Pulling Threads, Weaving Authenticity

Leslie Mathews
  • 5.0 (6)
  • MENTAL HEALTH
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Pulling Threads is a podcast for women navigating life, career, past and current trauma, breakups and divorce, motherhood, reinvention, and the brave work of becoming who they’re meant to be. Hosted by therapist, coach, and founder of The LooM Life, Leslie Mathews, JD, MSW, this show blends trauma-informed guidance, nervous system education, and meaningful conversations about the patterns that shape our relationships, identity, and purpose. Each episode explores the complicated places where life asks us to grow — healing from emotional abuse, rebuilding after divorce, midlife identity shifts, attachment wounds, dating again, motherhood, and rediscovering your voice. Many guests share their own stories of reinvention, entrepreneurship, career pivots, and stepping into authenticity, offering inspiration and practical wisdom for women building new chapters. Through expert interviews, personal storytelling, and mindfulness-based tools, Pulling Threads supports women who are healing, expanding, and creating aligned lives and businesses. It’s a space for those navigating toxic dynamics, strengthening emotional regulation, or following the pull toward something more authentic and more fulfilling. If you’re ready to untangle old patterns, trust your intuition, and weave a life — and identity — that feels grounded, empowered, and true, this podcast is where your next chapter begins.

  1. 23H AGO

    Sent Away at 16: A Troubled Teen Industry Survivor’s Story

    What happens to a teenager who's sent away to be "fixed"? Kaila Miller spent 48 weeks inside a residential program at 16 — and now she's a therapist helping families heal differently. ✨ FROM LESLIE 🌐 theloomlife.com | loomlifetherapy.com | leslieellenmathews.com 💌 Book a discovery call → theloomlife.com 🌿 THROUGH (8-week divorce coaching program) → theloomlife.com/throughdivorceprogram 📩 leslie@theloomlife.com 🎁 GUEST: KAILA MILLER 📖 Memoir "Am I Changed?" → amichanged.com 🌀 Outrvention (whole-family intervention) → outrvention.com 📱 IG & Threads: @kailatheauthor — — — ABOUT THIS EPISODE At 16, Kaila Miller was woken up at 5 a.m. by transporters, flown to the Arizona desert, and dropped into a residential program for what would become 48 weeks of her life. The question that came out of that experience — am I changed? — became the title of her debut memoir (an Amazon Top New Release) and the foundation of her life's work as a therapist, advocate, and co-founder of Outrvention. In this conversation, Kaila and Leslie talk about: • The lineage and family history that shape every child long before they "act out" • What actually happens inside Troubled Teen Industry (TTI) programs — the level system, the silence, the punitive structure • Why parents end up there in desperation, not malice — and what to look for if you have to send your child to a program • Outrvention: a whole-family intervention model where every member of the family gets their own treatment plan, not just the "identified patient" • Parenting teenagers while your own teenage self is still healing • The IFS-informed moment in Big Sur where Kaila finally let her adult self parent her teenage self • Navigating divorce, co-parenting, and what kids actually need when a family restructures • Why the most powerful thing a parent can do is heal themselves • Resilience, hope, and the belief that life is a journey of becoming, not arriving TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Welcome & introducing Kaila Miller 02:30 Lineage: why your story starts before you do 04:45 Childhood abuse, addiction at 12, and putting an abuser in prison 08:30 Running away at 16 and the night the transporters came 12:00 Inside a residential program: levels, silence, and "work hours" 17:00 Hitting bottom on level two and making run plans 20:00 Why families end up in the Troubled Teen Industry 28:30 What Kaila wishes her parents had known 31:00 If you have to send your child to a program what to look for 35:30 December crisis, Big Sur, and meeting her teenage self 41:00 Letting the adult self parent the inner teenager 50:00 Lineage, family systems, and how patterns travel 56:30 Why DSM diagnoses are not lifetime sentences 61:30 Outrvention: a treatment plan for every member of the family 68:00 Sons, fathers, and the work mothers don't always realize they're doing 75:00 The most important thing a parent can do is heal themselves 80:00 Becoming, not arriving where Kaila's conviction comes from 83:00 Building resilience and reinstalling hope 88:30 The brain wants to heal prescription over diagnosis 93:30 What Kaila would tell her 16-year-old self 97:00 Where to find Kaila, the book, and Outrvention ABOUT KAILA Kaila Miller (Kaila Kraft) is a licensed therapist (AMFT), TTI survivor, mom of four, and the author of "Am I Changed?" — an Amazon Top New Release. She is the co-founder of Outrvention, a family-centered intervention model that treats the whole system rather than the "identified" child. WORK WITH LESLIE 🌿 The Loom Life: theloomlife.com 🧠 Loom Life Therapy (EMDR, IFS, trauma): loomlifetherapy.com 💛 Coaching with Leslie: leslieellenmathews.com 🎯 1:1 coaching & therapy — book a discovery call at theloomlife.com PROGRAMS ✨ THROUGH — 8-week divorce coaching program for women → theloomlife.com/throughdivorceprogram ABOUT PULLING THREADS Pulling Threads, Weaving Authenticity is a podcast for anyone navigating divorce, healing from trauma, and rebuilding their life with intention. New episodes weekly. CONTENT NOTE This episode includes discussion of childhood abuse, the Troubled Teen Industry, and residential treatment. Listen with care. If this conversation moved you, please rate, review, and subscribe — it helps others find the show. KEYWORDS: troubled teen industry, TTI survivor, residential treatment for teens, parenting teenagers, trauma healing, generational trauma, IFS inner teenager, whole family intervention, Outrvention, divorce and parenting, mental health podcast for women, Pulling Threads, Leslie Mathews, Kaila Miller, Am I Changed #PullingThreads #TroubledTeenIndustry #TraumaHealing #ParentingTeens #MentalHealthPodcast

    1h 33m

  2. 3D AGO

    Grounded Masculinity: What Women Actually Scan For

    Grounded masculinity isn't a performance — it's a state. What women's nervous systems actually scan for, from a therapist's perspective. 🔗 Work with Leslie 1:1: https://theloomlife.com 🎧 Subscribe to Pulling Threads, Weaving Authenticity for the rest of the For the Boys playlist. In Episode 2 of For the Boys, Leslie Mathews — therapist, coach, and former attorney — unpacks the difference between a man women keep going back to and a man women politely never see again. This isn't dating-coach advice or pickup strategy. It's the actual nervous-system work underneath the noise around "masculine energy" — and why performing it never works. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN • Why a woman's nervous system "files a report" on you within 7 minutes • The 4 things women are scanning for — and how to know if you actually have them • Why performing groundedness reads as a threat • The difference between habit and performance after years in the dating world • Why "regulation hunger" sabotages even sophisticated strategies • The unsexy practice steps that actually build a regulated nervous system • What G.S. Youngblood calls "presence" — and why it's downstream of nervous system work WHO THIS IS FOR Men who are post-divorce or post-breakup, re-entering the dating world, and want to grow rather than chase. Not for skilled players who've made the game a habit — for the men trying to figure out how to actually show up. WORK WITH LESLIE Leslie is a therapist, coach, and former attorney specializing in divorce, breakups, and relationships. She typically works with women but is opening some 1:1 coaching space for men because the work matters on both sides of the equation. 🌐 Websites • theloomlife.com • loomlifetherapy.com • leslieellenmathews.com 📩 Contact: leslie@theloomlife.com 📲 Follow • Instagram: @the.loom.life • TikTok: @leslieellenmathews 📚 Mentioned in this episode • "Masculine in Relationship" by G.S. Youngblood NEXT IN THE PLAYLIST Why men pick the same kind of woman over and over — attachment patterns, how your body chooses partners before your mind does, and why you keep ending up across the dinner table from a slightly different version of your ex. CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro: For the Boys, Episode 2 01:00 Why men's content gets "masculine energy" wrong 02:00 What a woman's nervous system is actually scanning for 03:00 "Collecting information": below conscious level 04:00 What women aren't looking for (it's not biceps or money) 05:00 Presence, regulation, and why performing fails 06:00 Performance reads as a threat 07:00 For men new to post-divorce dating 08:00 Habit vs. performance — the long-term difference 09:00 Scan #1: Can you be with your own feelings? 10:00 Scan #2: Can you hold her feelings without flinching or fixing? 13:00 Holding space without taking on the burden 14:00 What "just listen" actually looks like 15:00 Scan #3: Do you have a life that's yours? 16:00 Scan #4: Do you trust your own yes and no? 17:00 The trap: weaponizing this as strategy 18:00 Why doing this for her response collapses the state 19:00 The actual (unsexy) practice 20:00 Practicing your "no" and "yes" with small things 21:00 Leslie's own people-pleasing story 22:00 What it feels like when the work works 23:00 What to do next 24:00 Next in the playlist + outro #GroundedMasculinity #MasculineEnergy #DatingAfterDivorce #MensPersonalGrowth #PullingThreads Keywords: grounded masculinity, masculine energy explained, nervous system regulation for men, dating after divorce for men, presence in relationships, masculine in relationship, G.S. Youngblood, life coach for men after divorce, men's personal growth after divorce, how to be a safe partner DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for educational and informational purposes and is not a substitute for therapy or professional mental health care. Time Chapter Title 00:00 Intro: For the Boys, Episode 2 01:00 Why men's content gets "masculine energy" wrong 02:00 What a woman's nervous system is actually scanning for 03:00 "Collecting information": below conscious level 04:00 What women aren't looking for (biceps, money, game) 05:00 Presence, regulation, and the G.S. Youngblood reference 06:00 Why performance reads as a threat 07:00 For men new to post-divorce dating 08:00 Habit vs. performance — the long-term difference 09:00 Scan #1: Can you be with your own feelings? 10:00 Scan #2: Can you hold her feelings without flinching or fixing? 13:00 Holding space without taking on the burden 14:00 What "just listen" actually looks like 15:00 Scan #3: Do you have a life that's yours? 16:00 Scan #4: Do you trust your own yes and no? 17:00 The trap: weaponizing this as strategy 18:00 Why doing this for her response collapses the state 19:00 The actual (unsexy) practice 20:00 Practicing your "no" and "yes" with small things 21:00 Leslie's own people-pleasing story 22:00 What it feels like when the work works 23:00 What to do next 24:00 Next in the playlist + outro

    25 min

  3. 5D AGO

    Healing During and After Divorce: Body, Mind, & Nervous System

    Divorce isn't just emotional — it's physiological. In this solo episode, Leslie walks you through whole-person healing → theloomlife.com Work with Leslie: → THROUGH (8-week divorce coaching program): theloomlife.com/through → Mindful Untangling Community: theloomlife.com/community → Book a 90-minute Power Session or Discovery Call: theloomlife.com — When clients first come to work with Leslie through divorce or a difficult breakup, they expect strategy sessions about their ex and the loss of the marriage. What surprises almost every one of them is that the real work — the work that determines whether they walk out grounded or limp out depleted — happens somewhere they didn't expect: in the body. Divorce is not primarily a legal event. It is not primarily an emotional event. It's a sustained physiological event your nervous system was never designed to carry for months or years. In this episode, Leslie pulls back the curtain on what she actually works on with clients — and why these are the conversations that change the outcome of a divorce, not just the experience of it. What you'll learn in this episode: • Why divorce is a physiological event — and what chronic cortisol does to your sleep, digestion, memory, and decision-making • The sleep, nutrition, and movement foundation that everything else stands on • Why pleasure and self-pleasure are nervous system co-regulation — not a distraction from healing • The honest question to ask yourself before you start dating again • Monkey branching: what it really means when your ex moves on quickly (and why it's not about you) • Why starting a new hobby literally rewires the brain during a rumination event • How to prepare for hard days — court dates, custody exchanges, first holidays — like an athlete prepares for competition This episode is for anyone going through a divorce or breakup, anyone preparing for one, and anyone who loves someone walking through it. It's for men. It's for women. It's for the friend in your group chat who is barely holding on. — RESOURCES MENTIONED • OMG Yes (women's pleasure education): omgyes.com • Blood work, hormone testing, and supplement support — talk to your own practitioner WORK WITH LESLIE • THROUGH — the 8-week divorce coaching program (small group or 1:1): theloomlife.com/through • Mindful Untangling — the divorce & breakup recovery community: theloomlife.com/community • 1:1 Coaching, 90-minute Power Sessions, and Discovery Calls: theloomlife.com • Therapy with Leslie (EMDR, IFS, trauma): loomlifetherapy.com • Leslie's main site: leslieellenmathews.com • Email: leslie@theloomlife.com FOLLOW & CONNECT • Instagram: @the.loom.life • TikTok: @leslieellenmathews • Podcast: Pulling Threads, Weaving Authenticity — wherever you listen — ABOUT LESLIE Leslie Mathews is a former attorney turned therapist and divorce coach, the founder of The Loom Life, and the host of Pulling Threads, Weaving Authenticity. Her work supports people moving through divorce, breakup, and post-divorce transformation with a whole-person approach: body, nervous system, mind, and identity. — If this episode resonated, the kindest thing you can do is subscribe, leave a comment, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Every share helps another person find this work. Keywords: divorce recovery, how to heal after divorce, divorce coaching for women, nervous system healing, whole-person divorce healing, divorce coaching program, life after divorce, healing podcast for women, mental health podcast for women, monkey branching, dating after divorce, rebuilding identity after divorce 00:00 Cold open — what clients are surprised we talk about 02:00 Welcome to Pulling Threads — episode intro 04:00 The reframe: divorce as a physiological event 07:00 What I assess first: your nervous system 09:00 Sleep is the foundation of everything else 11:30 Nutrition, hydration, and daily movement 14:00 The patterns I see in men vs. women 15:30 Supplements, blood work, and hormones 17:30 Pleasure & self-pleasure as nervous system co-regulation 21:30 Dating during divorce — what is it really for? 24:30 Monkey branching: when your ex moves on quickly 27:30 Why a new hobby literally rewires your brain 30:30 Preparing for hard days like an athlete 32:30 Recap — the body is the foundation 33:30 Work with Leslie: THROUGH, 1:1, Power Sessions

    36 min

  4. APR 28

    Burnout, Manifesting & Reinvention w/ Emmy Winner Cassidy Gard

    Burnout, manifesting & reinvention — Cassidy Gard shares her raw journey from Good Morning America to author & mother. 🔗 Pre-order Cosmic Goodness (May 12, 2026): https://amzn.to/4sTTAD3 🌐 Cassidy's website: https://www.cosmicgoodness.com 🌿 Work with Leslie: https://www.theloomlife.com | https://www.leslieellenmathews.com What happens when the version of success you worked your whole life for starts to feel like a cage? In this episode, Leslie sits down with Cassidy Gard — three-time Emmy Award–winning television producer, former Good Morning America on-air reporter, and debut author of Cosmic Goodness: Surrendering the Shadows to Live in the Light (Post Hill Press / Simon & Schuster, May 12, 2026). Cassidy's story is one of radical reinvention: moving from New York City to the mountains of Montana during the pandemic, reckoning with burnout and grief, navigating motherhood and postpartum rage, choosing a relationship outside of marriage, and — woven through all of it — trusting the force she calls "cosmic goodness" to guide her forward. This conversation goes deep on healing, identity, the invisible cost of hypervigilance, what it means to break generational cycles, and why authenticity is less about having it figured out and more about telling your truth even when it's uncomfortable. ✨ In This Episode: How Cassidy manifested her way from a small Florida town to the Good Morning America newsroom at 17 What "Saturn Return" burnout actually feels like from the inside — and what broke open first Growing up with an alcoholic parent and the grief of losing someone you were never close to What "cosmic goodness" means and how to recognize it in your own life Honest reflections on postpartum rage, motherhood, and the power dynamic of household labor Why she built her own sanctuary in Montana — and how it changed everything Her take on marriage, identity, and building a committed life on your own terms The non-traditional education path that nobody talks about enough 📚 About Cassidy's Book: Cosmic Goodness: Surrendering the Shadows to Live in the Light — out May 12, 2026 via Post Hill Press / Simon & Schuster. Featuring a foreword by Mariel Hemingway and advance praise from Mel Robbins and Marianne Williamson. Revealed exclusively in PEOPLE Magazine. Available now for pre-order: https://amzn.to/4sTTAD3 🔗 Connect with Cassidy Gard: Website: https://www.cosmicgoodness.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cassidygard 🌿 Work with Leslie: The Loom Life: https://www.theloomlife.com Leslie Ellen Mathews: https://www.leslieellenmathews.com Loom Life Therapy: https://www.loomlifetherapy.com Mindful Untangling Community: https://www.theloomlife.com/mindful-untangling THROUGH 8-Week Coaching Program: https://www.theloomlife.com/through Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.loom.life leslie@theloomlife.com ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 Welcome & Guest Introduction 02:00 Growing up in Florida, moving to NYC at 17 04:00 Astrology, human design & manifesting signs 07:00 Blake Lively stand-in on the Gossip Girl set 09:00 Building a career: red carpets, press junkets & domino-effect networking 11:00 Saturn Return, burnout & her father's terminal cancer 14:00 Lady Gaga press line & the energy cost of being hypervigilant 17:00 The pandemic reckoning & the decision to leave NYC 22:00 Moving to Montana & building Cosmic Goodness Ranch 28:00 Sobriety, growing up with an alcoholic parent & the patterns we carry 34:00 What manifesting really means + the power of journaling 39:00 Writing the book: seven parts, one honest story 44:00 Hyphenating last names, choosing partnership without marriage 49:00 Her partner's story & how they met 52:00 Montana as a sanctuary — and why every woman needs a world of her own 54:00 What "cosmic goodness" actually means 56:00 Inside the book: prologue, grief, burnout, love & motherhood 01:00:00 Grieving an estranged parent + breaking generational cycles 01:03:00 Pre-order Cosmic Goodness (May 12, 2026) 01:04:00 What authenticity means to Cassidy right now 01:05:00 What she's manifesting next: books 2 and 3 01:07:00 Non-traditional education + building your own path 🔔 Never miss an episode — subscribe and hit the bell! Keywords: burnout recovery for women, manifesting your life, healing from childhood trauma, reinvention after burnout, personal growth podcast, women's empowerment, Cassidy Gard, Cosmic Goodness book, Good Morning America, motherhood and identity #PullingThreadsPodcast #WomensEmpowerment #ManifestingLife #PersonalGrowthPodcast #MentalHealthPodcast

    1h 8m

  5. APR 25

    Why Divorce Loneliness Hits Men So Hard (And What’s Actually Happening)

    Why Divorce Loneliness Hits Men So Hard (And What's Actually Happening) This one is for the men. Specifically the men 40 to 60 who are coming out of a long marriage and don't have language for what their body is doing without her in it. Most of the content out there for divorced men is either selling you a playbook or pretending the loneliness will go away if you just download the apps. This is neither. This is the biology of what just happened to you, said plainly, by someone who actually likes you. We talk about: — Why the silence in the house is louder than you expected — Co-regulation: how your nervous system used your wife as an anchor for years without you knowing it — Why divorced men are statistically lonelier than widowed men and lonelier than divorced women — The 11pm trap (you know the one) — Why the next woman is probably going to look a lot like the last one if you skip the inner work — The three-part path back, none of it flashy This is Episode 1 of a new playlist called For the Boys. The next episode — How to Be a Man a Woman Feels Safe With — picks up where this one leaves off. If this is more relevant to a man in your life than to you, send it to him. That's how it gets where it needs to go. ⏱ CHAPTERS 00:00 Boys. Hi. Pull up a chair. 01:00 Why I'm making this episode (and a confession) 02:30 Why you're here 03:30 The hum that won't go away 05:00 Your wife was your nervous system's anchor 07:00 When the signal goes silent 09:00 The 11pm trap 10:30 The friend you don't have at 10pm 12:30 Why this is a life-and-death conversation 13:30 The instinct to find a new her 14:30 Why the next one will look like the last one 15:30 Three things that actually work 17:30 A different shape of man 18:00 You're not broken 18:45 What's coming in Episode 2 🧵 KEEP GOING Book a discovery call with Leslie: https://theloomlife.com/discovery-call?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=youtube&utm_content=why-divorce-loneliness-hits-men-so-hard Read the written version on Substack: [insert your Substack URL here] Visit The LooM Life: https://theloomlife.com 📚 REFERENCED GS Youngblood — Masculine in Relationship (referenced in the Episode 2 tease) 🪡 ABOUT PULLING THREADS Pulling Threads is a podcast about attachment, nervous system regulation, and how human beings move through the big transitions — divorce, breakup, midlife, becoming. Hosted by Leslie of The LooM Life. 💬 I'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU If you're a man who has been through this, drop a comment. Tell us how long it took. What helped. What didn't. What you wish someone had told you at the beginning. Other men will read it. #fortheboys #divorcedmen #postdivorce #menshealing #nervoussystem #attachmenttheory #midlifedivorce #mensmentalhealth #dating40s #loneliness

    21 min

  6. APR 21

    Self-Care Isn’t Enough: Heal Trauma with Self-Regulation

    Free trauma regulation guidebook from Ashley Anne: substack.com/@gravitypointinstitute Work with Leslie: theloomlife.com What if trauma work didn’t have to feel like guesswork? In this episode of Pulling Threads, Leslie sits down with Ashley Anne, PhD — trauma specialist, neuro counselor, TEDx speaker, and founder of the Gravity Point® Institute — to unpack nearly 20 years of research into one of the most important distinctions in healing: self-care vs. self-regulation. Ashley grew up as a highly sensitive, neurodivergent child who looked fine on the outside and felt everything on the inside. She became a trauma therapist and burned out badly — despite doing yoga, journaling, therapy twice a week, and all the self-care. What she discovered in her research was that self-care and self-regulation are not the same thing. And that difference changed everything. In this conversation, Leslie and Ashley explore: • Why self-care alone can’t heal a dysregulated nervous system • The Gravity Point Method: a step-by-step process for resolving stress and trauma — not just managing it • How the body signals dysregulation before the mind catches up • The difference between a “true state” and a “trauma state” — and why divorce activates both • Why highly sensitive and neurodivergent people get stuck in toxic dynamics • How healing yourself is contagious — one nervous system at a time This episode is for anyone who has done “all the things” and still feels stuck, anyone navigating divorce trauma, and anyone curious about what it actually means to regulate — not just cope. [★ RESOURCES MENTIONED] ★ Ashley’s FREE Guidebook (download via Substack): substack.com/@gravitypointinstitute ★ Ashley’s Book: gravitypointinstitute.com/publications ★ Gravity Point® Institute: gravitypointinstitute.com ★ Follow Ashley: @gravitypointinstitute (Instagram, YouTube, all platforms) [★ WORK WITH LESLIE] ► The Loom Life (coaching, therapy & more): theloomlife.com ► Loom Life Therapy: loomlifetherapy.com ► THROUGH — Leslie’s 8-Week Divorce Coaching Program: https://theloomlife.com/throughdivorceprogram ► Mindful Untangling Community: https://theloomlife.com/community ► Follow Leslie on Instagram: @the.loom.life ► TikTok: @leslieellenmathews #PullingThreads #TraumaHealing #NervousSystemHealing #SelfRegulation #DivorceTroubleRecovery

    1h 32m

  7. APR 14

    Finding Your Voice Again: Heal Through Music | Demaree Hill

    What happens when the voice that was taken from you becomes the very thing that heals you? In this powerful episode of Pulling Threads, Leslie sits down with Nashville-based singer, songwriter, and vocal coach Demaree Hill — a Broadway performer, single mom, and the woman who recorded a duet with Dolly Parton — for a conversation about what it truly means to find your voice again, literally and emotionally. Demaree's story spans from singing as a two-and-a-half-year-old into a candlestick for her family, to performing in Les Misérables on Broadway at age eight, to navigating the silence that a controlling marriage placed over her music and her dreams. After her divorce, she found that words and journaling weren't enough — music became the medicine that unlocked what nothing else could reach. Now, through her "Finding Your Voice Again" workshops and one-on-one sessions at Story Studios, she helps women and men reclaim the voice that life tried to quiet. This episode covers: Why so many women are silenced — and how it starts in childhood The deep connection between your nervous system, your throat, and emotional healing How music creates somatic release that talk therapy alone can't always reach Demaree's full story: Broadway, a controlling marriage, COVID pneumonia, and how she ended up singing a duet with Dolly Parton The moment Dolly listened to Demaree's songs — and said "I want to record with you" Why you don't have to be a singer to heal through music Identifying the voices (internal and external) that made you play small Leslie's own story of the voice she sat down in sixth grade — and where that healing is taking her If you've ever been told your voice was too much, not enough, or that your dreams had an expiration date — this episode is for you. Connect with Demaree Hill: Website + workshops: www.demareemusic.com — workshop sign-up coming soon Instagram: @demareemusic Twitter / Threads / X: @demareemusic Facebook: Demaree Story Studios Instagram: @storystudiosnashville Email: storystudiosnashville@gmail.com Work with Leslie & The Loom Life: Mindful Untangling (community): https://theloomlife.com/community THROUGH (8-week coaching program): https://theloomlife.com/throughdivorceprogram Loom Life Therapy: leslie@theloomlife.com Website: www.theloomlife.com Instagram: @the.loom.life TikTok: @leslieellenmathews #PullingThreads #FindingYourVoice #HealingThroughMusic #DivorceRecovery #TheLoomLife

    1h 53m

  8. APR 10

    The Divorce Glow Up, What Social Media Is Not Showing You

    Ready to do the real work? Join THROUGH: https://theloomlife.com/throughdivorceprogram or Book a call: theloomlife.com The divorce glow up is everywhere on TikTok right now. The before-and-after side-by-sides. The captions: "The divorce effect is real. No lab coat required." And honestly? I love them. But I want to tell you the part that doesn't make it into the 62-second clip — because that part is actually the most empowering thing I could say to you today. The glow up you see in those videos is real. But it takes real, non-linear, sometimes very painful work. And it's worth every bit of it. In this episode, I'm breaking down: • What's actually happening biologically, psychologically & somatically when someone exits a suppressive relationship • Why your nervous system dysregulation shows up in your body (cortisol, jaw tension, disrupted sleep) — and what recovery actually looks like • The Window of Tolerance and why the glow up doesn't just appear because you want it to • What doing "the work" really means in practice — somatic tracking, emotional processing, recovering the parts of yourself that went quiet • How to find yourself in the gap between who you were and who you're becoming If you're watching those videos from inside the hardest part of your story — if you don't feel like you've had your glow up yet — you're not doing it wrong. You're just in the middle. And the middle is exactly where transformation happens. The divorce effect that doesn't fit in TikTok is the one I care about most. It's the one I've lived. And it's the one I help women build every day. WORK WITH LESLIE: • THROUGH (8-week divorce coaching program): https://theloomlife.com/throughdivorceprogram • Mindful Untangling Community (launching May): https://theloomlife.com/community • 1:1 Coaching + Discovery Call: theloomlife.com • Loom Life Therapy: loomlifetherapy.com CONNECT: • Instagram: @the.loom.life • TikTok: @parandpeace • Email: support@theloomlife.com • Website: theloomlife.com 00:00:00 Hook: The Divorce Effect Is Trending 00:01:00 The Unpopular Opinion Inside All That Hope 00:02:00 Welcome to Pulling Threads ~00:02:30 What's Actually Happening in the Before & After Videos 00:03:00 Chronic Relational Stress, Cortisol & Your Nervous System 00:04:00 What the 62-Second Clip Can't Show You 00:05:00 The Highlight Reel vs. a Map 00:06:00 If You're in the Middle of the Process Right Now ~00:06:30 The Window of Tolerance — Why the Glow Up Takes Time 00:07:00 What the Real Work Looks Like in Practice 00:08:00 Tracking Sensations & Building Emotional Capacity ~00:08:30 Recovering the Parts of Yourself That Went Quiet 00:09:00 Tolerating the In-Between Space 00:10:00 The Truth Is More Hopeful Than a Shortcut 00:11:00 The Divorce Effect That Doesn't Fit in TikTok ~00:11:30 Leslie's Personal Story 00:12:00 Rock Bottom & the Work That Changed Everything 00:13:00 EMDR, Meditation & Learning to Trust Yourself ~00:13:30 How This Work Led Leslie to The Loom Life 00:14:00 THROUGH Program & Mindful Untangling Community 00:15:00 Discovery Call & What Support Looks Like 00:16:00 A Message for Women Earlier in Their Story 00:17:00 Thank You + Subscribe divorce glow up, divorce effect, how to heal after divorce, nervous system healing after divorce, somatic healing, window of tolerance, post-traumatic growth, divorce recovery, divorce coaching, healing after divorce #DivorceRecovery #DivorceGlowUp #HealingAfterDivorce #NervousSystemHealing #PullingThreads

    18 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

Pulling Threads is a podcast for women navigating life, career, past and current trauma, breakups and divorce, motherhood, reinvention, and the brave work of becoming who they’re meant to be. Hosted by therapist, coach, and founder of The LooM Life, Leslie Mathews, JD, MSW, this show blends trauma-informed guidance, nervous system education, and meaningful conversations about the patterns that shape our relationships, identity, and purpose. Each episode explores the complicated places where life asks us to grow — healing from emotional abuse, rebuilding after divorce, midlife identity shifts, attachment wounds, dating again, motherhood, and rediscovering your voice. Many guests share their own stories of reinvention, entrepreneurship, career pivots, and stepping into authenticity, offering inspiration and practical wisdom for women building new chapters. Through expert interviews, personal storytelling, and mindfulness-based tools, Pulling Threads supports women who are healing, expanding, and creating aligned lives and businesses. It’s a space for those navigating toxic dynamics, strengthening emotional regulation, or following the pull toward something more authentic and more fulfilling. If you’re ready to untangle old patterns, trust your intuition, and weave a life — and identity — that feels grounded, empowered, and true, this podcast is where your next chapter begins.

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