Love Is Us: Exploring Relationships and How We Connect

About Love Is Us: Exploring Relationships and How We Connect

Love Is Us is a podcast about rebuilding connection where it matters most: with yourself, with your intimate partners, and with the people and communities you care about. Hosted by Karin Calde, PhD, CPC, a former therapist and current relationship coach, the show features thoughtful conversations with experienced practitioners and guides exploring love, attachment, intimacy, and the inner work that supports lasting relationships. Many episodes focus on the unique questions that arise in midlife, when long-standing patterns surface and the desire for deeper authenticity grows stronger. Karin also brings her experience facilitating legal, guided psychedelic work in Oregon into the conversation, offering a grounded, ethical perspective on how expanded states of awareness can support insight, healing, and relational growth when approached with care, integrity, and integration. You'll hear honest, nuanced discussions about long-term partnership, dating, sex, and self-development, with an emphasis on depth, responsibility, and real-world application.

Publisher

Karin Calde

Category

health & fitness · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

24 Jan 2023

Latest episode

14 Apr 2026

Latest episodes

84 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   14 Apr 2026

   #83: How Relationships Help Us Grow, Even When They're Hard

   Learn how relationships can be a powerful catalyst for personal growth. Discover insights from relationship coach Valerie Greene on navigating challenges and fostering deeper connections, while growing as individuals. In the world of personal development, relationships often serve as a mirror reflecting our inner selves. They challenge us, inspire us, and ultimately help us grow. In this episode, we'll explore the insights shared by my guest, Valerie Greene, on how relationships can facilitate growth, especially when things get challenging. Since 2005, Valerie Greene has been helping women and couples attract, reignite, and sustain lasting love. She specializes in helping successful couples break free from patterns of attracting unavailable partners, guiding them toward the love they truly deserve. She offers an effective alternative to traditional relationship therapy by fostering secure emotional connections. Her expertise has been featured on numerous relationship podcasts, consistently leaving audiences with transformative insights. Learn more about Valerie: Website: https://coachvaleriegreene.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/val_greene/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valerie-greene/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coachvaleriegreene Learn more about Karin: Website: https://drcalde.com/

2. 

   17 Feb 2026

   #82: When Love is Stable but Desire is Gone, with Xanet Pailet

   In this episode we talk about what happens when long-term couples still care deeply for one another but sex and erotic connection have faded. My guest shares her own experience with a sexless marriage, why intimacy is about far more than sex, and how resentment, trauma, and changing bodies can slowly shut desire down. We explore the role menopause really plays (and when it's not the whole story), why many men stop initiating sex, and why talking honestly about sex is so hard even for couples who have a solid relationship. Xanet describes for us a tool she created to help get couples talking about this sensitive topic. Plus, a lot more. Xanet Pailet is a nationally recognized Sex and Intimacy Coach, bestselling author of Living an Orgasmic Life and The Sex & Intimacy Repair Kit, and the founder of Passionate Intimacy Retreats, where she has led over 100 couples' intimacy retreats. After leaving a 26-year sexless marriage and a high-powered legal career, Xanet now helps committed couples who feel stuck, disconnected, or in conflict transform their relationships into ones filled with intimacy, safety, passion, and joy. Through private and international group retreats, she shows couples how to create emotional and sexual connection that lasts. If you've ever wondered what it takes to truly reignite your relationship and keep the flame alive, this is a conversation you won't want to miss. Learn more about Xanet: Website: https://www.passionateintimacyretreats.com YouTube: The Power of Pleasure Instagram: Xanet Pop LinkedIn: Xanet Pailet Learn more about Karin: Website: https://drcalde.com YouTube: Midlife Magic with Karin Instagram: karincalde.relationships LinkedIn: Karin Calde

3. 

   3 Feb 2026

   #81: Finding Your Way Back to Yourself: Life After Emotional Abuse, with Kristen Crabtree

   In this first episode back from a sabbatical, Karin explores the role of self-connection in healing and growth. She's joined by Kristen Crabtree, who shares her experience of leaving an emotionally abusive relationship and the quiet inner work that helped her find her way out. Together, they talk about learning to slow down enough to listen to yourself, rebuilding self-trust through meditation, and finding joy and meaning after abuse. Kristen reflects on the practices that supported her, including different forms of meditation and the influence of Joe Dispenza, and offers a hopeful reminder: there is a good life to be had on the other side. Kristen Crabtree is an author and Certified Divorce Coach whose work is grounded in lived experience — not theory. She's the creator of Paramour Paradox, a self-recovery ecosystem helping seekers rediscover who they are, and Destination: True You 2.0, where she supports lesbian women leaving psychologically abusive marriages. Through her own journey of self-recovery, Kristen helps others move from invisibility to authenticity — reminding us it's never too late to feel alive again. Learn more about Kristen: Website: Paramour Paradox IG: https://www.instagram.com/paramourparadox Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paramourparadox Learn more about Karin: Website: https://drcalde.com Karin's not on Instagram much these days, but she does check her messages periodically: https://www.instagram.com/karincalde.relationships

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

15 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

5 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 58 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

86

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

77

Contact Love Is Us: Exploring Relationships and How We Connect

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.