Solo Parent Podcast

This week we’re discussing Healthy vs. Unhealthy Relationships

Healthy connection is something many solo parents long for, but most of us weren’t given a clear model of what it looks like. Between past trauma, unhealthy relational patterns, and the fear of repeating old mistakes, it can feel confusing to know when a relationship is safe, sustainable, or simply too costly for our emotional wellbeing. Today’s conversation with Licensed Professional Counselor, Laurie Lokey, matters because it gives practical ways to identify real health, real safety, and real growth within ourselves and in our relationships with others.

Today, we cover three main points:

• What a healthy relationship actually feels like and why it always begins with the relationship you have with yourself.
• How to recognize red flags and green flags when dating or navigating close relationships.
• Why modeling health for your kids matters even if you are not dating at all.

These pain points matter because many solo parents were never shown what healthy connection looks like. Without a clear blueprint, it is easy to mistrust our instincts, blame ourselves, or repeat familiar patterns that keep us stuck. By naming what feels confusing, learning how to recognize safety, and growing in self-awareness, we begin to build relationships that support healing instead of draining it.

Laurie reminds us that healthy connection begins within. When we do our own work, we show up grounded, honest, and present. We stop performing. We stop shrinking. We stop blaming. That shift changes everything: how we date, how we communicate, and how our kids learn what love looks like. Even if we are not dating, our growth becomes a living amends to our children, showing them that it only takes one healthy parent to change a family’s story.

Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

Licensed Professional Counselor, Laurie Lokey

Additional Resources:

• Full Show Notes
• Learn more about Solo Parent
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