Dear Dr. Tracy

The Burned-Out Pursuer: When You Stop Reaching for Your Partner

What happens when the partner who has spent years asking for connection suddenly stops asking?In this episode, Dr. Tracy explores the “burned-out pursuer,” a relationship

The Father Wound: How It Shapes Your Self-Worth and Relationships

Can you love your father, believe he was a good dad, and still carry a father wound?In this episode, Dr. Tracy welcomes Terri Cole back to the podcast to talk about her n

How to Rebuild Trust With In-Laws After a Family Conflict

What do you do when the holidays are coming, your in-laws expect to stay in your home, and the last visit ended in a painful family conflict?In this episode, Dr. Tracy an

The Relationship Cycle Behind Desire, Rejection, and Sex

Why can two people love each other deeply and still feel completely out of sync when it comes to communication, desire, and sex?In this episode, Dr. Tracy is joined by se

Why Avoiding Conflict Is Sometimes About Control

Have you ever avoided saying something because you didn’t want to upset your partner, say it wrong, or turn the moment into a fight?In this episode, Dr. Tracy and Greg ta

What to Do When Repair Doesn’t Make You Feel Close

Have you ever had a conflict, talked it through, repaired it, and still didn’t feel close afterward?In this episode, Dr. Tracy shares a recent date-night conflict with Gr

Is It Your Marriage, or Is It September?

Back-to-school season is full of advice about helping kids transition, but what about helping your relationship transition too?In this episode, Dr. Tracy and Greg talk ab

When One Partner Wants More Emotional Connection

What do you do when you’re trying to build more emotional intimacy, but your partner says, “I’m just not a feelings person”?In this episode, Dr. Tracy and Greg answer a l

Why Defensiveness Kills Intimacy

What do you do when your partner’s defensiveness is shutting down your desire, but you’re afraid that bringing it up will only make them more reactive?In this episode, Dr

Raine Maida and Chantal Kreviazuk: The Marriage Behind the Music

With the release of their new joint memoir, I’m Going to Break Your Heart: A Rock N Roll Love Story, and their upcoming fall tour, this conversation with Raine Maida and

Don’t Define Your Relationship by Your Hardest Days

Major life transitions can make even strong couples feel disconnected, reactive, and unlike themselves.In this episode, Dr. Tracy and Greg record from their new office af

When Your Partner Avoids Conflict and Leaves You Alone

What do you do when your partner keeps bidding for connection at the worst possible times, or in ways that feel irritating, inconvenient, or hard to receive?In this episo

How to Stop Chasing Accountability From Your Mother-in-Law

One of the hardest parts of mother-in-law conflict is that the thing you want most, accountability, can become the very thing keeping you stuck.In this short episode, Dr.

Why You Sound Critical When You Really Want Connection

Why does someone who longs for closeness often come across as critical, demanding, or angry?In this episode, Dr. Tracy looks at the other side of the defensiveness cycle:

Why the Mental Load Feels So Unfair

The mental load isn’t just about who does more chores. It’s about the invisible planning, tracking, noticing, anticipating, and remembering that keeps a family and relati

Why You Over-Explain When You Feel Misunderstood

Do you ever feel like being misunderstood doesn’t just hurt, it sends your whole nervous system into shutdown?In this short episode, Dr. Tracy reflects on a powerful insi

The Invisible Distance You Are Creating Together

Have you ever tried to tell your partner something and realized they were only half-listening because they were on their phone?In this episode, Dr. Tracy and Greg talk ab

Why You Overthink After Setting a Boundary

You said the hard thing. You set the boundary, sent the text, spoke up in the meeting, or finally named what had gone unspoken. So why can’t you stop replaying it afterwa

Are You an Internalizer or an Externalizer?

Why do some people shut down when they're hurt while others immediately criticize, blame, or demand a response?In this episode, Dr. Tracy introduces two common ways peopl

What to Say When Your Partner Gets Defensive

If you've ever walked away from a conversation feeling like your concerns got completely lost in your partner's defensiveness, this episode is for you.Dr. Tracy shares a