Relationship Dish

About Relationship Dish

Ever wonder what your therapist's own romantic relationship is like? Well wonder no more because Relationship Dish is the podcast where two therapists dish about their own relationships. Hey, relationships are hard for EVERYONE, even therapists! In this podcast we practice "walking our own talk" as we journey through the ups and downs of our love relationships and our own humble learning to be better partners. Our wish is that our learning becomes your learning as you reach to be the best partner you can be. We are Iona Monk and Pam Stewart. Join us and let's dish.

Publisher

Iona Monk / Pam Stewert

Category

arts

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

29 Aug 2018

Latest episode

22 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

127 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   22 Oct 2026

   Ep 151 / Trauma-Dumping or Building Intimacy? How We Turn Our Baggage Into a Healthy Relationship

   What happens when two people show up to a first date with plenty of emotional baggage—and decide to put it all on the table? This week, Iona and Pam welcome a very special couple to Relationship Dish: their producer, Jenn, and her partner, Michael! Visiting from the US for Iona's book launch party, Jenn and Michael share the story of how they found each other after painful breakups, what they learned from relationships that didn't work, and how they're building something different together. Their first date might sound like a therapist's dream—or nightmare. They spent the first hour talking about their past relationship trauma, emotional baggage, and complicated living situations. But here's the distinction: they weren't simply dumping their pain on each other. They were also reflecting on what had happened, recognizing their own patterns, and talking about what they wanted to change. That willingness to take responsibility for their histories helped create something essential from the start: a sense of emotional safety. Michael opens up about a previous relationship in which conflict could lead to days or even weeks of silence, leaving him responsible for breaking the impasse and trying to repair things. Jenn shares how a relationship that worked well in everyday life became unsafe when her partner's unresolved anger and drinking escalated into emotional abuse. Though their experiences were different, both came away knowing that love alone isn't enough—and that you cannot make things work by yourself. A healthy relationship requires two people willing to be stewards of the relationship, not one person carrying the whole thing. So what does doing the work look like in practice? Jenn and Michael discuss how past experiences have made them hyper-aware of each other's moods, sometimes interpreting a partner's bad day as a sign that something is wrong between them. Michael's solution is their "reset button": a way to recognize the pattern, step back, and stop treating each other as the problem. Iona and Pam explore how naming a pattern helps couples become a team against the conflict itself, why resolving arguments creates the conditions for intimacy, and how individual therapy and self-awareness support healthier relationships. Ultimately, so much of our relationship behavior comes back to two fundamental questions: Am I lovable? And are you trustworthy? We may bring old wounds into our relationships, but we don't have to let those wounds run the show. When both partners are willing to reflect, take responsibility, and keep learning—individually and together—the past can become a source of insight rather than a blueprint for the future. Get Iona's book, Happy for the Long Haul: ionamonkcouplestherapy.com/book Learn more about Jenn's work: copilotpublishing.com

2. 

   7 Oct 2026

   ep 150 / Are We Ever Really Past It? How Healthy Couples Handle Old Patterns

   Ever have a relationship that's been going really well, only to have an old issue suddenly rear its head and make you wonder, "Wait… haven't we already dealt with this?" Iona and her husband Steve recently had one of those moments—and in this episode, Iona and Pam put their therapists' hats on and take a close look at what happened, what went wrong, and how they found their way back to each other. The disagreement started innocently enough: a garage sale, two lamps, a dog walk, and Steve taking a phone call from his dad while walking ten feet ahead of Iona. But that ten feet hit an old trigger, and before long, they were lobbing the "tennis ball" of an argument back and forth. For Iona, it was a chance to recognize that her tone wasn't what she wanted it to be—and also to recognize that her tone has gotten dramatically better over time. So how do we hold both truths at once? We can still fall into old patterns and acknowledge how much we've changed. Pam and Iona talk about why every relationship "blip" happens in the context of real life: exhaustion, distraction, stress, work, and everything else that comes along with being human. As Iona puts it, therapy doesn't magically mean you're "past" something forever. It's more like peeling an onion: each round of therapeutic work removes another layer, bringing you to a better place—but sometimes you discover there's still something underneath. The goal isn't never having the problem again. The goal is getting better at what you do when it happens. And that means repair. Sometimes you need time apart to cool down and come back "clean." Sometimes being the first to offer goodwill can change everything. Sometimes you need to recognize that your partner will falter—and trust that they'll get better at repairing afterward. Iona and Pam also explore the difference between deserving something from your partner and recognizing that, sometimes, people simply fall short; how to share what you feel and what you need; and why inviting your partner to check your assumptions can prevent an entire story from taking over. Healthy marriage isn't about never dropping the ball. It's about coming back to pick it up together.

3. 

   23 Sept 2026

   ep 149 / The Marriage Is Over: What "The Invite" Gets Right (and Wrong) with Zach Brittle

   SPOILER ALERT! This episode is all about The Invite, Olivia Wilde and Seth Rogen's new movie—and if you haven't seen it yet, you may want to watch it before listening. Iona and Pam are joined by licensed therapist Zach Brittle, host of Marriage Therapy Radio and author of the forthcoming book, Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes, for a lively, therapist-on-therapist dissection of the film's troubled couples. And wow, is it uncomfortable. All three therapists found themselves squirming as they watched Joe and Angela's marriage deteriorate on screen, because there's something painfully familiar about watching two people who are deeply unhappy—and who keep doing absolutely nothing to change it. Iona even turns the movie into a game: "What are all the things you can name that these couples are doing wrong?" From branching arguments into completely different fights, plowing through each other's boundaries, and dragging unresolved personal struggles into the marriage, the problems pile up fast. Although the movie features ethical non-monogamy, Zach argues that the real issue isn't non-monogamy at all. It's truth-telling. The turning point comes when Penelope Cruz's character, Pina, finally does something therapists don't always do: she tells the blunt truth about what she sees. When she says, "This marriage is over," she doesn't necessarily mean the relationship has to end. She means this version of the marriage is over. Whether Joe and Angela can build something new is up to them—and it will require both people to actually do the work. So what do you do when a couple walks into therapy carrying years of resentment? Zach's answer is surprisingly simple: You don't have to stay married. But if you want to, you can make the decision to do the work. Because without the willingness—or the will—to change, the therapist is fighting your battle alone. They also talk about how people "outsource" their problems to alcohol, weed, work, affairs, and even therapy; why communication tools can't compensate for a lack of foundational trust; and why Zach literally said "Okay" out loud when he saw the movie's ending. Spoiler: he felt hope. Learn more about Zach and listen to Marriage Therapy Radio: https://marriagetherapyradio.com Pre-order Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes: https://www.amazon.com/Nothing-Changes-Relational-Recovery-Relationships/dp/1645475875

Reach and audience

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

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.9 / 5

9 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 31 / 100

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

Quality

49

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

32

Contact Relationship Dish

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

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

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