Divorce with Carolyn

What Divorce Really Does To Kids: A Candid Conversation With My Son, Connor

Divorce with Carolyn

Show Notes

In this special episode, Carolyn is joined by her 21-year-old son Connor for an honest, warm, and sometimes confronting conversation about what it's really like to grow up through parental separation. Connor experienced two of Carolyn's separations – at age two and age twelve – and shares what helped, what didn't, and what he wishes had been done differently. An important listen for any parent worried about what divorce is doing to their children. Key Takeaways Divorce is not inherently dama...

More from Divorce with Carolyn

Oct 20, 2026

It’s one of the words Carolyn hears most in the Women’s Divorce Academy community, and it’s the one that keeps the most women stuck. In this solo episode, Carolyn sets the diagnosis question aside – nobody can answer it from the outside, and it turns out you don’t need to – and asks a more useful one: is this how your ex behaves, and what do you do about it? She walks through how capable women end up in these relationships, what the pattern tends to look like once a separation is under way, a...

Oct 14, 2026

Content note: This episode discusses domestic and family violence. If you need support, in Australia you can call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800respect.org.au. Support services outside Australia are listed below. If you’re in immediate danger, call emergency services. There’s a lot of talk about leaving an abusive relationship. What comes after gets far less attention. Eleven years ago, Jo Mason’s life looked perfect from the outside. Behind closed doors, she was living with dome...

Oct 5, 2026

Carolyn spent a year believing she couldn't afford a lawyer, so she went without one. She now calls it a mistake – and an expensive one. This episode is about keeping the bill down, from someone who sends them. Perth family lawyer Ella Hickman walks through what legal help actually costs, what runs the meter up without a woman realising, and where to put your money when there isn't much of it. She's blunt about her own profession, including the point at which she tells a client to stop. The h...

Sep 28, 2026

Carolyn gets asked one question more than any other: where do I start? This episode is her answer – the TRUST Method, the five-stage path Women's Divorce Academy is built on, and the reason the order you do things in matters more than any single piece of advice you'll be given. She takes you through all five stages, and she's honest about the one she got badly wrong herself. A decision made in the first year after her separation cost her a full year of support she was entitled to. Another, ma...

Sep 21, 2026

When Carolyn started working at News Corp, Mel Wilson was her boss – a journalist who seemed to have everything together. Carolyn had no idea Mel was going through a separation too. Ten years on, Mel talks about what was happening underneath. A six-month-old and a three-and-a-half-year-old. A household budget sum that came out at zero. A job interview where she did something her future boss would call brave years later. An offer from her parents she tried very hard to refuse. Mel shares how s...

See all episodes →