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Dear Dr. Tracy

Dear Dr. Tracy

By: Cloud10
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 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
  • Closing the Task: The Moment That Changed Our Marriage

    Closing the Task: The Moment That Changed Our Marriage
    Feb 19 2026
    Ever had the moment where your partner says, “I did it,” but somehow…you’re still the one cleaning up the aftermath? In this episode, Dr. Tracy is joined by her husband Greg to talk about a surprisingly specific (and wildly common) mental load issue: not “closing the task.” Using their real-life bath time example, they break down how tasks have a beginning, middle, and end, and how skipping the “end” quietly transfers labor, time, and emotional energy to the other person. They also explore why this pattern often isn’t malicious, it’s autopilot, mismatched expectations, and unspoken definitions of what “done” actually means. Most importantly: how to bring it up without triggering the classic couple cycle of resentment and defensiveness. What “closing the task” means (and why it matters more than you think) Why “I helped” can still leave one partner feeling like the street cleaner after the parade How unspoken task definitions create conflict (hello, “I cleaned the kitchen”) A gentler way to introduce the concept using curiosity, not criticism Why “diffusion of responsibility” often lands on one partner by default How single-tasking (not multitasking) supports follow-through and reduces friction LINKS FROM EPISODE: Ready to deepen your connection?⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Download my 100 Questions⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Build better connection and feel close starting today.⁠ ⁠⁠Join the⁠ ⁠⁠30 Days to Us Challenge⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Discover your relationship negative cycle with my free quiz:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Take it here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ RESOURCES Get Relationship Support ⁠Inside ⁠⁠Be Connected⁠⁠⁠ Order my new book! ⁠⁠⁠You, Your Husband, and His Mother⁠⁠⁠ Want your questions answered on the show?⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Submit them here!⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ Need deeper support? 1:1 and Couples Coaching Build better connection and feel close starting today. ⁠⁠Join the⁠ ⁠⁠30 Days to Us Challenge⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ FOLLOW DR. TRACY Subscribe to the podcast⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@drtracyd⁠⁠⁠ Follow on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/drtracyd ⁠⁠⁠Follow on Facebook ⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/DrTracyD/⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    39 mins
  • The Relief You Are Not Supposed to Feel

    The Relief You Are Not Supposed to Feel
    Feb 15 2026
    In this short From the Couch Q&A episode, Dr. Tracy responds to a listener who feels crushed by guilt after she and her husband chose to go no-contact with his sister (and her family) after years of escalating conflict. The listener shares that the tension started around their engagement, with ongoing attacks, scapegoating, and a painful pattern of being blamed for “destroying the family.” Dr. Tracy offers a crucial reframe: in many in-law dynamics, the partner didn’t “ruin” the family, the family system changed when the couple formed their own unit, and some people fight hard to pull things back to the way they were. Dr. Tracy explores the complexity of sibling bonds and family roles, including how guilt and blame can become part of a bigger system (triangles, rescuer roles, unspoken expectations). She also names the emotional whiplash many people feel in estrangement: relief and grief at the same time. LINKS FROM EPISODE: Order my new book! ⁠⁠⁠⁠You, Your Husband, and His Mother⁠⁠⁠⁠ My first book: I Didn't Sign Up for This Get Relationship Support ⁠Inside⁠ ⁠⁠Be Connected⁠⁠⁠⁠ Want your questions answered on the show?⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Submit them here!⁠⁠⁠ RESOURCES Discover your relationship negative cycle with my free quiz:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Take it here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 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 the podcast⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@drtracyd⁠⁠⁠ Follow on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/drtracyd ⁠⁠⁠Follow on Facebook ⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/DrTracyD/⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    23 mins
  • Weaponized Incompetence: The Label That Explains Everything (And Nothing)

    Weaponized Incompetence: The Label That Explains Everything (And Nothing)
    Feb 12 2026
    In this episode Dr. Tracy slows down one of the internet’s most popular relationship labels: weaponized incompetence. She names why the term resonates so deeply, especially for women carrying the mental load, and why it can feel like oxygen to finally have language for exhaustion, invisibility, and resentment. But Dr. Tracy also brings nuance to a conversation that often gets flattened. She explains that “weaponized incompetence” isn’t always rooted in intentional harm or laziness. Often, what looks like incompetence is tied to learned helplessness, gendered socialization, fear of failure, shame, conflict avoidance, and unspoken agreements that form over time. The “weapon” isn’t always intention. It’s the outcome: one partner becomes the manager, the other becomes the assistant, and resentment grows in both directions, just with different faces. LINKS FROM EPISODE: Build better connection and feel close starting today.⁠ ⁠⁠Join the⁠ ⁠⁠30 Days to Us Challenge⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Dr. Tracy's First Book I Didn't Sign Up For This Book RESOURCES Get Relationship Support ⁠Inside ⁠⁠Be Connected⁠⁠⁠ Order my new book! ⁠⁠⁠You, Your Husband, and His Mother⁠⁠⁠ Want your questions answered on the show?⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Submit them here!⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ Discover your relationship negative cycle with my free quiz:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Take it here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ready to deepen your connection?⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Download my 100 Questions⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ FOLLOW DR. TRACY Subscribe to the podcast⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@drtracyd⁠⁠⁠ Follow on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/drtracyd ⁠⁠⁠Follow on Facebook ⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/DrTracyD/⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    24 mins
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