Dear Divorce Diary: A Fresh Approach To Healing Grief & Building A Life Of Confidence After Divorce

My Coach Dawn
  • 4.9 (61)
  • MENTAL HEALTH
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

This isn’t a breakup pep talk. It’s a full-body recalibration for women navigating life after divorce. Dear Divorce Diary is a podcast for women dealing with grief, loneliness, anxiety, anxious or avoidant attachment, and identity loss after divorce — especially when quick fixes, positivity, and spiritual fluff no longer work. I’m Dawn Wiggins, therapist, coach, and homeopath, and this show goes where most divorce advice won’t: into your nervous system, your unspoken grief, your buried rage, and the parts of you that shut down just to survive. Through honest conversation, somatic tools, EMDR- and IFS-informed work, and nervous-system support, each episode helps you feel instead of perform healing — and rebuild safety, confidence, and self-trust from the inside out. You’ll hear raw solo episodes, real voice notes from women in the trenches, and intimate conversations with experts who don’t just talk about healing — they embody it. If you’re tired of being told to “move on” while your body is still bracing, this podcast is your place to land. Your nervous system already knows the truth — it just needs a space that can hold it.

  1. 18H AGO

    327. Divorce, Litigation, and the Nervous System: Why You Feel Like You’re Falling Apart

    Divorce isn’t just emotional. It’s legal. It’s procedural. And for many women… It’s where everything starts to feel like it’s unraveling. In this episode of Dear Divorce Diary, we’re talking about something that doesn’t get enough attention: 👉 What divorce litigation actually does to your nervous system. Because the women we work with who are still in active litigation?  They’re almost always the most dysregulated. Sleep issues. Constant anxiety. Feeling reactive to every email, every court date, every new document. And it’s not because you’re weak. It’s because your body is being asked to process stress… over and over and over again. Today, Dawn is joined by Heather Quick, a seasoned divorce attorney who sees the inside of the courtroom every single day, offering a grounded, real-world perspective on what the legal process actually looks like for women—and why it can feel so overwhelming. In this episode, we talk about: – What “litigation” really means (and why it’s not always what you think) – Why the beginning of the legal process can feel the most overwhelming – How nervous system dysregulation shows up (and why it impacts your decision-making)   – Why friends and family can unintentionally make the process harder – The connection between divorce grief, identity loss, and prolonged stress exposure – Why divorce grief feels different than death (and why it keeps getting reactivated) – What it actually takes to stay steady during one of the most stressful seasons of your life The truth most women aren’t told: You don’t just need legal support.  You need nervous system support. Because when your body is overwhelmed… you can’t receive information clearly, you can’t make grounded decisions, and you can’t advocate for yourself the way you deserve to. If you’re in (or heading into) litigation, start here: – Build emotional support before things escalate – Create a daily practice that helps your body discharge stress – Give yourself space to regulate before making big decisions – Let your legal team handle the law—and your support system help you process the rest Connect with Heather: –Buy UNBREAKABLE DIVORCE HERE – Website: https://floridawomenslawgroup.com – Podcast: Women Winning Divorce – Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/floridawomenslawgroup/ – Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FloridaWomensLawGroup Because this isn’t just something you “get through.” It’s something your body has to move through in real time. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyCoachDawn Instagram: (@dawnwiggins) Instagram: (@coachtiffini) On the Web: https://www.mycoachdawn.com A podcast exploring the journey of life after divorce, delving into topics like divorce grief, loneliness, anxiety, manifesting, the impact of different attachment styles and codependency, setting healthy boundaries, energy healing with homeopathy, managing the nervous system during divorce depression, understanding the stage Support the show ✨Join the Cocoon Community - your people are waiting! ✨ 🥤Shop Organised - Code: DEARDIVORCEDIARY for 10% off🥤

    37 min

  2. 5D AGO

    Ep. 326 - Why So Many Divorced Women Don’t Trust Their Own Intuition

    Many divorced women quietly carry the same fear: “What if I can’t trust my own judgment?” After a relationship ends, it’s common to question everything — your choices, your instincts, even your ability to recognize what’s healthy and what isn’t. But for many women, that loss of self-trust didn’t start in the marriage. It started much earlier. In this premium coaching episode, Tiffini works with one of our members to explore a pattern many women recognize but struggle to name: the tendency to override intuition and rely on discipline, logic, and control instead. When you grow up in environments where your inner knowing was ignored, dismissed, or contradicted, you often learn to survive by becoming hyper-responsible, hyper-disciplined, and hyper-analytical. Those strategies can help you function. But they can also slowly disconnect you from the quiet voice inside that knows what’s true. In this powerful IFS-informed coaching session, you’ll hear one woman begin to uncover how her childhood experiences shaped her relationship with intuition — and how those patterns later showed up in adulthood, relationships, and divorce recovery. Together, they explore how protective parts like perfectionism, over-discipline, and self-analysis develop as survival strategies… and what begins to shift when intuition is invited back into the decision-making process. If you’ve ever felt like you’re constantly searching outside yourself for answers — books, advice, podcasts, or systems — this conversation may resonate deeply. Because rebuilding your life after divorce isn’t just about making better decisions. It’s about learning how to trust yourself again. In this episode, you’ll hear: Why many divorced women struggle to trust their intuitionHow childhood environments can disconnect women from their inner guidanceThe survival strategies that develop when intuition isn’t safe to trustHow discipline and over-analysis can become protective partsWhy rebuilding self-trust is a central part of divorce recoveryThis coaching session is available exclusively to our premium members. If you’ve ever wondered why trusting yourself feels so hard — or why you find yourself constantly searching outside yourself for answers — the deeper conversations inside the premium feed are where we explore these patterns in real time. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyCoachDawn Instagram: (@dawnwiggins) Instagram: (@coachtiffini) On the Web: https://www.mycoachdawn.com A podcast exploring the journey of life after divorce, delving into topics like divorce grief, loneliness, anxiety, manifesting, the impact of different attachment styles and codependency, setting healthy boundaries, energy healing with homeopathy, managing the nervous system during divorce depression, understanding the stages of divorce grief, and using the Law of Attraction and EMDR therapy in the process of building your confidence, forgiveness and letting go. Support the show ✨Join the Cocoon Community - your people are waiting! ✨ 🥤Shop Organised - Code: DEARDIVORCEDIARY for 10% off🥤

    4 min

  3. MAR 10

    325. Divorce and the Death of the Future: Grieving What Was Supposed to Be

    Divorce grief isn’t always about the person. Sometimes it’s about the future you thought was guaranteed. In this episode, Dawn, Producer Joy, and Coach Tiffini unpack one of the most disorienting parts of divorce recovery: grieving the life you thought you were building. The marriage. The identity. The future that felt certain. Because when divorce happens, many women don’t just lose a partner — they lose the story they believed about their life. In this conversation, we explore the deeper layers of divorce grief, including the anger, confusion, and identity collapse that often surface when the life you imagined suddenly disappears. Inside this episode: • Why divorce grief often shows up as anger, resentment, or disbelief — not just sadness  • The identity crisis many women face after divorce  • Why some women begin questioning whether love itself is real  • What has to happen internally before you can imagine a new future  • Why healing accelerates when women stop performing and start showing up authentically in community This episode also touches on attachment patterns, nervous system safety, inner child healing, and the work required to rebuild trust in yourself — and in love. If you’ve ever asked yourself, “Did any of it even matter?” or wondered whether the life you believed in was ever real, you are not alone. Hi love, and welcome to Dear Divorce Diary, a podcast exploring life after divorce and the deeper healing work that helps women rebuild their confidence, regulate their nervous systems, and create the life they truly want. If you’re looking for deeper support: • Join our Cocoon community inside the Heartbeat app • Become a premium listener for behind-the-mic conversations and healing tools • Or share this episode with a woman navigating divorce grief Because healing after divorce isn’t about getting your old life back. It’s about creating a future that’s actually aligned with who you are becoming. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyCoachDawn Instagram: (@dawnwiggins) Instagram: (@coachtiffini) On the Web: https://www.mycoachdawn.com A podcast exploring the journey of life after divorce, delving into topics like divorce grief, loneliness, anxiety, manifesting, the impact of different attachment styles and codependency, setting healthy boundaries, energy healing with homeopathy, managing the nervous system during divorce depression, understanding the stages of divorce grief, and using the Law of Attraction and EMDR therapy in the process of building your confidence, forgiveness and letting go. Support the show ✨Join the Cocoon Community - your people are waiting! ✨ 🥤Shop Organised - Code: DEARDIVORCEDIARY for 10% off🥤

    39 min

  4. MAR 5 · BONUS

    Ep. 324 - The 10 Women Living Inside Your Divorce - Which One Are You?

    Divorce doesn’t create just one version of you. It creates many. One moment you’re grieving. The next you’re furious. Then suddenly you’re nostalgic for a relationship that hurt you. Then you’re trying to pull yourself together and be the strong one. Many women think this means something is wrong with them. It doesn’t. It means your nervous system is trying to process a profound emotional rupture. Because inside divorce, there are often multiple emotional states competing for the steering wheel. It can feel like several different versions of you are living inside the same body — each holding a different piece of the grief, the anger, the longing, or the shock. In this premium episode of Dear Divorce Diary, Dawn explores the 10 emotional archetypes that commonly emerge during divorce — the inner “women” many divorced women cycle through as their nervous system processes loss, betrayal, identity change, and healing. As you listen, you may recognize one immediately. Or you may realize you’ve been moving between several of them. This episode also shares the deeper story behind the Destined Divorce Recovery Blend — a remedy formula created specifically for the layered emotional states women often experience during divorce recovery. Because divorce doesn’t just break a relationship. It often activates every unresolved emotional layer in the body at once. Understanding those layers is where healing begins. And chances are… while listening to this episode, you’ll recognize one of these women inside yourself. Maybe even more than one. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyCoachDawn Instagram: (@dawnwiggins) Instagram: (@coachtiffini) On the Web: https://www.mycoachdawn.com A podcast exploring the journey of life after divorce, delving into topics like divorce grief, loneliness, anxiety, manifesting, the impact of different attachment styles and codependency, setting healthy boundaries, energy healing with homeopathy, managing the nervous system during divorce depression, understanding the stages of divorce grief, and using the Law of Attraction and EMDR therapy in the process of building your confidence, forgiveness and letting go. Support the show ✨Join the Cocoon Community - your people are waiting! ✨ 🥤Shop Organised - Code: DEARDIVORCEDIARY for 10% off🥤

    3 min

  5. MAR 3

    323. There Is No Meal Train for Divorce Grief: Grieving Someone Who’s Still Alive

    When someone dies, there’s a script. When you get divorced, there isn’t. No ritual. No defined role. No socially approved space to grieve someone who is still alive. In this episode, we unpack why divorce grief is neurologically and socially different from death — and why so many women feel stuck for years without understanding why. We talk about: The three ways divorce grief disrupts the nervous systemWhy “stages of grief” don’t fully apply hereThe self-esteem hit that makes you ask, “Why wasn’t I enough?”Why many support groups validate you… but don’t actually help you healAnd we introduce something deeper — what we mean when we say divorce grief is quantum. Not mystical. Not abstract. Layered. Overlapping. Entangled. Your past self, your present body, and your future identity are all grieving at once. Your nervous system is still wired to seek comfort from the person you’re trying to let go of. Divorce grief doesn’t move in stages. It moves in waves. There may be no meal train for this kind of loss. But you don’t have to grieve it alone. If this episode resonated, your next step is simple: don’t stay isolated in it. Join us inside the Cocoon community in the Heartbeat app, come to a Cocoon Connect, or take one deeper step into your healing. Because this kind of grief doesn’t resolve with time...It resolves with support. We’ll meet you there. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyCoachDawn Instagram: (@dawnwiggins) Instagram: (@coachtiffini) On the Web: https://www.mycoachdawn.com A podcast exploring the journey of life after divorce, delving into topics like divorce grief, loneliness, anxiety, manifesting, the impact of different attachment styles and codependency, setting healthy boundaries, energy healing with homeopathy, managing the nervous system during divorce depression, understanding the stages of divorce grief, and using the Law of Attraction and EMDR therapy in the process of building your confidence, forgiveness and letting go. Support the show ✨Join the Cocoon Community - your people are waiting! ✨ 🥤Shop Organised - Code: DEARDIVORCEDIARY for 10% off🥤

    41 min

  6. FEB 26 · BONUS

    Ep. 322 - They Only Hear Me When I’m Angry: Codependency, Suppressed Rage & Healthy Conflict After Divorce

    Hi love. Have you ever felt like no one listens…until you lose it? You ask calmly. You explain clearly. You regulate yourself. And nothing changes. But the moment you explode? Suddenly, everyone’s paying attention. In this premium Behind the Mic episode, Tiffini, Joy, and I unpack the dynamic that hit a nerve in the office this morning: Why do some systems only respond to anger? We talk about: – The pattern of suppressing anger to be the “good girl”  – The breaking point where suppression turns into explosion  – Why some partners (and kids) only respond when you’re dysregulated  – Internal Family Systems (IFS) and the war between your Manager and Firefighter parts  – The Anacardium pattern: “Everybody breaks.”  – How codependency is rooted in the refusal to feel  – Why leaning in feels scarier than leaning out  – The guilt that comes when you stop over-functioning  – Parenting from regulation instead of control  – And how to break generational suppression before it reaches your daughter’s Saturn return We also explore a powerful truth: Codependency isn’t just “doing too much.” It’s:  “I don’t want to feel.  And I don’t want you to feel.” And when feelings are suppressed long enough, rage becomes the only available language. This episode is raw. We talk about screaming fights. Throwing clothes in the yard. Village parenting. Undoing 20 years of over-functioning. And what it looks like to assume goodwill instead of defending. If you’ve ever thought: “They only hear me when I’m angry,” This conversation will help you understand why. And more importantly, how to stop needing to break to be seen. Welcome to Panel Rant Thursday. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyCoachDawn Instagram: (@dawnwiggins) Instagram: (@coachtiffini) On the Web: https://www.mycoachdawn.com A podcast exploring the journey of life after divorce, delving into topics like divorce grief, loneliness, anxiety, manifesting, the impact of different attachment styles and codependency, setting healthy boundaries, energy healing with homeopathy, managing the nervous system during divorce depression, understanding the stages of divorce grief, and using the Law of Attraction and EMDR therapy in the process of building your confidence, forgiveness and letting go. Support the show ✨Join the Cocoon Community - your people are waiting! ✨ 🥤Shop Organised - Code: DEARDIVORCEDIARY for 10% off🥤

    2 min

  7. FEB 24

    321. The Divorce Diet: From Midnight Bingeing to Appetite Loss - What Your Body Is Really Asking For

    You’re either eating everything in sight to numb the ache… or staring at food like your body forgot how to be hungry. Welcome to what so many women quietly call the divorce diet. After divorce, your nervous system is on high alert. Grief, resentment, fear, and mental load don’t just affect your thoughts — they change your biology. In this episode of Dear Divorce Diary, we unpack: • Why cortisol and adrenaline shut digestion down — or drive intense sugar and carb cravings  • How heartbreak, betrayal, and chronic stress deplete specific organs in the body  • The Traditional Chinese Medicine organ–emotion connection (liver resentment, spleen worry, kidney fear, heart heartbreak, lung grief)  • Why therapy alone sometimes doesn’t “stick”  • And the nourishment layer most women are missing This isn’t about willpower. It’s not about discipline. And it’s definitely not about another diet. It’s about survival physiology. Your body has been keeping the score — and it may be asking for deeper nourishment, not more control. We also share a whole-food approach to rebuilding from the inside out using grass-fed beef organs, collagen, and colostrum — ancestral nutrients that support the exact systems divorce stress depletes.  Find Organised Here -----> Use Code: DEARDIVORCEDIARY for 10% off When the organs are nourished, resentment softens. Worry quiets. Energy returns. And appetite stabilizes naturally — because your body finally feels safe again. Divorce recovery is holistic — mind, body, spirit. When we nourish the body, the spirit exhales. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyCoachDawn Instagram: (@dawnwiggins) Instagram: (@coachtiffini) On the Web: https://www.mycoachdawn.com A podcast exploring the journey of life after divorce, delving into topics like divorce grief, loneliness, anxiety, manifesting, the impact of different attachment styles and codependency, setting healthy boundaries, energy healing with homeopathy, managing the nervous system during divorce depression, understanding the stages of divorce grief, and using the Law of Attraction and EMDR therapy in the process of building your confidence, forgiveness and letting go. Support the show ✨Join the Cocoon Community - your people are waiting! ✨ 🥤Shop Organised - Code: DEARDIVORCEDIARY for 10% off🥤

    35 min

  8. FEB 19 · BONUS

    Ep. 320 - Brené Brown’s Shame Question That Changed My Divorce Healing Forever

    One line from Brené Brown’s Atlas of the Heart hit me like lightning during my own post-divorce unraveling—exposing the exact shame trigger I’d carried for years, the hidden identity fueling quiet resentment, self-criticism, and that exhausting push-pull of “too much” versus “not enough.” In this powerful episode, I take you straight into the moment it landed (page 30, in the section on resentment), share the raw, tender answers that flooded in when I texted the question to my inner circle (“weak,” “bitch,” “lazy,” “fake,” “unmotivated”…), and walk through my own vulnerable evolution—from “too much or not enough” to fully owning “too much” as the big, intense, storm-cloud-and-sunshine truth of who I am. Through a trauma-informed, spiritually grounded lens, we explore: How this single sentence stem reveals our deepest unwanted identity—the shame elicitor Brené says is the most powerful trigger.Why resentment after divorce often stems from failing to claim what we need, and how naming the fear (“It’s really important for me not to be perceived as…”) cracks open the door to radical self-acceptance.Somatic practices to locate the trigger in your body (that chest tightness, belly clench, or heat rising) and meet it with fierce compassion instead of more judgment.The spiritual invitation: transmuting the exiled parts (your intensity, your darkness, your bigness) into medicine—because divorce isn’t just loss; it’s the sacred threshold to reclaiming your full aliveness.This isn’t passive listening—it’s an embodied exercise we do together. I guide you to answer the question in real time, feel what surfaces, and begin pouring love exactly where you’ve withheld it. The more we love the vulnerability we’ve feared, the clearer we become about who belongs in our next chapter… and who we lovingly release. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyCoachDawn Instagram: (@dawnwiggins) Instagram: (@coachtiffini) On the Web: https://www.mycoachdawn.com A podcast exploring the journey of life after divorce, delving into topics like divorce grief, loneliness, anxiety, manifesting, the impact of different attachment styles and codependency, setting healthy boundaries, energy healing with homeopathy, managing the nervous system during divorce depression, understanding the stages of divorce grief, and using the Law of Attraction and EMDR therapy in the process of building your confidence, forgiveness and letting go. Support the show ✨Join the Cocoon Community - your people are waiting! ✨ 🥤Shop Organised - Code: DEARDIVORCEDIARY for 10% off🥤

    2 min
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This isn’t a breakup pep talk. It’s a full-body recalibration for women navigating life after divorce. Dear Divorce Diary is a podcast for women dealing with grief, loneliness, anxiety, anxious or avoidant attachment, and identity loss after divorce — especially when quick fixes, positivity, and spiritual fluff no longer work. I’m Dawn Wiggins, therapist, coach, and homeopath, and this show goes where most divorce advice won’t: into your nervous system, your unspoken grief, your buried rage, and the parts of you that shut down just to survive. Through honest conversation, somatic tools, EMDR- and IFS-informed work, and nervous-system support, each episode helps you feel instead of perform healing — and rebuild safety, confidence, and self-trust from the inside out. You’ll hear raw solo episodes, real voice notes from women in the trenches, and intimate conversations with experts who don’t just talk about healing — they embody it. If you’re tired of being told to “move on” while your body is still bracing, this podcast is your place to land. Your nervous system already knows the truth — it just needs a space that can hold it.

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