Divorced Dads of America: The Rebuild

Anthony Thompson, Founder of Divorced Dads of America
  • 5.0 (9)
  • Mental Health
  • Updated Daily

You didn't lose your marriage. You lost yourself. This podcast is for the divorced dad who's done surviving and ready to rebuild — his confidence, his cashflow, and his connection with his kids. Every episode delivers one raw truth and one actionable framework grounded in Biblical truth and real strategy. No fluff. No therapy speak. Just the work. New episodes drop weekly. Follow the show so you never miss a rebuild.

  1. 1d ago

    The Hardest Thing a Divorced Dad Can Do Is Nothing

    You've been fighting to get out of this season as fast as possible. More hustle. More control. More grinding. And nothing is moving. In this episode Anthony shares the moment pounding his steering wheel — broke, alone, pissed — and the image of his baby daughter that finally cracked the code. The fighting isn't the solution. It's the problem. — Why control is just fear with a productivity mask on— The neuroscience of illusion of control under stress— The Baby metaphor — why the firm hold is not punishment, it's preparation— 3 daily practices: focus on process, release the timeline, stop comparing chapters— Why sometimes what you want happens after you get what you need— Psalm 46:10 — what "be still" actually means in the season you're fighting Apply to work with Anthony 1-on-1: https://bit.ly/3PfPU0fJoin the Skool community (free + The Climb): https://bit.ly/3Z83e97Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/divorceddadsofamerica/

    15 min

  2. 3d ago

    Every Divorced Dad Says His Kids Mean Everything — So Why Doesn't He Do Everything?

    Every divorced dad says his kids mean everything to him. So why doesn't he do everything? In this episode Anthony shares the story of a dad in The Climb who drove past the same store every single day — and the four-gate framework that finally sealed the hole. Because love without a system gets demolished by the first trigger that hits. — Why willpower alone will never break a habit loop— The neuroscience of habit grooves and why the brain defaults to the pattern— The Leaking Bucket metaphor — why you can't out-fill a hole you won't seal— The Gates of Change: Awareness, Acceptance/Ownership, Accountability, Action— Why the dad who told his attorneys he was in The Climb is the model— James 1:22 — the comfortable deception most divorced dads are living Apply to work with Anthony 1-on-1: https://bit.ly/3PfPU0fJoin the Skool community (free + The Climb): https://bit.ly/3Z83e97Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/divorceddadsofamerica/

    17 min

  3. 6d ago

    He Cheated, Lost Everything, and Sat His Kids Down — Here's What He Learned / Tullian Tchividjian

    He had everything. Billy Graham's grandson. Lead pastor of a massive church. Books. TV. Radio. Conferences. A rising voice in the evangelical world. A life that looked, from the outside, like it was exactly what it was supposed to be. Then in the spring of 2015, it all went public. The marriage. The infidelity. The collapse. Publishers canceled. Fifty-two speaking engagements gone in 48 hours. The church emptied. The phone went quiet. And he moved from a beautiful home into a blank two-bedroom apartment with a few boxes and a U-Haul truck — completely alone. This week Anthony sits down with Tullian Tchividjian — pastor, author, philosopher, and the man who has bled out, rebuilt from zero, and is now doing some of the most honest work of his life. His new book, Fragments of Freedom, drops June 2nd. But what he shares in this conversation is what no book chapter could fully hold. In this episode: What it actually felt like to wake up every morning in that empty apartment after losing everything — and what the silence taught him that success never couldWhy Tullian doesn't believe in "forgiving yourself" — and the more powerful truth that finally set him free from shameThe difference between transparency and vulnerability — and why the church celebrates one and fears the otherHow the recovery community saved his life when the church community disappearedWhat his mentor said in his darkest moments — "Stick with that" — and why doing nothing was the most faithful thing he could doThe one line from his book that reframes everything: freedom rarely arrives all at once — it comes in piecesWhat he would say directly to the dad who's convinced his best days are behind himTullian said it plainly: you don't really know what you're depending on to make life worth living — until it's gone. And sometimes that loss is the most merciful thing God ever does for you. This one is going to stay with you. Share it with a man who needs it. 🔔 Subscribe on Spotify or Apple — two clicks puts this in front of a dad who's quietly falling apart right now. 📖 Pre-order Tullian's book — Fragments of Freedom (June 2nd): https://fragmentsbook.com 📲 Divorced Dads of America on Instagram: https://bit.ly/insta_DDA 🏠 Join The Ascent — Free Skool Community for Divorced Dads: https://bit.ly/3Z83e97 ▶️ New here? Start on YouTube: https://bit.ly/4mrytpE 💬 Ready to stop rebuilding alone? Apply for 1-on-1 coaching with Anthony: https://forms.gle/B39jxeMNwfq9ZJqv8 Drop a comment on Spotify — what fragment of freedom showed up for you this week in an unexpected place? Anthony reads every one.

    1h 25m

  4. May 27

    The Divorced Dad Who Keeps Losing — And the One Thing He Won't Do

    You know why things are the way they are. The ex. The courts. The timing. The loss. And you're right about most of it. But what if being right about what happened to you is exactly what's keeping you stuck? In this episode Anthony shares the mentor question that changed everything — and unpacks the Extreme Ownership and Obstacle Is the Way principles that apply to divorced dads more directly than any self-help book ever written. — Why owning everything gives you power over everything— The psychology of locus of control and why it predicts every life outcome after divorce— The Obstacle Is the Way — why the divorce isn't in the way of your rebuild, it IS the rebuild— The 3-question ownership audit that creates immediate clarity— Galatians 6:5 — the verse about carrying your own load Apply to work with Anthony 1-on-1: https://bit.ly/3PfPU0fJoin the Skool community (free + The Climb): https://bit.ly/3Z83e97Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/divorceddadsofamerica/

    12 min

  5. May 25

    Your Kids Don't Need a Perfect Dad — They Need a Present One

    You've been trying to get fatherhood right. The rules. The schedule. The perfect environment. And the harder you try — the further they drift. In this episode Anthony unpacks the single shift that changed everything in how he shows up for his kids after divorce — and why the pursuit of perfect fatherhood is the enemy of present fatherhood. — Why over-controlling the environment makes kids weaker not stronger— The research on what actually predicts healthy outcomes for kids after divorce— The Greenhouse metaphor — safe is not perfect— 4 shifts: connect before correct, let the mess be there, safety over rules, invest before you expect— Why your kids will remember presence not perfection— Deuteronomy 6:6-7 — where the most important moments actually happen Apply to work with Anthony 1-on-1: https://bit.ly/3PfPU0fJoin the Skool community (free + The Climb): https://bit.ly/3Z83e97Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/divorceddadsofamerica/

    17 min

  6. May 22

    Divorced Dads Dark Questions Answered By a Pastor / Landon Macdonald

    At 11pm, after the kids are gone and the house is quiet, divorced dads write things they can't say out loud. Anthony has been reading those posts. The ones buried in comment sections. The ones in the corners of the internet nobody talks about. The anger. The guilt. The shame. The men who are running out of reasons to believe it gets better. And he thought — somebody needs to answer these men. Not with a self-help list. Not with a motivational quote. With truth. With scripture. With somebody who's actually sat across from men carrying exactly this. So he called his neighbor. Landon McDonald is a pastor in Arizona — the kind of guy you'd actually want to talk to. No performance. No polish. Just a man who opens the Bible and makes it hit like a conversation, not a sermon. This episode is unlike anything on this feed. Anthony reads the real questions — from real dads — and Landon answers every single one. What gets answered in this episode: Why divorced dads are more ready for real faith than anyone sitting comfortably in the front rowWhat the church usually does when a divorced dad walks through the door — and why a pastor is willing to say it publiclyThe actual meaning of "renewing your mind" — not the concept, the neuroscience, the practical daily stepsWhat Romans 8:28 really says to the dad who's terrified his kids are being poisoned against himHow to forgive someone who knew exactly what they were doing to youWhat Psalm 34:18 says to the man sitting in an empty apartment who doesn't want to be here anymoreThe one thing a dad should do tonight — even if it's his first prayer in 10 yearsOne dad wrote in: his 11-year-old son started self-harming because his mom put her affair on the boy's shoulders. He believes he inherited cheater blood. He wishes he hadn't been born. Landon didn't flinch. If you've been carrying something that heavy — or you know a dad who is — this episode is the one you send them. 🔔 Subscribe on Spotify or Apple — two clicks puts this conversation in front of a dad who needs it tonight. 📲 Divorced Dads of America on Instagram: https://bit.ly/insta_DDA 🏠 Join The Ascent — Free Skool Community for Divorced Dads: https://bit.ly/3Z83e97 ▶️ New here? Start on YouTube: https://bit.ly/4mrytpE 💬 Ready to stop rebuilding alone? Apply for 1-on-1 coaching with Anthony: https://forms.gle/B39jxeMNwfq9ZJqv8 Drop a comment on Spotify — what question were you waiting for someone to answer? Anthony reads every one.

    57 min

  7. May 20

    Divorced Dads Ask: What Do I Do With Old Photos — And Who Am I Supposed to Become Now?

    Two questions. Both about what you do with what's left. Every Wednesday Anthony takes real questions from divorced dads in the rebuild. This week — what to do with the old photos that keep wrecking you, and how to figure out who you're supposed to become when the stress has buried every dream you ever had. Q1: "I don't know what to do with the old photos. Every time I see them it wrecks me. But I can't delete them either. What's the right thing to do?"Q2: "I don't know who I'm supposed to be now. I can't think straight enough to dream. Who do I become after all of this?" — Why the photos aren't the problem — your relationship with them is— The 3 stages: distance, sorting, integration— Why your kids need you to keep the photos that include them— The neuroscience of why chronic stress makes it impossible to dream— The 10-year-old boy exercise — excavating who you were before the world buried it— Jeremiah 29:11 — the plans already exist Apply to work with Anthony 1-on-1: https://bit.ly/3PfPU0fJoin the Skool community (free + The Climb): https://bit.ly/3Z83e97Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/divorceddadsofamerica/

    21 min

  8. May 18

    The Grief Nobody Told Divorced Dads About — And Why You Can't Heal What You Won't Name

    You've been calling it stress. Anxiety. Depression. Consequences. It's grief. And the reason you can't heal is because you won't call it what it is. In this episode Anthony shares the moment a family photo on his phone broke him open — and the realization that changed everything about how he approached his own rebuild. After 95 episodes, this is the one he's never recorded. The grief nobody told divorced dads about. — Why misnaming grief means applying the wrong treatment for years— Why divorce grief is classified alongside the death of a spouse— The Cancelled Flight metaphor — why there's no funeral for what you lost— 3 moves: name it accurately, give it a container, separate grief from guilt— Why guilt and grief are not the same thing and cannot be treated the same way— Psalm 34:18 — who God specifically draws closest to Apply to work with Anthony 1-on-1: https://bit.ly/3PfPU0fJoin the Skool community (free + The Climb): https://bit.ly/3Z83e97Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/divorceddadsofamerica/

    15 min
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5
out of 5
9 Ratings

About

You didn't lose your marriage. You lost yourself. This podcast is for the divorced dad who's done surviving and ready to rebuild — his confidence, his cashflow, and his connection with his kids. Every episode delivers one raw truth and one actionable framework grounded in Biblical truth and real strategy. No fluff. No therapy speak. Just the work. New episodes drop weekly. Follow the show so you never miss a rebuild.

Information

  • Creator
    Anthony Thompson, Founder of Divorced Dads of America
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    104
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Anthony Thompson, Founder of Divorced Dads of America
  • Show Website
    Divorced Dads of America: The Rebuild

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