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Dear Dr. Tracy

Dear Dr. Tracy

By: Cloud10
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Summary

 Welcome to Dear Dr. Tracy, the podcast that helps you navigate the everyday challenges of relationships, marriage, and parenting with expert advice and real, relatable conversations. Hosted by clinical psychologist and relationship expert Dr. Tracy Dalgleish, this podcast is your place for honest, no-nonsense guidance on love, intimacy, boundaries, and communication. With over 18 years of experience, Dr. Tracy brings a mix of clinical expertise, evidence-based research, and personal insights as a wife and mother to help you break unhealthy patterns and build stronger connections. Each week, Dr. Tracy answers the questions so many of us have but don’t always know how to ask—about resentment, desire, mental load, and how to truly feel like a team with your partner. She’s joined by fellow experts, real couples, and her husband Greg, who offers a down-to-earth perspective on the struggles so many relationships face. If you’re ready for actionable tools and heartfelt conversations that will help you create a relationship that feels fulfilling, this podcast is for you.Cloud10 Hygiene & Healthy Living Personal Development Personal Success Psychology Psychology & Mental Health
Episodes
  • Is It Normal to Prefer My Mom Over My Mother-in-Law Postpartum?

    Is It Normal to Prefer My Mom Over My Mother-in-Law Postpartum?
    May 10 2026
    A follower asked a question that hits a very real postpartum pressure point: is it normal to feel more comfortable with your own mom than with your mother-in-law after having a baby? Dr. Tracy zooms out to name what many families miss. Postpartum isn’t a time when most new moms are optimizing for “fair” or “equal.” They’re optimizing for safety, familiarity, care, and nervous-system comfort while navigating sleep deprivation, vulnerability, and a brand-new identity shift.She explains why this preference often has less to do with loyalty and more to do with history: years of established boundaries, repairs, and “I can be fully myself” experiences with your own parent. With a mother-in-law, that foundation often isn’t there yet, and the stakes feel higher when you’re already stretched thin. Dr. Tracy also names how much depends on how the mother-in-law shows up. Supportive, respectful, helpful energy builds trust. Controlling, dismissive, or “make it about me” energy creates distance fast.The takeaway: postpartum boundaries are not a personal rejection. They’re a way to protect the new mom and the couple so relationships can stay connected long-term. When families stop comparing, stop keeping score, and start respecting the couple’s “we,” everyone has a better chance at feeling included in a way that actually works. 📎 MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Not sure where to start? Find your relationship's negative cycle — free quiz here. 🔗 WANT TO GO DEEPER? Is your partner defensive? Download my FREE scripts to respond to a defensive partner. Be Connected — 24/7 relationship support, including Dr. Tracy AI trained on Tracy's clinical work. Get real answers in the moment, even when your partner won't do the work with you. Not sure where to start? Find your relationship's negative cycle — free quiz here. Read the book: ⁠⁠⁠You, Your Husband, and His Mother⁠⁠⁠ One spot left for a couples intensive with Dr. Tracy — a 2-day deep dive designed for couples who are stuck and not seeing results from weekly therapy. In-person or she travels to you.. Ready to deepen your connection?⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Download my 100 Questions⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Build better connection and feel close starting today. ⁠⁠Join the⁠ ⁠⁠30 Days to Us Challenge⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 📲 FOLLOW DR. TRACY Subscribe to You Tube Follow on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Follow on Facebook ⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    12 mins
  • How to Talk to a Defensive Partner Without Starting a Fight

    How to Talk to a Defensive Partner Without Starting a Fight
    May 7 2026
    A message from Dr. Tracy’s community landed hard: “I’ve stopped bringing things up. Every time I do, my husband gets defensive… and now I feel like a stranger in my own home.” This episode names what so many couples quietly live with: defensiveness doesn’t just derail a conversation, it slowly erodes safety, connection, and the willingness to keep trying. When one partner experiences feedback as an attack, self-protection takes over fast, sharp, automatic, and the other partner eventually stops reaching.Dr. Tracy and Greg break down what defensiveness actually is (a nervous system response, not a personality trait), why it can be so hard to interrupt, and how it often links back to old patterns around shame, repair, and emotional safety. They share simple ways to change the pattern from both sides: how to approach a defensive partner without “upping the ante,” and how to build one sentence that helps you pause, stay curious, and protect the bond instead of protecting your ego. 📎 MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Is your partner defensive? Download my FREE scripts to respond to a defensive partner. Be Connected — 24/7 relationship support, including Dr. Tracy AI trained on Tracy's clinical work. Get real answers in the moment, even when your partner won't do the work with you. Not sure where to start? Find your relationship's negative cycle — free quiz here. 🔗 WANT TO GO DEEPER? Read the book: ⁠⁠⁠You, Your Husband, and His Mother⁠⁠⁠ One spot left for a couples intensive with Dr. Tracy — a 2-day deep dive designed for couples who are stuck and not seeing results from weekly therapy. In-person or she travels to you.. Ready to deepen your connection?⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Download my 100 Questions⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Want your questions answered on the show?⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Submit them here!⁠⁠⁠ Build better connection and feel close starting today. ⁠⁠Join the⁠ ⁠⁠30 Days to Us Challenge⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 📲 FOLLOW DR. TRACY Subscribe to You Tube Follow on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Follow on Facebook ⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    41 mins
  • How to Prevent a Mother’s Day Fight in Your Relationship

    How to Prevent a Mother’s Day Fight in Your Relationship
    May 3 2026
    Mother’s Day isn’t just about the day. It’s about what the day reveals: who gets prioritized, who gets protected, and who ends up feeling invisible. Dr. Tracy speaks to the painful pattern so many mothers name every year, he celebrates his mother, but doesn’t celebrate his partner, and then the same cycle repeats: she feels unseen, she gets angry, he gets defensive, and the family falls back into old roles that leave the couple feeling farther apart.She offers a different path forward: start by naming who your “we” is and checking in with each other first, release the expectation that one partner should carry both families (especially when kin-keeping has become a heavy, invisible job), and get clear on what would actually feel honoring this year. The goal isn’t perfection or a big production. It’s recognition, relief, and a plan that reduces decision fatigue, so Mother’s Day becomes a moment of connection instead of another loyalty test. 📎 MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Read the book: ⁠⁠⁠You, Your Husband, and His Mother⁠⁠⁠ Be Connected — 24/7 relationship support, including Dr. Tracy AI trained on Tracy's clinical work. Get real answers in the moment, even when your partner won't do the work with you. 🔗 WANT TO GO DEEPER? One spot left for a couples intensive with Dr. Tracy — a 2-day deep dive designed for couples who are stuck and not seeing results from weekly therapy. In-person or she travels to you. Not sure where to start? Find your relationship's negative cycle — free quiz here. Ready to deepen your connection?⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Download my 100 Questions⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Want your questions answered on the show?⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Submit them here!⁠⁠⁠ Build better connection and feel close starting today. ⁠⁠Join the⁠ ⁠⁠30 Days to Us Challenge⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 📲 FOLLOW DR. TRACY Subscribe to You Tube Follow on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Follow on Facebook ⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show More Show Less
    13 mins
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