Pulling Threads, Weaving Authenticity

Leslie Mathews · pullingthreadspodcast.com

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

93 episodes

24d ago latest

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Episodes 93

Narcissistic Abuse Recovery: Why Your Brain Bonds to Pain
24d ago · 29:55
Trauma bonding is not weakness. It is neurobiology. In this teaching session, therapist andcoach Leslie Mathews explains exactly what happens in your brain and body inside an emotionallyabusive relationship -- and why leaving is so much harder than anyone outside it understands. Ready for structured, guided support through your divorce? THROUGH is my 8-week divorcecoaching program for women: https://theloomlife.com/throughdivorceprogram ABOUT THIS EPISODE If you have ever asked yourself why you cannot just walk away -- or why you keep going back tosomeone who hurts you -- this episode is the a
Burnout Recovery for Working Moms: Why Hustle Fails
26d ago · 56:20
Burnout recovery is not a personal willpower problem — and if you are a working parent trying to hold a demanding job and a full life at the same time, this conversation will name something you have been carrying quietly.Leslie sits down with Jessica Lattif, founder of Not Working in Tech, a platform and community challenging toxic workplace culture and the myth that burnout is just the price of success. Jessica spent more than a decade in the tech industry, rising to senior engineering manager, before a string of illnesses, a chaotic team, and a performance plan led her to take medical leave
Rebuilding Confidence After Leaving: Taking Up Space Again
1mo ago · 1:08:34
Rebuilding confidence after starting over doesn’t happen all at once. It happens one small, brave choice at a time. In this episode of Pulling Threads, Cammy De shares what it really looks like to reclaim your voice and take up space again while you’re still in the middle of healing.Cammy didn’t expect to be starting over at forty. A mother of three, farmer, speaker, and stand-up comedian, she’s rebuilding her life after leaving an abusive marriage and business partnership, walking away not just from a relationship, but from a successful career, a way of life, and the communities that came wit
The Neuroscience of Heartbreak: Why You Feel Stuck & How to Heal
1mo ago · 1:07:04
The neuroscience of why heartbreak physically hurts — and how to rewire a brain stuck in survival mode. In this episode of Pulling Threads, Leslie Mathews welcomes her first-ever male guest, mental health creator and coach Collin Patrick, for an honest conversation about overthinking, emotional regulation, and rebuilding a life after everything falls apart. After a near-fatal motorcycle accident left him bedridden for months — during the same stretch his marriage ended — Collin turned a season of grief and recovery into a deep dive into neuroscience. Together, he and Leslie unpack why your bra
She Left a 6-Figure Career to Heal Her Marriage
1mo ago · 1:29:45
What happens when a high-achieving wife and mom walks away from a 15-year, six-figure career to heal her body, her marriage, and her family? In this conversation, Kayla Licari shares how leaving her physician assistant career unraveled the deeper truth she had been carrying, chronic back pain, chest pain, anxiety, and a marriage held together by white-knuckling and self-abandonment.Kayla and Leslie unpack what it really looks like when two people heal alongside each other through complex PTSD (CPTSD), nervous system dysregulation, and the cycles of rupture and repair that most couples never ge
Reclaiming Intimacy: Healing Self-Abandonment in Women
1mo ago · 1:03:52
If years of over-functioning have left you feeling checked out, numb, or disconnected from your own life, this episode is for you. Sex therapist and intimacy coach Dr. Tabitha Taylor joins Leslie to talk about what it really means to reclaim intimacy from the inside out — and why it starts with you, not your partner.🌿 Ready to feel like yourself again after divorce or a breakup?→ THROUGH — Leslie's 8-week divorce coaching program: https://theloomlife.com/throughdivorceprogram🌿 Grab Tabitha's free Gentle Reconnection Guide:→ https://drtabithataylor.comABOUT THIS EPISODEOver-functioning women
Dating After Divorce: Boyfriend vs Husband
1mo ago · 35:59
Dating after divorce as a man can feel like you’ve become a wholedifferent person — steadier, easier to be with. Here’s the honest why. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━WORK WITH LESLIE 1:1 → Book a private, no-pressure discovery call:[1:1 COACHING DISCOVERY CALL — confirm booking URL]The Loom Life (coaching): https://theloomlife.comTherapy (FL clients): https://loomlifetherapy.comLeslie Ellen Mathews: https://leslieellenmathews.comInstagram @the.loom.life · TikTok @leslieellenmathews━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ In this For the Boys episode, Leslie Mathews — former attorney turnedcoach — unpack
Why the Honeymoon Phase Fades — And How to Keep It
1mo ago · 41:24
KEEP THE SPARK: STAYING SECURE AND DESIROUS The honeymoon phase fades for almost everyone — but the spark doesn’t have to. In this solo episode, Leslie Mathews unpacks what early passion is really made of and how to stay both secure AND desirous for the long haul. ➤ Work with Leslie 1:1 (individuals & couples): [INSERT DIRECT BOOKING LINK]➤ The Loom Life: https://theloomlife.com➤ Therapy: https://loomlifetherapy.com | Personal: https://leslieellenmathews.com➤ Instagram @the.loom.life · TikTok @leslieellenmathews ──────────IN THIS EPISODE We usually treat the honeymoon phase like a single fuel
The Classy Girl’s Guide to Divorce: Staying Steady When It Falls Apart
2mo ago · 1:40:00
Divorce doesn’t just end a marriage — it shakes your nervous system, your finances, and your sense of self. In this episode of Pulling Threads, therapist Kimberly McNary, LMFT, and host Leslie Mathews talk through how to move through divorce with clarity and steadiness instead of being run by panic.Kimberly is the founder of The Classy Girl’s Guide to Divorce and uses EMDR and Emotionally Focused Therapy to help women navigate the emotional landscape of divorce. Together they unpack the surprises no one prepares you for, the early emotional decisions that cost women later, why you absolutely c
Starting Over at 50: Leaving a Life That Looked Good on Paper
2mo ago · 1:17:45
What does it actually look like to leave a life that looks good on paper — a 20-year marriage, a competitive athletic identity, a familiar world — and rebuild from scratch in your 50s?In this episode of Pulling Threads, Weaving Authenticity, Leslie sits down with Jen Rulon — midlife transformation coach, TEDx speaker, 15-time Ironman finisher, and Kona qualifier — who walked away from her marriage, her career identity, and her relationship with alcohol, then moved alone to Costa Rica at 50.Jen and Leslie unpack what they both call "the slow unraveling" — the years of incremental leaving that h
The Ambition Penalty: Why Women Get Punished for Asking
2mo ago · 55:26
What if your burnout isn't a personal failure — but a systemic one? Award-winning journalist Stefanie O'Connell joins Leslie to unpack The Ambition Penalty.📕 Get Stefanie's book: https://tooambitious.com/book/💧 Ready to move through your divorce with structure and support? Explore THROUGH, Leslie's 8-week coaching program → https://theloomlife.com/throughdivorceprogram──────────────In this conversation, Stefanie pulls back the curtain on what the research actually shows about why women — across industries, identities, and life stages — are still systematically held back at work and at home.
Touch Hunger: The Loneliness No One Warns Divorced Men About
2mo ago · 28:52
Touch hunger is the loneliness no one warns divorced men about — when the isolation stops being emotional and becomes physical. (For the Boys, Round 10.)🧭 Work with Leslie 1:1. Book a free discovery call → [INSERT DIRECT BOOKING LINK]Coaching: theloomlife.comLeslie: leslieellenmathews.comTherapy (FL): loomlifetherapy.com↓ SHOW MORE CUTOFF — keep everything above this line above the fold ↓In this episode, Leslie names something the men’s content space and even the therapy world tend to skip: touch hunger (or skin hunger) — the measurable, physical toll of going from a partner’s daily touch to
Reclaiming Your Voice After Religious Trauma | Kate Johnson
2mo ago · 1:12:16
What happens when the systems that raised you also silenced you? In this episode, memoirist and survivor advocate Kate Johnson joins Leslie to talk about religious trauma, purity culture, and the long road of finding your voice after a lifetime of being told to stay quiet.Kate grew up a pastor's daughter inside the PCA evangelical church, where Calvinist teachings around "total depravity" merged with authoritarian parenting to create a childhood organized around shame, obedience, and performance. When her family was placed on the sex offender registry, she learned a second, deeper lesson: her
Blindsided by Divorce: Why Men Don’t See It Coming
2mo ago · 30:02
If she left and you never saw it coming, you’re not broken — and you’re not alone. Book a free discovery call → theloomlife.comIn this “For the Boys” episode, Leslie Mathews — former attorney turned coach — unpacks one of the most common experiences divorced men share in private: “I didn’t see it coming.” Meanwhile, on the other side of that sentence, his wife is certain she’d been telling him for years. How can both be true?Around 65–75% of U.S. divorces are initiated by women, and the number climbs in the “gray divorce” (over-40s and over-50s) demographic. Leslie researched what’s actually h
Trauma Bonds, Abandonment & Unsafe Love | Petrona Joseph
2mo ago · 1:04:22
Why do we keep choosing partners who hurt us? In this episode, mental health advocate and author Petrona Joseph joins Leslie to unpack trauma bonds, unsafe love, and the abandonment wound that drives the loop.▶ WORK WITH LESLIE8-week divorce recovery program — THROUGH: https://theloomlife.com/throughdivorceprogram1:1 coaching with Leslie: https://theloomlife.com▶ ABOUT THIS EPISODEPetrona Joseph spent years pushing through panic attacks, depression, and a 17-year on-and-off relationship she now recognizes as a trauma bond. In this conversation she shares the moment her anxiety stopped her on a
Male Loneliness: Why Men Lose Friends After 40
3mo ago · 21:21
Why do so many men have no close friends by 50? In For the Boys (Ep. 7), Leslie pulls back the threads on male loneliness — and the hidden flaw in how men build friendship.→ Work with Leslie 1:1 (book a discovery call): theloomlife.com→ In Florida? Therapy with Leslie: loomlifetherapy.com→ More from Leslie: leslieellenmathews.com→ Instagram @the.loom.life · TikTok @leslieellenmathews———If something bad happened tonight, who would you call at ten o’clock just to be heard? If you struggled to name someone — or named someone you haven’t actually called in years — you’re not unusual. You’re statis
Money Blocks are Trauma: Why Abundance Work Fails
3mo ago · 47:09
Money is never just money. In this solo episode of Pulling Threads, Leslie Mathews explores why money affirmations and manifestation so often fail — and why real abundance work has to happen in the body, the nervous system, and the family story you inherited.➤ Ready to do this work with support? Book a free discovery call: https://theloomlife.com/discoverycall➤ More from The Loom Life: https://theloomlife.comYou can repeat “money flows to me easily” until you believe you mean it and still feel a quiet ceiling you can’t push through. That’s not a mindset failure. The part of your nervous system
Burnout, Divorce & How to Start Over with Purpose
3mo ago · 1:18:42
What if rock bottom is actually solid ground for the first time? Ariane Vera on starting over after burnout & divorce.▸ THROUGH — Leslie's 8-week divorce coaching program: https://theloomlife.com/throughdivorceprogram▸ The Atelier — Ariane's membership for women building businesses: https://www.thejournalofahealer.com/p/the-atelier3In this episode of Pulling Threads, Weaving Authenticity, Leslie sits down with Ariane Vera — founder of The Atelier, 12-time author, and 3-time TEDx speaker — for a conversation about what it actually takes to restart your life when burnout, divorce, chronic pain,
Men’s Anger After Divorce: The 4 Emotions Underneath
3mo ago · 17:36
Men's anger after divorce isn't really about anger — it's a translator for grief, fear, shame, and longing. Book a discovery call: [DISCOVERY CALL URL] | theloomlife.com If you're a man who is divorced, separating, or on the other side of a long marriage that ended in any direction, this episode is for you. Leslie Mathews walks through the kind of anger that sits in your chest at the grocery store, the flash of rage at a driver who didn't really do anything, the flatness that's one wrong comment away from breaking you. The advice most men get — manage it, tame it, apologize for it — is exactly
Stop Trying to Fix Him: The Michelangelo Effect
3mo ago · 31:56
Are you in love with a man you’re quietly trying to fix? This episode names the pattern, the psychology behind it, and the way out.There is a script some of us learned long before we ever met him: love hard enough, see deeply enough, hold space generously enough, and you can reach the wounded part of him no one else has reached. Our culture calls these the highest things a woman can offer. Sometimes they are. And sometimes — wearing the exact same clothes — they are something else entirely.In this solo episode of Pulling Threads, I share the psychology that finally gave me language for what I
Healing After Divorce: Nervous System Reset & Self-Trust
3mo ago · 58:21
Healing after divorce starts in the body — not the spreadsheet. In this conversation, crisis coach Pamela Dussault joins Leslie Mathews to share why nervous system reset has to come before any of the practical work, and how women rebuild self-trust after an abusive marriage, burnout, or estrangement.▶ Ready for structured support through divorce? Learn about THROUGH, Leslie's 8-week coaching program: https://theloomlife.com/throughdivorceprogram▶ Book a free discovery call with Pamela: https://pamela-dussault-consulting.com——————————————In this episode of Pulling Threads, Pamela Dussault — a c
They Told You Women Want a Beast
3mo ago · 16:52
The internet keeps telling men that women secretly want a “beast” — that dominance, danger, and edge are what really attract her, and that being kind makes you invisible. In this episode of Pulling Threads (For the Boys, Episode 5), Leslie Mathews takes that advice seriously instead of dismissing it — and shows exactly where it’s half-true and where it goes dangerously wrong.Using the story of Beauty and the Beast, Leslie unpacks the difference between the Beast — wounded, complex, full of depth — and Gaston, the entitled, cruel man Belle actually rejects. The men’s-content space and manospher
What an Avoidant Man Actually Wants, and The Part Nobody Talks About
3mo ago · 29:03
If you've been dating an avoidant man and you can't quite name what you've been tracking — this is for you. There's a paradox he can't articulate, and you've been guessing for your whole relationship. Today it gets language.👉 Ready to stop performing your way through this? Book a 1:1 discovery call with Leslie: https://theloomlife.com👉 If he's willing to do the work, send him the companion men's episode "Understanding Avoidant Attachment in Dating" on the For The Boys playlist.— — — — — — — — — —You are not crazy. You've been tracking something real. The fact that you can't quite name it is
Reinventing Yourself After Big Life Pivots | Chelsea Freeman
3mo ago · 1:00:12
Former model and longtime QVC host Chelsea Freeman on what it actually takes to reinvent yourself after a major life pivot — and why looking good has nothing to do with vanity.🌿 Work with Leslie: https://theloomlife.com✨ THROUGH — 8-Week Divorce Program: https://theloomlife.com/throughdivorceprogram📩 leslie@theloomlife.comIn this episode of Pulling Threads, Weaving Authenticity, Leslie sits down with longtime friend Chelsea Freeman — seasoned QVC host, former shopping-TV model, and creator of The Chelsea Standard — for a wide-ranging conversation about identity, confidence, and the kind of r
For Men: Avoidant Attachment in Men And What They Actually Want
3mo ago · 22:51
Avoidant attachment in men isn't about not wanting love. It's about a paradox almost no one names: you want her to choose you completely AND have a full life that doesn't depend on you. This episode names it.👉 For the woman in your life who's been confused by you: send her the companion episode "What an Avoidant Man Actually Wants" on the main Pulling Threads feed (dropping next week).👉 Ready to work on this 1:1? Book a discovery call at https://theloomlife.com— — — — — — — — — —If every woman you've ever dated has told you she's confused, hurt, or in tears and you didn't have an answer for

Episodes

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Pulling Threads, Weaving Authenticity

Episodes 93

Narcissistic Abuse Recovery: Why Your Brain Bonds to Pain

Burnout Recovery for Working Moms: Why Hustle Fails

Rebuilding Confidence After Leaving: Taking Up Space Again

The Neuroscience of Heartbreak: Why You Feel Stuck & How to Heal

She Left a 6-Figure Career to Heal Her Marriage

Reclaiming Intimacy: Healing Self-Abandonment in Women

Dating After Divorce: Boyfriend vs Husband

Why the Honeymoon Phase Fades — And How to Keep It

The Classy Girl’s Guide to Divorce: Staying Steady When It Falls Apart

Starting Over at 50: Leaving a Life That Looked Good on Paper

The Ambition Penalty: Why Women Get Punished for Asking

Touch Hunger: The Loneliness No One Warns Divorced Men About

Reclaiming Your Voice After Religious Trauma | Kate Johnson

Blindsided by Divorce: Why Men Don’t See It Coming

Trauma Bonds, Abandonment & Unsafe Love | Petrona Joseph

Male Loneliness: Why Men Lose Friends After 40

Money Blocks are Trauma: Why Abundance Work Fails

Burnout, Divorce & How to Start Over with Purpose

Men’s Anger After Divorce: The 4 Emotions Underneath

Stop Trying to Fix Him: The Michelangelo Effect

Healing After Divorce: Nervous System Reset & Self-Trust

They Told You Women Want a Beast

What an Avoidant Man Actually Wants, and The Part Nobody Talks About

Reinventing Yourself After Big Life Pivots | Chelsea Freeman

For Men: Avoidant Attachment in Men And What They Actually Want

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Episodes 93

Narcissistic Abuse Recovery: Why Your Brain Bonds to Pain

Burnout Recovery for Working Moms: Why Hustle Fails

Rebuilding Confidence After Leaving: Taking Up Space Again

The Neuroscience of Heartbreak: Why You Feel Stuck & How to Heal

She Left a 6-Figure Career to Heal Her Marriage

Reclaiming Intimacy: Healing Self-Abandonment in Women

Dating After Divorce: Boyfriend vs Husband

Why the Honeymoon Phase Fades — And How to Keep It

The Classy Girl’s Guide to Divorce: Staying Steady When It Falls Apart

Starting Over at 50: Leaving a Life That Looked Good on Paper

The Ambition Penalty: Why Women Get Punished for Asking

Touch Hunger: The Loneliness No One Warns Divorced Men About

Reclaiming Your Voice After Religious Trauma | Kate Johnson

Blindsided by Divorce: Why Men Don’t See It Coming

Trauma Bonds, Abandonment & Unsafe Love | Petrona Joseph

Male Loneliness: Why Men Lose Friends After 40

Money Blocks are Trauma: Why Abundance Work Fails

Burnout, Divorce & How to Start Over with Purpose

Men’s Anger After Divorce: The 4 Emotions Underneath

Stop Trying to Fix Him: The Michelangelo Effect

Healing After Divorce: Nervous System Reset & Self-Trust

They Told You Women Want a Beast

What an Avoidant Man Actually Wants, and The Part Nobody Talks About

Reinventing Yourself After Big Life Pivots | Chelsea Freeman

For Men: Avoidant Attachment in Men And What They Actually Want