The Living Truth Podcast - Freedom From Unwanted Sexual Behavior, Hope & Healing For the Betrayed

The holidays are coming. Family gatherings are being planned, traditions are calling, and everyone seems to expect you to show up and celebrate as usual.

 

But what if sexual betrayal has shattered the life you thought you had?

 

How do you sit across the Thanksgiving table from your husband and pretend everything is okay? What if your family won't even be together this year? How do you create meaningful holidays for your children when you're barely getting through today?

 

In this episode Kristin Cary shares the honest experiences of betrayed women navigating the holidays, including what one woman calls “the performance of normalcy.”

 

You'll discover how to:

• Release the pressure to recreate the holidays you've always had.
• Recognize your actual emotional capacity and make choices that honor it.
• Navigate family gatherings, difficult questions, and triggers without sacrificing your privacy.
• Prepare for the loneliness and emotional aftermath of holiday events.
• Make room for grief while remaining open to authentic moments of connection, peace, and joy.

You don't have to perform your way through the holidays. And you don't have to figure them out alone.

Join Kristin for FREE Holiday Survival Strategies!

If you're wondering how you'll possibly get through the holidays this year, Kristin invites you to join Holiday Survival Strategies, a free five-day experience designed specifically for women navigating sexual betrayal.

 

Through brief practical worksheets, and live meetings facilitated by Kristin, you'll begin creating a personalized holiday plan that reflects the reality you're actually living.

 

Instead of simply bracing yourself for whatever comes, you'll learn to identify what you need, release expectations that no longer serve you, prepare for difficult moments, and find safe connection and support.

 

The goal isn't to make you love the holidays again.

It's to help you move from “I have no idea how I'm going to do this” toward “I know what I need, I have choices, and I'm not doing this alone.”

 

Sign up for FREE Holiday Survival Strategies HERE.

What if lasting recovery is about far more than learning how to stop?

In this episode, Michael talks with brothers and therapists Tyler and Brandon—The Therapy Brothers—about what happens when men move beyond simply managing unwanted sexual behavior and begin recovering their true identity.

They explore why so many men lose themselves through shame, trauma, people-pleasing, fear, and the need for validation—and why becoming the “nice guy” isn’t necessarily the same thing as becoming a safe, trustworthy man.

The conversation dives into authentic masculinity, rebuilding trust after betrayal, facing the pain we’ve spent years trying to escape, and a powerful definition of integrity.

Tyler and Brandon also unpack why recovery isn’t merely a destination called sobriety. It’s an ongoing process of discovering who God created you to be, confronting the false beliefs that have shaped your life, and learning to live with courage, honesty, purpose, and strength.

 

Learn more about the Therapy Brothers and their programs:

https://www.therapybrothers.org/

https://risingson.org/

 

📖 Learn more about our programs: https://living-truth.org

 

The Living Truth Podcast; Conversations that shed light on the deeper issues that unlock healing from porn addiction, sex addiction, and sexual betrayal.

#LivingTruthPodcast #ChristianRecovery #FaithAndHealing #AddictionRecovery #MenInTheBattle #WomenInTheBattle #LivingTruth

In part two of our conversation on betrayal trauma anger, Dr. Crystal Hollenbeck walks us through her seven-phase CALM model, developed from years of working with betrayed partners.

 

In this episode we cover:

• The crisis phase, where anger feels uncontrollable and out of character
• The awareness and leveling phases, where shame surfaces and self-care becomes essential
• The management and intuition phases, where deeper healing work and self-trust rebuild
• The normalization and grief phases, where anger settles into its place inside a larger story
• How the story of Job frames post-traumatic growth as evidence of restoration, not just endurance

 

Dr. Crystal Hollenbeck is a psychotherapist specializing in relationships, sex therapy, and trauma recovery, and the author of Betrayal Trauma Anger: You're Not Crazy, You're Angry, and You Should Be.

 

Learn more about our programs: Living-truthLiving Truth, Women in the Battle, Men in the Battle | sex addiction

 

The Living Truth Podcast: Conversations that shed light on the deeper issues that unlock healing from porn addiction, sex addiction, and sexual betrayal.

 

#LivingTruthPodcast #ChristianRecovery #FaithAndHealing #AddictionRecovery #MenInTheBattle #WomenInTheBattle #LivingTruth

Dr. Crystal Hollenbeck & Kristin discuss anger after sexual betrayal -- what it actually is, why it shows up the way it does, and what both partners can do with it.

 

In this episode we cover:

• A clear definition of betrayal trauma anger and why it is immediate and ongoing, not a one-time reaction
• Survey findings on self-blame, anger at God, and the physical toll unprocessed anger takes on the body
• How Ephesians 4:26 -- 'be angry and do not sin' -- reframes anger as something to process, not eliminate
• Concrete ways a betrayer can sit with a partner's anger instead of reacting to it
• The difference between reactive abuse and abuse, and why that distinction matters
• Why suppressing anger is just as harmful as exploding with it

 

Crystal is a psychotherapist specializing in relationships, sex therapy, and trauma recovery, and the author of Betrayal Trauma Anger: You're Not Crazy, You're Angry, and You Should Be.

 

Learn more about our programs: Living-truthLiving Truth, Women in the Battle, Men in the Battle | sex addiction

 

The Living Truth Podcast: Conversations that shed light on the deeper issues that unlock healing from porn addiction, sex addiction, and sexual betrayal.

 

#LivingTruthPodcast #ChristianRecovery #FaithAndHealing #AddictionRecovery #MenInTheBattle #WomenInTheBattle #LivingTruth

 

We often assume our children don't notice what's happening in our marriage during a season of betrayal. Most of the time, they already know more than we think.

In this episode with Elia Marcum, certified coach who specializes in walking families through supporting their children and teens through family rupture without placing adult burdens on them.

We cover:

• What kids and teens actually pick up on, even when we think we've hidden it well
• Age-appropriate language for young children, middle years, and teenagers
• Why some kids quietly become "the easy one" — and what that survival pattern costs them
• How to open the door for a child to share what they're carrying, without forcing disclosure
• What real repair sounds like once a child's trust has been broken

Healing in a family doesn't stop at the marriage. It reaches every relationship in the home — and it can begin again at any age.

 

Grab the free resource Ellia mentions in this episode here

Learn more about our programs: https://living-truth.org

Connect with Elia at Moodwell Coaching: https://moodwellcoaching.com

Get a free Turning to Peace mini magazine here: https://ttpmagazine.gumroad.com/

 

The Living Truth Podcast: Conversations that shed light on the deeper issues that unlock healing from porn addiction, sex addiction, and sexual betrayal.

 

#LivingTruthPodcast #ChristianRecovery #FaithAndHealing #AddictionRecovery #MenInTheBattle #WomenInTheBattle #LivingTruth