This week on the show, I have Leslie Parker joining me.
Leslie Parker has been a Physical Therapist since 2000 and has a special focus on pelvic health. As a pelvic floor specialist, she specializes in Women's Health including bladder, bowel, and pain dysfunction to include prenatal and postpartum care. She also works with women with breast and reproductive cancer in a variety of ways including lymphedema care. Over the years she has expanded her focus to include both men's and children's pelvic health as well.
In 2012, she developed the Seacoast's premiere Pediatric bladder and bowel program, Pediatric Elimination Therapy (P.E.T.) at Wentworth Douglass Hospital. She then opened her own Physical Therapy practice in Eliot, Maine.
Leslie published her first book, "The Art of Control; A Woman's Guide To Bladder Care" in June 2015, which hit Amazon's #1 Best Seller rating during the first week it was published. She did this as she was recovering from breast cancer, bilateral mastectomies, and chemotherapy.
She treats women, men, and children with pelvic floor dysfunction which typically presents as bladder issues (leaks, frequency, getting up at night to pee, pain, BPH, etc), bowel issues ( leaks, constipation, IBS, incomplete emptying, pain, etc), and pelvic pain (vaginal, rectal, tailbone, endometriosis, IC, low back, hip, penile, etc). She is in the process of launching a community membership for women for "all things" pelvic floor.
In this episode, Leslie shares that we should know about our pelvic floor muscles.
She talks about:
Find out more about Leslie here.
Download Leslie's free guide on The 6 Steps to Bladder Control here.
Jump on the waitlist for her new community membership for women here.
Click HERE to check out her book on Amazon.
Connect with Leslie on Facebook, or Instagram.
Leslie's email: leslie@innerbalancept.com
You can also listen to Leslie’s podcast with her son here.
To contact Julia, email: julia@singlemothersurvivalguide.com.
Visit us at Single Mother Survival Guide. And join the email list there too.
This week on the show, single mum Kimberley shares Part 6 of her story.
Please note that these contain sensitive topics on domestic abuse and violence.
It is recommended you listen to Parts 1 - 5 prior to listening to Part 6, but here's a short recap of the past episodes.
In Ep 263 - Part 1, Kimberley talked about growing up in a single mum household and the relationship she had with her own father, the night she met her husband, and how (what she thought was going to be) a one night stand turned into a very toxic and abusive relationship. She shared the story of the early days of their relationship, up until the birth of her daughter, and the red flags and abusive tendencies that started appearing.
In Ep 264 - Part 2, Kimberley's story continued. She talked about how the abusive tendencies started escalating and she shared her experience of what she would later find out was known as the cycle of domestic violence. She also talked about how she gained the courage to leave him, though it was the first of many attempts she made to leave the relationship, and how six months later he wormed his way back in.
In Ep 267 - Part 3, Kimberley shares the further violent and abusive outbursts of her ex, and the safety measures she started taking to protect herself (and how she perceived this as being normal), the financial abuse that had started getting worse, the isolation he inflicted on her and separating her from her friends and sister (her biggest support), his gambling and consequent debt that kept increasing, and his paranoia that kept getting worse. She also shares what happened when he moved out and back in again a couple of times.
In Ep 268 - Part 4, Kimberley started sharing what happened in the final six months of them living together, which is what she allowed because she wanted to protect her kids. She shared all the crazy things he did and beliefs he held and how she always felt like she was walking on eggshells around her ex. And then how one day, he started telling her how easy it would be to kill her - that all he had to do was come over and strangle her. And then he taunted her – repeatedly walked towards her and then away. And then the next day - raping her.
In Ep 269 - Part 5, Kimberley explains how she felt completely stuck with nowhere to go after calling the Police for advice and being told she could take an AVO out that would protect her, but not her children. She talks more about his violent outbursts and his sexist attitudes and tells us about the suicide threats he would make to their children.
Kimberley also shares the details of the night the nightmare she was living finally came to an end and what happened after that.
In this episode, Kimberley shares the final part of her story.
She talks about how the kids had no interest in seeing their father (and still don't 7 years later after the police took him away), how she had no sleep for two years as he continued to breach court orders and she lived on high alert.
She also talks about the court process and the supervised visits and phone calls that were ordered for the children to spend time with their dad. And how he would continue to use these phone calls as a way to torment Kimberley and even do things like bark at her. She also talks about what it was like at the contact centre for supervised visits and about the Independent Children's Lawyer that was provided.
Kimberley also talks about finding out about her ex's new partner and their two children and the emotions that came along with that.
And finally, Kimberley shares how she gained her freedom and the empowerment that has come from sharing her story. She also talks about the impacts the whole experience has had on her, from a mental health perspective and otherwise, and how she feels about it now. And lastly - the next steps for Kimberley.
Links mentioned in the episode:
Listen to Ep 263 - Kimberley's Story (Part 1) HERE.
Listen to Ep 264 - Kimberley's Story (Part 2) HERE.
Listen to Ep 267 - Kimberley's Story (Part 3) HERE.
Listen to Ep 268 - Kimberley's Story (Part 4) HERE.
Listen to Ep 269 - Kimberley's Story (Part 5) HERE.
Jump on the waitlist for Thrive Tribe HERE.
Download the E-book – Thirteen single mothers share their struggles, top tips, and their favourite things about being a single mother – HERE.
To contact Julia, email: julia@singlemothersurvivalguide.com.
Visit us at Single Mother Survival Guide. And join the email list there too.
Or connect with Single Mother Survival Guide on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest.
This week on the show, single mum Kimberley shares Part 5 of her story.
Please note that these contain sensitive topics on domestic abuse and violence.
It is recommended you listen to Parts 1 - 4 prior to listening to Part 5, but here's a short recap of the past episodes.
In Ep 263 - Part 1, Kimberley talked about growing up in a single mum household and the relationship she had with her own father, the night she met her husband, and how (what she thought was going to be) a one night stand turned into a very toxic and abusive relationship. She shared the story of the early days of their relationship, up until the birth of her daughter, and the red flags and abusive tendencies that started appearing.
In Ep 264 - Part 2, Kimberley's story continued. She talked about how the abusive tendencies started escalating and she shared her experience of what she would later find out was known as the cycle of domestic violence. She also talked about how she gained the courage to leave him, though it was the first of many attempts she made to leave the relationship, and how six months later he wormed his way back in.
In Ep 267 - Part 3, Kimberley shares the further violent and abusive outbursts of her ex, and the safety measures she started taking to protect herself (and how she perceived this as being normal), the financial abuse that had started getting worse, the isolation he inflicted on her and separating her from her friends and sister (her biggest support), his gambling and consequent debt that kept increasing, and his paranoia that kept getting worse. She also shares what happened when he moved out and back in again a couple of times.
In Ep 268 - Part 4, Kimberley started sharing what happened in the final six months of them living together, which is what she allowed because she wanted to protect her kids. She shared all the crazy things he did and beliefs he held and how she always felt like she was walking on eggshells around her ex. And then how one day, he started telling her how easy it would be to kill her - that all he had to do was come over and strangle her. And then he taunted her – repeatedly walked towards her and then away. And then the next day - raping her.
In this episode, Kimberley explains how she felt completely stuck with nowhere to go after calling the Police for advice and being told she could take an AVO out that would protect her, but not her children.
She talks more about his violent outbursts - throwing raw eggs all over the walls of the kitchen and dining room, hitting their daughter with their phone, and spitting on his son's bedroom door - and his sexist attitudes - expecting Kimberley to clean up after him, and their daughter to clean up after her brother. She also tells us about the suicide threats he would make to their children.
Kimberley also shares the details of the night the nightmare she was living finally came to an end...
Finally, we discuss:
Stay tuned for next week, where Kimberley shares the final part of her story - Part 6.
Links mentioned in the episode:
Listen to Ep 263 - Kimberley's Story (Part 1) HERE.
Listen to Ep 264 - Kimberley's Story (Part 2) HERE.
Listen to Ep 267 - Kimberley's Story (Part 3) HERE.
Listen to Ep 268 - Kimberley's Story (Part 4) HERE.
Jump on the waitlist for Thrive Tribe HERE.
Download the E-book – Thirteen single mothers share their struggles, top tips, and their favourite things about being a single mother – HERE.
To contact Julia, email: julia@singlemothersurvivalguide.com.
Visit us at Single Mother Survival Guide. And join the email list there too.
Or connect with Single Mother Survival Guide on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest.
This week on the show, single mum Kimberley shares Part 4 of her story.
Please note that these contain sensitive topics on domestic abuse and violence.
It is recommended you listen to Parts 1 - 3 prior to listening to Part 4, but here's a short recap of the past episodes.
In Ep 263 - Part 1, Kimberley talked about growing up in a single mum household and the relationship she had with her own father, the night she met her husband, and how (what she thought was going to be) a one night stand turned into a very toxic and abusive. She shared the story of the early days of their relationship, up until the birth of her daughter, and the red flags and abusive tendencies that started appearing.
In Ep 264 - Part 2, Kimberley's story continued. She talked about how the abusive tendencies started escalating and she shared her experience of what she would later find out was known as the cycle of domestic violence. She also talked about how she gained the courage to leave him, though it was the first of many attempts she made to leave the relationship, and how six months later he wormed his way back in.
In Ep 267 - Part 3, Kimberley shares the further violent and abusive outbursts of her ex, and the safety measures she started taking to protect herself (and how she perceived this as being normal), the financial abuse that had started getting worse, the isolation he inflicted on her and separating her from her friends and sister (her biggest support), his gambling and consequent debt that kept increasing, and his paranoia that kept getting worse. She also shares what happened when he moved out and back in again a couple of times.
In this episode, Kimberley starts sharing what happened in the final six months of them living together.
Kimberely really struggled the day he packed his things and moved back in with her. He started drinking and commenting on her weight and telling her that he was embarrassed to be seen with her. And that was just during the car ride back to her home. She questioned what she'd done, and felt sad, scared and lost. She just wanted to protect her children.
In this episode, Kimberley shares:
Kimberley always felt like she was walking on eggshells around her ex. And then one day, he started telling Kimberley how easy it would be to kill her. He said that all he had to do was come over and strangle her. And then he taunted her – repeatedly walked towards her and then away.
Stay tuned for next week, where Kimberley shares Part 5 of her story.
Links mentioned in the episode:
Listen to Ep 263 - Kimberley's Story (Part 1) HERE.
Listen to Ep 264 - Kimberley's Story (Part 2) HERE.
Listen to Ep 267 - Kimberley's Story (Part 3) HERE.
Jump on the waitlist for Thrive Tribe HERE.
Download the E-book – Thirteen single mothers share their struggles, top tips, and their favourite things about being a single mother – HERE.
To contact Julia, email: julia@singlemothersurvivalguide.com.
Visit us at Single Mother Survival Guide. And join the email list there too.
Or connect with Single Mother Survival Guide on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest.