Claim OwnershipThe Loving Truth
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As a Relationship Expert & Certified Master Life Coach, Sharon Pope has helped thousands of women gain the confidence and clarity they need to either fix their struggling marriages or move forward without regret. On The Loving Truth Podcast, she shares advice on how to navigate deep marriage hardships, challenging common beliefs about what love and relationships “should be” and providing realistic steps towards peace and happiness. If you can’t decide whether to stay or go in your marriage… you’re facing infidelity… you’re terrified of hurting your kids… you can’t bring yourself to leave your marriage, even though you want to… or you’re wondering whether it’s possible to respark the desire between you… tune in to the weekly episodes.
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Guilt is something so many of us wrestle with, especially in our relationships. For a long time, I thought guilt was useless because it’s tied to the past. But now I see it differently. There’s healthy guilt—the kind that nudges us to make amends, apologize, or do better next time—and that can help us grow. Then there’s unhealthy guilt, the kind that has us taking responsibility for things we can’t control, beating ourselves up, or carrying shame for decades. Healthy guilt reminds us our mora...
Relationships are rarely simple and binary thinking—believing things are either right or wrong—can harm your marriage. Human beings are complex, and so are our needs, desires, and perspectives. You can love your partner deeply and still recognize that the relationship isn’t meeting your needs. You can set boundaries and still be a kind, loving person. You can enjoy your sexuality, assert yourself, and hold yourself in high regard even when mistakes happen. Embracing nuance helps you make clea...
Deciding what to do in a marriage is never simple, especially when you’re questioning whether your partner’s “all in” effort is real or just words. I walk a member through how to recognize that personal growth starts inside, and real change isn’t just mental—it shows up in consistent action. We also tackle the challenge of delivering a separation or divorce decision when your partner reacts with tears, promises, or attempts to debate the past. I teach how to stay grounded, honor your own need...
Heartbreak is hard, even when the relationship you leave behind wasn’t healthy. We hold onto stories about the person and the relationship, but those stories keep us stuck. To heal, you have to see what is real. Look at the facts and be honest with yourself about why the relationship ended. Write it down, reflect, and ask yourself what worked, what didn’t, and what this is teaching you. Heartbreak is painful, but it’s also an opportunity to grow. If you step into the grief with awarenes...
When your partner gives you advice on how to love or live, it can sometimes feel like an invitation to grow. But it can also mask manipulation. One listener shares how her spiritually focused husband tells her she doesn’t know how to love and is not living in her true self. I explain how these comments often reflect his own projections, not her reality. I talk about how we can learn to trust our inner wisdom instead of being swayed by criticism, and how to create healthier conversations in ou...
“Healing after an affair is possible. It’s just really hard work. But so are most things that are really important to us.” I’m sharing my two-step process for healing after an affair. I want you to know that while healing can be incredibly difficult, it’s absolutely possible. The first step is what I call “stopping the bleeding.” This is when we focus on addressing the immediate trauma and the deep pain of the betrayal. The second step is all about understanding how the affair happened,...
In this episode, I share real coaching moments where we tackle some of the toughest relationship questions. One member is struggling with her husband's ongoing friendship with his ex, even after an affair. She questions whether this connection is manipulation or emotional abuse. Another member shares her frustration with her husband's porn use, and how it makes her feel inadequate. The truth is, both situations require deep introspection and boundaries. It’s not about changing your partner—it...
1After more than a decade of coaching women through marriage struggles, I’ve learned that desire in long-term relationships is widely misunderstood. We think it’s a magical feeling that appears when we’re with the “right” person, that it should always be spontaneous, and that focusing on our own pleasure is selfish. The truth is, desire takes effort, intention, and a willingness to be an active participant in creating it. Familiarity, daily responsibilities, and unresolved hurts can all drain ...
Sometimes the ache in a marriage isn’t about the big betrayals or blowout fights. It’s about not feeling emotionally comforted by your partner. In this coaching conversation, I explore how our upbringing shapes what we expect from comfort and why our partner may not naturally offer it in the way we long for. I walk through how to express those needs clearly, without criticism, so they can be heard and received. I also share why it’s okay to build a “board of directors” of trusted people who c...
“If I can’t communicate with my partner without asking a computer what I should say, I’m in trouble.” - Sharon Pope AI is changing every part of our lives, including our relationships. That might sound helpful, but I believe it comes with serious risks. Relationships aren’t about getting the right answer or saying the perfect thing. They’re about learning how to connect, how to repair after conflict, and how to grow alongside another person. If we turn to AI to do that work for us, we stop bu...
In this session, I coached two women who were in very different places but wrestling with the same kind of emotional weight. One had left an abusive marriage and found herself in a new relationship with someone who shows up for her in all the ways she used to crave. And yet, the rage is still there. The grief is still there. The other is still in her marriage with a good man, but the spark is gone. She’s trying to force herself to feel something that just isn’t there anymore. What I shared wi...
Healing your marriage after an affair is possible, even when your partner doesn't know. But pretending nothing happened isn't the answer. The guilt you feel may push you to come clean, but sharing the truth can shatter your partner’s world, leaving you with even more guilt. Instead, start by getting honest with yourself. Why did you cheat? What were you running from or seeking? Once you understand your motivations, invest in your marriage in real ways. Be intentional, use relationship tools, ...
Sometimes our partner can’t see that we’ve changed, and keeps bracing for the backlash that used to come. One woman shared how her husband still expects to be punished when he goes out with friends, even though she’s no longer upset about it. Another is doing all the work to reconnect, but still feels no desire for her partner. And she’s wondering if that’s a sign. But desire isn’t just emotional—it’s hormonal. And it doesn’t magically reappear. It needs care. It needs attention. It needs to ...
Financial stress can add a lot of tension in relationships. If you're already struggling with communication issues, resentment, or emotional distance, money problems can make everything feel worse. Whether you're staying for financial reasons or struggling to see a way forward, there are always options available to you. You don’t have to suffer. With the right tools and support, you can take action, no matter whether you decide to stay or leave. Struggling to decide whether to stay or go in y...
In this episode, I walk through how to navigate a trial separation from the emotional prep to the practical logistics. Whether you’re considering physical separation or an in-house one, this is about more than just space, it’s about clarity. I talk about how to communicate the decision, how to set clear ground rules around kids, money, and how you’ll interact, and why this kind of shift—while hard—can be a catalyst for growth. I also cover why most in-house separations don’t work long-term, a...
In this episode, I’m answering a big question I hear often: “If I change how I think about my partner’s hurtful behavior… am I just letting him off the hook?” We unpack that idea starting with how our thoughts create our feelings, and how learning to shift those thoughts is not about pretending things are okay. It’s about reclaiming your emotional power. Whether it’s something small, like not replacing the Q-tip jar lid, or something big, like lying and broken trust, I’ll show you how curiosi...
"If you don’t know how to manage your mind, all you have is the ancient instinctual wiring from centuries ago. It’s playing out in your life in a modern world." - Sharon Pope Our hormones shape so much of how we react to each other. Women, driven by estrogen, are wired for connection and emotional harmony, while men, influenced by testosterone, tend to react to conflict with more aggression or defensiveness. I’m diving into the biological differences between men and women and how those differ...
In this episode, I unpack the subtle but powerful ways resistance shows up in our relationships, both in our partner and in ourselves. Whether it’s denial, blame, or even sarcasm, these are just avoidance tactics we’ve learned to protect ourselves from feeling hurt or rejected. But when every hard conversation is met with pushback, we stop having them. And when we stop having them, we stop repairing the relationship. I’ll walk you through the 12 most common forms of resistance. You’ll know ho...
You did the best you could to love one another, and you made some mistakes along the way, and that’s what brought us here. It doesn’t mean you’re bad people. What happens when one partner finally makes changes after years of disconnection and neglect, only for the other partner to feel too far gone to trust those changes? We often wait for our partner to change, but the reality is, change comes too late for some relationships. When you're finally ready to make your decision, whether to stay o...
In this conversation, I talk about navigating the emotional turmoil of financial betrayal in a marriage and how to maintain your integrity while making tough decisions. It’s important to choose how you feel in any situation, especially when faced with emotions like grief, anger, and betrayal. Setting boundaries, standing up for yourself, and letting go of the “shoulds” that don’t serve you are key to healing. I also highlight the power of compassion—not only for yourself but eventually for th...
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