Happily Even After with Life Coach Jen

Jennifer Townsend
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Happily Even After shares weekly insights and tools to create more fulfilling relationships with yourself, your family and God. Jennifer is a certified life coach that was married for 26 years . She has 4 amazing children and 1 son in law. She doesn’t have it all figured out but she has lots of personal experience and has learned what to do and what not to do in relationships. I help women and men who have experienced betrayal in their marriage or have been divorced learn that their is happiness to be had even when your life doesn't go as planned.

  1. 4D AGO

    180: Rebuilding Trust After Financial Betrayal with Guest Shayna Hutchins

    Send us a text What happens when financial secrets threaten to destroy your marriage? For Shayna, author of "Rebuilding a Marriage," the discovery that her husband had been making financial decisions without her knowledge became a pivotal moment that could have ended their relationship. Instead, it became the catalyst for profound healing and transformation. Shayna's journey begins with a common scenario: as a stay-at-home mom caring for their daughter, she gladly handed over financial responsibilities to her husband, who ran a successful real estate company. With her history of depression and anxiety worsening, she "buried her head in the sand" about money matters while her husband shouldered increasing burdens alone, attempting to protect her from additional stress. When financial problems finally surfaced through an unexpected conversation with her father, Shaina faced a choice that many betrayed spouses confront: walk away or rebuild. Despite the betrayal of trust, Shayna chose to honor her wedding vows—"in sickness and health, for richer or poorer"—and work toward reconciliation. Her path included a temporary separation, intensive therapy, and ultimately, the writing of a book to process her experience and help others facing similar challenges. The cornerstone of their healing became weekly family meetings where financial transparency replaced secrecy, and shared responsibility replaced isolation. Shayna's candid reflections reveal an important truth about marriage: it's rarely a perfect 50-50 split. Some days, one partner might only have 20% to give, requiring the other to contribute 80%. This fluid partnership, built on communication and shared goals, forms the foundation of rebuilding trust after betrayal. For anyone struggling with financial infidelity or communication breakdown in marriage, Shaina's story offers both practical strategies and the priceless gift of hope that yes, your relationship can survive and even thrive after betrayal. 📧 shaynahutchins5@gmail.com   📱 (480) 745-9853   📍 Scottsdale, AZ   📚 Instagram: @shaynanscarlett   🎥 TikTok: @shaynahutchins   📘 Facebook: Shayna Lee Hutchins   Portfolio available at: https://tinyurl.com/ShaynaHutchinsPortfolio  Open to UGC, freelance, and remote contract opportunities Please follow me on instagram and facebook @happilyevenaftercoach and if you want to see what coaching is all about I offer a free 45 min. clarity call via zoom. Email me: hello@lifecoachjen.com for any comments or questions. Thanks for listening, please like and review as well as share with your family and friends. My website is www.lifecoachjen.com

    28 min

  2. OCT 6

    179: Discovering Strength in My Darkest Moment

    Send us a text Have you ever had a moment when a tiny scrap of paper changed the entire trajectory of your life? That's exactly what happened to me. After 26 years of marriage marked by repeated betrayal and broken promises, I found myself cleaning up our rental car after what seemed like a perfect family vacation. That's when I discovered it - a crumpled UPS receipt with the name and address of a woman I knew. In that moment, my body recognized the truth before my mind could fully process it. The shaking hands, tightened chest, and the overwhelming urge to escape told me everything I needed to know. For years, I had chosen to stay, to believe things could be different. I had just celebrated my 50th birthday with an elaborate five-day celebration planned by my husband. We had new wedding rings, plans for our dream anniversary trip, and were even going to start a podcast together showing couples how to heal after infidelity. I truly believed we were finally on the right path. But that receipt changed everything. In the aftermath, while attending a fitness class, Cher's powerful lyrics "I'm strong enough to live without you" became my personal mantra. At first, I added "but I'm choosing to stay" - giving myself permission to take time to grow stronger. A year later, when another betrayal surfaced, I finally had the clarity and courage I needed. I chose myself. As a certified trauma-informed life coach, I now help others navigate their own betrayal journeys. Whether you choose to stay or leave, the power to heal already exists within you - you just need to uncover it. Ready to start your healing journey? Take my free quiz on my website to discover which of the seven stages of betrayal you're in right now, and take your first step toward your own "happily even after." Please follow me on instagram and facebook @happilyevenaftercoach and if you want to see what coaching is all about I offer a free 45 min. clarity call via zoom. Email me: hello@lifecoachjen.com for any comments or questions. Thanks for listening, please like and review as well as share with your family and friends. My website is www.lifecoachjen.com

    16 min

  3. SEP 29

    178: Are Your Thoughts Keeping You Stuck After Betrayal?

    Send us a text Betrayal shatters more than just trust—it often demolishes our sense of self-worth and leaves us trapped in destructive thought patterns. In this powerful episode, I dive deep into how the thoughts we believe after betrayal can either keep us stuck or propel us forward on our healing journey. Have you found yourself thinking "I'm not enough" or "What's wrong with me?" after discovering an affair? These thoughts aren't facts—they're interpretations that keep you locked in pain. I share practical strategies for examining these beliefs and transforming them into more empowering perspectives. Rather than asking "How could they do this to me?"—a question that keeps you feeling powerless—learn to redirect your focus toward questions that restore your agency and help you move forward. For parents navigating betrayal, I address common concerns about children: Will this ruin their childhood? What if they blame me? Will they take sides? While we can't shield our children from all pain, I offer guidance on supporting them while not sacrificing your own healing. Similarly, I tackle the social fallout many fear—judgment from family, friends, church communities—and provide tools to face these challenges with dignity and self-compassion. The most transformative practice I teach is identifying your five most persistent negative thoughts, examining them with curiosity, and deliberately choosing more empowering alternatives. This isn't about toxic positivity—it's about refusing to let someone else's betrayal define your worth or your future. Ready to reclaim your power and create your "happily even after"? Connect with me for a free clarity call and learn how coaching can accelerate your healing journey. Follow me on Instagram and Facebook @happilyevenaftercoach or email hello@lifecoachjen.com to begin transforming your post-betrayal life today. Please follow me on instagram and facebook @happilyevenaftercoach and if you want to see what coaching is all about I offer a free 45 min. clarity call via zoom. Email me: hello@lifecoachjen.com for any comments or questions. Thanks for listening, please like and review as well as share with your family and friends. My website is www.lifecoachjen.com

    19 min

  4. SEP 22

    177: The Seven Stages of Betrayal Healing Roadmap

    Send us a text After betrayal shatters your world, finding your way forward can feel impossible without a map. Where are you on your healing journey? Where do you want to go? And most importantly, how do you get there? Drawing from both personal experience and professional expertise as a trauma-informed certified life coach, I've created the Betrayal Healing Roadmap – a comprehensive guide through the seven stages of betrayal recovery. Like a GPS for your healing journey, this roadmap helps you identify your current location so you can chart your course toward freedom and peace. The journey begins with Discovery – that shocking moment when your world implodes and your nervous system goes into overdrive. Your body remembers every detail of this trauma as you cycle through fight, flight, and freeze responses. This quickly leads to the Questioning stage, where your brain desperately tries to make sense of what happened through investigation and rumination. While natural, becoming a "professional detective" ultimately keeps you stuck rather than moving forward. The third stage introduces the toxic cycle of Blame and Shame, where the unfaithful partner often deflects their shame onto you, and you might absorb it as your own. Recognizing this pattern is crucial for breaking free. Then comes the Grief stage – mourning not a death, but the relationship you thought you had and the future you'd planned. Many try to skip grief, but feeling these emotions, including anger, is essential for healing. At the Crossroads stage, you face the ultimate question: stay or go? This decision requires clarity that only comes after some healing has occurred. Rushing this choice often leads to decisions made from trauma rather than wisdom. Whether you stay or leave, the Rebuilding stage follows – creating either a new relationship foundation based on honesty and accountability or building your independent life with renewed confidence. The journey culminates in what I call "Happily Even After" – the Freedom stage where you've reclaimed your joy and peace. Your life is no longer defined by betrayal but by what you've created afterward. You'll still experience occasional sadness or triggers, but you now have the tools to process them without getting derailed. Ready to find your place on this map and begin moving forward? Take my free quiz at lifecoachjen.com to discover which stage you're in, then let's work together to create your happily even after. Please follow me on instagram and facebook @happilyevenaftercoach and if you want to see what coaching is all about I offer a free 45 min. clarity call via zoom. Email me: hello@lifecoachjen.com for any comments or questions. Thanks for listening, please like and review as well as share with your family and friends. My website is www.lifecoachjen.com

    27 min

  5. SEP 15

    176: Healing Intimacy After Betrayal

    Send us a text The journey through betrayal trauma requires navigating countless emotional landmines, but perhaps none more complex than rebuilding physical intimacy. What happens when your mind says yes but your body screams no? When desire conflicts with fear? When connection feels simultaneously necessary and dangerous? Drawing from personal experience and professional expertise as a trauma-informed coach, I explore ten critical aspects of post-betrayal intimacy that most relationship advice overlooks. We dive deep into why some betrayed partners seek more physical connection while others freeze at the thought of touch, examining how our nervous systems register betrayal as a threat to survival. This biological understanding helps explain why reconnection requires more than just willpower or good intentions. The conversation challenges common misconceptions about affairs, particularly the harmful notion that insufficient sex causes infidelity. Most affairs stem from emotional needs, entitlement, or escapism rather than physical dissatisfaction – understanding this reality helps both partners approach healing more effectively. We examine how blame-shifting around intimacy ("I wouldn't have cheated if we had more sex") manipulatively distorts issues of consent and safety, preventing genuine repair. Rather than rushing toward sexual reconnection, I offer practical strategies for rebuilding intimacy gradually through sustained eye contact, meaningful conversation, and non-sexual touch. These seemingly small steps help recondition your nervous system to associate your partner with safety rather than threat. Most importantly, you'll learn why saying "not yet" can be an act of self-protection and relationship preservation, not rejection or punishment. Your healing journey deserves patience, understanding, and a pathway to intimacy built on genuine safety rather than obligation. Ready to transform your relationship with yourself and others after betrayal? Follow me on social media @happilyevenaftercoach or sign up for my email list to continue this healing conversation together. Please follow me on instagram and facebook @happilyevenaftercoach and if you want to see what coaching is all about I offer a free 45 min. clarity call via zoom. Email me: hello@lifecoachjen.com for any comments or questions. Thanks for listening, please like and review as well as share with your family and friends. My website is www.lifecoachjen.com

    20 min

  6. SEP 8

    175: Breaking Free: Healing After Narcissistic Abuse with Guest Laura Richards

    Send us a text [Insert description here] Breaking free from narcissistic abuse requires recognizing patterns most of us never knew had names. Laura spent 33 years married to someone everyone thought was "such a nice guy" while enduring emotional manipulation, constant boundary violations, and the slow erosion of her self-worth behind closed doors. On this raw and illuminating episode, Laura shares how she finally found the courage to leave after experiencing what she now recognizes as a "reverse discard" – a manipulative tactic where narcissists orchestrate situations to make victims appear responsible for ending relationships. This allows them to control the narrative and play victim while avoiding accountability for their actions. The conversation explores the painful reality of trauma bonding, where victims become psychologically attached to their abusers through cycles of intermittent reinforcement. Laura describes how gaslighting left her questioning her own perceptions for decades, only to have memories surface after divorce when her brain finally felt safe enough to process them. This delayed recognition is common among survivors who often don't realize they were in abusive relationships until they've escaped them. Beyond the trauma, this episode offers profound hope for healing and reinvention. Laura transformed her experience into purpose by becoming a coach, author, and podcast host helping other midlife women recover from narcissistic relationships. She discusses how writing her book "Married to a Nice Guy" became part of her healing journey, allowing her to document her growth while helping others recognize similar patterns in their lives. For anyone who has ever minimized their dreams, walked on eggshells to keep the peace, or felt the confusion of loving someone who treats them poorly, this conversation offers validation, understanding, and a roadmap to reclaiming your life. As Laura powerfully demonstrates, midlife after narcissistic abuse isn't the end of your story – it's potentially the beginning of your most authentic and joyful chapter yet. Ready to heal from betrayal trauma or toxic relationships? Follow @happilyevenaftercoach on Instagram and visit lifecoachjenwithn.com to learn more about recovery coaching and resources. Laura Richards Podcaster • Speaker • Author • Coach •Author of  Married To A "Nice" Guy: Getting Over Narcissistic Abuse get the book here •"You're Not Crazy" ebook: get it here •Follow the podcast: http://www.thatswhereimatpodcast.com Please follow me on instagram and facebook @happilyevenaftercoach and if you want to see what coaching is all about I offer a free 45 min. clarity call via zoom. Email me: hello@lifecoachjen.com for any comments or questions. Thanks for listening, please like and review as well as share with your family and friends. My website is www.lifecoachjen.com

    35 min

  7. SEP 1

    174: Divorce or Reconcile? Your Post-Affair Navigation Guide

    Send us a text That gut-wrenching moment when you discover your spouse has betrayed you doesn't come with a clear roadmap forward. The decision to stay or leave after infidelity isn't as simple as others might suggest, especially when well-meaning friends confidently declare what they "would do" without ever having faced such devastation themselves. As a trauma-informed life coach who navigated my own marriage after betrayal, I've identified ten major obstacles that complicate this critical life decision. Fear of regret often paralyzes us – what if leaving is a mistake? What if staying means wasting more precious years? For parents, concern about children's wellbeing weighs heavily, though we must consider whether modeling an unhealthy relationship truly benefits them in the long run. The complex emotional landscape after betrayal includes lingering love for your spouse despite their actions, grief over shared history and identity loss, and shame about either staying or leaving. Financial fears intensify the stakes, especially for those who've been financially dependent. Uncertainty looms large – can your spouse truly change? Will you need to uproot your entire life? And the self-blame your unfaithful partner likely encouraged keeps you questioning your own worth and responsibility. Most importantly, betrayal trauma throws your body into survival mode – fight, flight, or freeze – making clear decisions nearly impossible until you've begun healing. Before deciding your marriage's future, focus on regaining your emotional footing. Connect with resources that understand betrayal's unique challenges, whether therapy, coaching, or selective confidants who won't simply project their own perspectives onto your situation. Remember: there's no universal "right answer" about staying or leaving after infidelity. What matters is making the choice that aligns with your values, needs, and vision for your future. You deserve thoughtful support as you navigate this crossroads and create your own version of "happily even after" – with or without your current partner. Wherever your path leads, healing is possible. Please follow me on instagram and facebook @happilyevenaftercoach and if you want to see what coaching is all about I offer a free 45 min. clarity call via zoom. Email me: hello@lifecoachjen.com for any comments or questions. Thanks for listening, please like and review as well as share with your family and friends. My website is www.lifecoachjen.com

    25 min

  8. AUG 25

    173: Why Putting People on Pedestals Destroys Relationships

    Send us a text Have you ever put someone on a pedestal only to feel devastated when they tumbled down? Pedestals seem harmless—even positive—but they create dangerous dynamics that fuel betrayal, secrets, and delayed healing. As a trauma-informed life coach who survived betrayal myself, I've seen firsthand how the "perfect spouse" or "golden child" syndrome sets everyone up for failure. The person elevated feels immense pressure to hide their flaws, while those doing the elevating face earth-shattering disorientation when the inevitable fall occurs. I share ten powerful reasons why pedestals harm relationships, including how they prevent accountability, create toxic family secrets, and complicate the healing process after betrayal. The stories from my own journey—from calling my ex-husband "church dad" to discovering his double life—illuminate the real damage these perfection illusions cause, especially to children who sense something is wrong but can't name it. This episode offers a refreshing alternative to perfectionism: embracing our shared humanity where mistakes don't define us. I explain how being the "world's okayest mom" creates space for authentic relationships and genuine healing. You'll learn practical approaches to navigate difficult truths with loved ones, set appropriate boundaries without punishment, and build connections based on honesty rather than illusions. Whether you're recovering from betrayal or simply want more authentic relationships, this conversation will help you recognize harmful pedestals in your life and take steps toward deeper connections built on truth. Ready to exchange impossible expectations for genuine relationships? This episode shows you how. Please follow me on instagram and facebook @happilyevenaftercoach and if you want to see what coaching is all about I offer a free 45 min. clarity call via zoom. Email me: hello@lifecoachjen.com for any comments or questions. Thanks for listening, please like and review as well as share with your family and friends. My website is www.lifecoachjen.com

    22 min
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About

Happily Even After shares weekly insights and tools to create more fulfilling relationships with yourself, your family and God. Jennifer is a certified life coach that was married for 26 years . She has 4 amazing children and 1 son in law. She doesn’t have it all figured out but she has lots of personal experience and has learned what to do and what not to do in relationships. I help women and men who have experienced betrayal in their marriage or have been divorced learn that their is happiness to be had even when your life doesn't go as planned.

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