Divorce coach or therapist? If neither feels quite right, there's a reason, and it isn't you. Here's why I call
myself a guide.
▶ Work with Leslie: https://theloomlife.com
▶ Still deciding whether to stay or go? Start with Mending or Moving On:
https://theloomlife.com/op/mending-or-moving-on
When a marriage or long-term partnership ends, therapy can feel like it's for something broken.
Coaching can feel too "let's make a plan" while the ground is still shifting under your feet. So capable, high-functioning women white-knuckle it alone, or settle for support that's close but not quite right, and
wonder why something essential still feels missing.
In this solo episode of Pulling Threads, Leslie Mathews (trauma-informed therapist, former attorney, and
a woman who has walked through her own divorce) names the difference between coaching, therapy,
and guidance. She explains why divorce isn't a problem to be solved. It's a passage to be moved
through, and passages need guides.
In this episode:
• Divorce coaching vs. therapy: what each one does well, and where each one falls short
• Why you're not stuck between options. You're in fog.
• What a guide actually does (the mountain-in-the-fog metaphor)
• The four dimensions Leslie holds with every woman: emotional, nervous system, practical/legal, and
transformational
• Why cortisol, hypervigilance, and numbness are your body trying to keep you safe
• Why highly capable women often find divorce the hardest thing they can't "figure out"
• The LooM Life: unraveling as the beginning of a new weaving
CHAPTERS
00:00 Why I call myself a guide
01:00 When therapy and coaching don't quite fit
02:25 What was missing in my own divorce
03:10 What a coach does, and when you can't do coaching
04:20 What a therapist does
05:05 What a guide does: the mountain in the fog
06:45 The four dimensions I hold with every woman
09:00 Unraveling as the beginning of a new weaving
09:20 Who this work is for
10:10 A passage, not a problem to solve
11:20 How to work with me
WHEREVER YOU ARE IN THE PASSAGE
→ Deciding whether to stay or go: Mending or Moving On https://theloomlife.com/op/mending-or-
moving-on
→ In the thick of divorce: THROUGH https://theloomlife.com/sp/through-divorce-program
→ On the other side and ready to land: Mindful Untangling community
https://theloomlife.com/membership
→ Work with Leslie as your guide: https://theloomlife.com
If this episode landed for you, share it with a woman in your world who's in the fog right now. It might be
what gives her the words for what she needs.
CONNECT
Instagram: @the.loom.life
TikTok: @leslieellenmathews
Website: https://theloomlife.com
Pulling Threads: Weaving Authenticity is a podcast for women about the hidden patterns and truths ofmajor life transitions: divorce, the end of long-term partnerships, identity, and becoming who you are on
the other side. Not the sanitized version. The real one.
Guidance and coaching through The LooM Life are not therapy or legal advice. For therapy with Leslie
(Florida residents), visit https://loomlifetherapy.com.
#DivorceRecovery #DivorceSupport #LifeAfterDivorce #WomenInTransition #PullingThreads
