[CW: this episode contains mentions of suicidal ideation.] Intentional boundaries and thoughtful agreements help us ensure that our intimate partnerships are vehicles for growth, mutual support, and healing, especially for individuals and couples who are looking to create relationship agreements beyond monogamy to deepen their understanding of relationship dynamics. Today Dr. Alexandra is joined by Jessica Fern and David Cooley. They are life partners, coparents, and coauthors of the new book Polywise: A Deeper Dive Into Navigating Open Relationships. In this rich and challenging episode, you will learn about loving with greater care and awareness, whether you are someone who practices monogamy or ethical nonmonogamy.

Navigating Open Relationships: How to Create Agreements that Foster Security and Growth with Jessica Fern & David Cooley

Reimagining Love with Dr. Alexandra Solomon is your destination for profound, enlightening discussions about love, family, intimacy, and everything in between—a podcast that gives us the opportunity to reimagine ourselves, our relationships, and our world. Hosted by renowned clinical psychologist, professor, and award-winning author Dr. Alexandra Solomon, featuring conversations with notable guests from the worlds of therapy, academia, and pop culture.

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[Content warning: this episode contains a brief mention of suicide. If you prefer to not listen to this moment, please skip this week's listener question segment at the end of the episode]

Nedra Tawwab returns to Reimagining Love to discuss what can be our most challenging and vulnerable relationships: difficult relationships with our Families of Origin. Nedra offers empowering tools and relational strategies to help us adapt and redefine these relationships; tools to help us acknowledge when our family members have changed and accept when they cannot. Together, Nedra and Dr. Alexandra explore how this theme connects with a wide variety of topics: the tricky dynamics of in-laws, differing perspectives around the past, and how to navigate painful decisions around estrangement.

End or Mend: Managing Difficult Family Relationships with Nedra Tawwab

In this solo episode, Dr. Alexandra examines a central tension in all relationships: the need for space versus togetherness. If you often find yourself wanting more connection, are you needy? If you typically need more space, are you avoidant? Here, Dr. Alexandra encourages us to ditch the labels and pathology, and instead acknowledge that both space and connection are fundamental needs in an intimate relationship. To help you navigate this, Dr. Alexandra shines a light on the meaning we assign to our orientations around space and shares strategies to help you and your partner create agreements that maximize connection and minimize resentment.

"I Need Connection & My Partner Needs Space. Now What?"

Author Molly Roden Winter joins Reimagining Love to share her story of opening up her marriage as a happily married mother and the hard-earned and profound truths she learned along the way. For Molly, her journey of non-monogamy opened her up to more: more choice and self-discovery, and feeling more than her roles as a mother and wife.

Open Marriage: Lessons from Non-Monogamy & Motherhood with Molly Roden Winter

What would change if, instead of prioritizing romantic relationships, we made friendships the center of our lives? NPR's Rhaina Cohen joins Reimagining Love to explore the possibilities embedded within that question. In her new book, Rhaina invites us into the worlds of people who've organized their lives around deep friendship and, in doing so, challenge our ideas and assumptions about which relationships should be at the heart of a fulfilling life.

The Other Significant Others: How to Reimagine Your Friendships with Rhaina Cohen

Mark Groves and Kylie McBeath join Reimagining Love to share the story of their relationship—the story that inspired their new book, Liberated Love: Release Codependent Patterns and Create the Love You Desire. In this conversation, they get vulnerable about how they moved from breaking up to fostering breakthroughs; a journey they nurtured through what they call 'a sacred pause.' In the sacred pause, they identified the patterns that blocked their ability to find authentic love so that they could build a new relationship rooted in safety and interdependence.

Navigating Open Relationships: How to Create Agreements that Foster Security and Growth with Jessica Fern & David Cooley

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