Solo Parent

Solo Parent

Being a single parent brings real pressure. You should not face it alone. The Solo Parent Podcast offers honest conversation, expert insight, and practical help for raising healthy kids while carrying the weight alone. Created by single parents for single parents, each episode speaks to the emotional, relational, and everyday realities of solo parenting. Hosted by author and Solo Parent founder Robert Beeson, alongside Elizabeth Cole, Vice President of Solo Parent and a single mom herself, this podcast has supported thousands of single parents worldwide. It is for single moms and dads navigating divorce, loss, or abandonment who want steadiness, hope, and connection. Solo Parent exists to make sure no single parent walks alone. Through daily support groups, articles, guided meditations, and a free dedicated app, Solo Parent provides steady, practical support for every stage of the journey. Listeners can engage beyond the podcast and find real community, daily encouragement, and tools built specifically for single parent life. Go to www.SoloParent.org or download our app, on any app platform, to learn more!

  1. Dating Differently

    3D AGO

    Dating Differently

    This week we're discussing Dating Differently. Dating after divorce can feel layered and heavy for solo parents. Curiosity and hope often exist right alongside fear, grief, and loneliness. Add children into the mix, and the emotional stakes rise even higher. This conversation speaks directly to the pain of wanting connection while also protecting your heart, your healing, and your kids. Dating differently matters because the choices you make now do not just shape your future relationships, they shape your sense of stability, wholeness, and emotional safety at home. In this episode, Robert Beeson (Founder & CEO of Solo Parent) and Elizabeth Cole (single parent) are joined by Amber Fuller (counselor with a Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy and single parent) and Josh Stimpson (single dad of 12 years) to explore what it looks like to date with honesty, intention, and care in this season of life. Today, we cover three main points: Dating when emotions feel mixed. How hope, fear, grief, and loneliness often show up together after divorce, and why naming that tension matters before making decisions. What being "ready" really means. How readiness is less about time passed and more about support, self awareness, and dating from wholeness instead of loneliness. Why kids change everything. How moving slowly and intentionally protects children's emotional stability and helps solo parents build healthier relationships. Together, these three points invite solo parents to approach dating with greater clarity and compassion. Rather than rushing decisions or shutting down connection, this conversation encourages slowing the pace, building strong support, and making choices that honor both personal healing and the emotional needs of children. Stay Connected + Get Support: Full Show Notes  Learn more about Solo Parent Follow us on Instagram

    1h 1m
  2. Approaching the New Year with Confidence

    JAN 19

    Approaching the New Year with Confidence

    This week we're discussing Approaching the New Year with Confidence. When solo parents carry relentless responsibility, face constant self doubt, and feel defined by past failures, confidence can feel fragile or out of reach. That erosion matters because it shapes how we parent, how we see ourselves, and whether we step into a new season with hope or hesitation. Robert Beeson and Elizabeth Cole are joined by Amber Fuller, licensed professional counselor, to explore how confidence can become steadier and more grounded when it is built on self compassion, supportive community, and a clear sense of worth rather than perfection or performance.  Today, we cover three main points: Stop carrying it all alone. Why accepting your limits, practicing self compassion, and allowing support actually strengthens confidence rather than weakens it. Change the way you talk to yourself. How negative inner narratives undermine confidence and practical ways to notice, challenge, and replace them with words that are more true and life giving. Believe in your worth even when you fail. How mistakes and losses do not diminish your value, but can become teachers that deepen self awareness, resilience, and courage moving forward. Confidence grows when you stop measuring yourself against impossible standards. Perspective changes when you name what you are already doing well. Failure does not define you. It can refine you. Real confidence is rooted in worth, values, and the courage to show up honestly. Stay Connected + Get Support: Full Show Notes  Learn more about Solo Parent Follow us on Instagram

    47 min
  3. Approaching the New Year With Renewed Perspective

    JAN 5

    Approaching the New Year With Renewed Perspective

    This week we're discussing Approaching the New Year with Renewed Perspective. For many solo parents, a new year does not arrive with excitement but with exhaustion, uncertainty, and a quiet fear that clarity cannot be trusted anymore. When past disappointments linger and the future feels fragile, it becomes easy to live in regret, worry, or self-blame. This episode speaks to the tension of living between what was and what might be, and why staying present, releasing control, and shifting perspective opens the door to peace and renewed hope. Today, we cover three main points: Staying present instead of living in the past. How ruminating on what-ifs and regrets fuels shame and keeps us from experiencing clarity and healing today. Finding peace in the middle of the "I don't knows." Why uncertainty triggers fear and control, and how grounding yourself in what you can do today creates stability even when answers are missing. Filtering life through gratitude, expectancy, and awareness. How choosing to notice what is good, expect growth, and stay aware reshapes your experience and helps you respond with steadiness instead of stress. Renewing perspective does not mean fixing everything at once. It means choosing presence over escape, trust over fear, and small intentional steps over overwhelm. Clarity grows when we stop borrowing pain from the past or fear from the future and learn to live fully in the day in front of us. Stay Connected + Get Support: Full Show Notes  Learn more about Solo Parent Follow us on Instagram

    39 min
  4. Rewind: The Three Phases of Solo Parenting

    12/29/2025

    Rewind: The Three Phases of Solo Parenting

    This week we're discussing The Three Phases of Solo Parenting Solo parenting does not move in straight lines. Some days you feel steady, and other days you are pulled right back into overwhelm. That is why naming where you are matters. When you understand the phases of triage, recovery, and wellness, you can recognize your progress and offer yourself compassion. This week, Robert and Elizabeth revisit a listener favorite featuring three Solo Parent group leaders whose stories bring clarity, honesty, and hope for anyone navigating this journey. Today, we cover three main points: What triage looks like and how to take the next right step when life feels impossible. How recovery helps you stabilize even when triggers still surface. What wellness feels like when confidence returns and you can begin to dream again. Solo Parent online group leader, Cari Baker, describes triage as the season when life feels unbearable and every moment is marked by shock, secrecy, and survival. Her honesty reminds solo parents that this stage is not failure. It is the beginning of healing. Recovery begins when the chaos settles and a new normal takes shape. Solo Parent online group leader, Andrew Diakos, shares how community became the turning point that moved him out of isolation. His goal is not perfection but shortening those triage moments by repairing quickly, apologizing when needed, and staying present with his kids. Recovery is learning how to move forward without shame. Wellness is not about having an easy life. It is about having steadier footing. Solo Parent online group leader, Lana Craig, found wellness through small projects that rebuilt her confidence after losing her husband. With the help of trusted friends, she rediscovered desire, imagination, and possibility. Wellness is the moment you realize you can create a life you look forward to. Stay Connected + Get Support We want to answer any Solo Parent questions you may have. Submit your listener questions HERE. Full Show Notes  Learn more about Solo Parent Follow us on Instagram

    29 min
  5. Healthy vs. Unhealthy Relationships

    12/22/2025

    Healthy vs. Unhealthy Relationships

    This week we're discussing Healthy vs. Unhealthy Relationships Healthy connection is something many solo parents long for, but most of us weren't given a clear model of what it looks like. Between past trauma, unhealthy relational patterns, and the fear of repeating old mistakes, it can feel confusing to know when a relationship is safe, sustainable, or simply too costly for our emotional wellbeing. Today's conversation with Licensed Professional Counselor, Laurie Lokey, matters because it gives practical ways to identify real health, real safety, and real growth within ourselves and in our relationships with others. Today, we cover three main points: What a healthy relationship actually feels like and why it always begins with the relationship you have with yourself. How to recognize red flags and green flags when dating or navigating close relationships. Why modeling health for your kids matters even if you are not dating at all. These pain points matter because many solo parents were never shown what healthy connection looks like. Without a clear blueprint, it is easy to mistrust our instincts, blame ourselves, or repeat familiar patterns that keep us stuck. By naming what feels confusing, learning how to recognize safety, and growing in self-awareness, we begin to build relationships that support healing instead of draining it. Laurie reminds us that healthy connection begins within. When we do our own work, we show up grounded, honest, and present. We stop performing. We stop shrinking. We stop blaming. That shift changes everything: how we date, how we communicate, and how our kids learn what love looks like. Even if we are not dating, our growth becomes a living amends to our children, showing them that it only takes one healthy parent to change a family's story.  Resources Mentioned In This Episode: Licensed Professional Counselor, Laurie Lokey Additional Resources:  Full Show Notes  Learn more about Solo Parent Follow us on Instagram

    32 min
5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

Being a single parent brings real pressure. You should not face it alone. The Solo Parent Podcast offers honest conversation, expert insight, and practical help for raising healthy kids while carrying the weight alone. Created by single parents for single parents, each episode speaks to the emotional, relational, and everyday realities of solo parenting. Hosted by author and Solo Parent founder Robert Beeson, alongside Elizabeth Cole, Vice President of Solo Parent and a single mom herself, this podcast has supported thousands of single parents worldwide. It is for single moms and dads navigating divorce, loss, or abandonment who want steadiness, hope, and connection. Solo Parent exists to make sure no single parent walks alone. Through daily support groups, articles, guided meditations, and a free dedicated app, Solo Parent provides steady, practical support for every stage of the journey. Listeners can engage beyond the podcast and find real community, daily encouragement, and tools built specifically for single parent life. Go to www.SoloParent.org or download our app, on any app platform, to learn more!

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