as children. My first guest, K. Sean Buvala, is a professional storyteller who talked with me about how fathers can develop a relationship with their children through telling them st...

• Relationships 101 – Marrying a Sports Champion

  Jim Fannin has coached sports champions and titans of industry for over three decades. We discussed their wives’ unique challenges that are inevitable even for those in happy marriages. And even they must wonder, at least part of the time, what they...