{"podcast":{"title":"Divorce Happens","slug":"divorce-happens-6931880","podcast_index_feed_id":6931880,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/divorce-happens/","website_url":"https://www.freshstartsregistry.com/divorce-happens","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/4ef67130-0ef6-4ddc-8223-01a75a67ba34/show-cover.jpg","author":"Fresh Starts Registry","episode_count":299,"summary":"Welcome to Divorce Happens, the podcast where we inspire, educate, and support you through divorce and beyond so that you can start fresh on the next phase of your journey. Produced by Fresh Starts Registry, the only divorce registry platform for everything you need to begin again, including home items, hype team, and everything in between. Remember, divorce happens...and then, we start fresh. We're here to support you before, during, and after divorce. Hosted by Olivia Dreizen Howell, the co-founder and CEO of Fresh Starts Registry.","last_synced_at":"2026-09-10T04:24:06.385376+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/divorce-happens-6931880"},"episode":{"title":"You Got Out. Your Kids Didn't. How to Survive the Guilt of Co-Parenting After Divorce","slug":"you-got-out-your-kids-didn-t-how-to-survive-the-guilt-of-co-parenting-after-divorce","published_at":"2026-07-20T17:10:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/divorce-happens-6931880/you-got-out-your-kids-didn-t-how-to-survive-the-guilt-of-co-parenting-after-divorce","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/divorce-happens-6931880","url":"https://www.freshstartsregistry.com/divorce-happens","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/66cac736-10ce-4c63-b38a-3ca51565f9f9.mp3","summary":"You did the hardest thing you've ever done — you left. And somehow, that's not where the guilt ends; for so many divorced moms, it's where a whole new kind of guilt begins. If you've ever lain awake wondering how you can call yourself a good mother when your kids are still living, at least part-time, inside the very dynamic you found the strength to walk away from, this episode of Divorce Happens is for you. Olivia sits down with Lyerly Spongberg, a Certified ADR Divorce Coach, Pre-Mediation Coach, and Co-Parenting Specialist and founder of Step Up With Lyerly, for an honest, nuanced conversation about one of the most under-discussed emotional realities of co-parenting after divorce: the guilt of getting out when your children didn't. Spongberg brings more than professional training to this conversation — she brings twenty-plus years of lived experience, having divorced in her thirties and later rebuilt a blended family of six children as a stepmother to four. That dual perspective, expert and survivor, shapes everything she offers here, starting with a distinction she says changes the way divorced parents talk to themselves: guilt is “I did something bad,” while shame is “I am bad.” Divorce guilt and co-parenting shame, she explains, are not the same weight to carry, and untangling them is often the first real step toward healing. From there, the conversation moves into concrete territory — how to steady yourself and your children during the disorienting transition between homes, why building a small ritual (even something as simple as always baking cookies when the kids come home) can anchor a child through change, and why resisting the urge to defend yourself against a co-parent's bad-mouthing is, paradoxically, one of the most powerful things you can do for your cr…","meta_description":"You did the hardest thing you've ever done — you left. And somehow, that's not where the guilt ends; for so many divorced moms, it's where a whole new kin…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1315,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/divorce-happens-6931880/episodes/you-got-out-your-kids-didn-t-how-to-survive-the-guilt-of-co-parenting-after-divorce/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/divorce-happens-6931880/you-got-out-your-kids-didn-t-how-to-survive-the-guilt-of-co-parenting-after-divorce.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}