Conversations with Dr. Jennifer

Finding Joy

Joy is not something we stumble upon. And it's not freedom from suffering. Nor is it the same thing as happiness. Joy is the willingness to see the beauty and goodness around us, even in the midst of difficulty and loss. Joy is a disposition toward living, not a feeling that comes and goes. And developing the capacity for it takes courage. In this episode, Dr. Finlayson-Fife joins Monica Packer of the About Progress [https://www.aboutprogress.com/] podcast to explore what joy actually requires of us, why eros love is at the heart of a marriage that stays alive, and what it means to stop trying to change your spouse and start asking who you want to be instead. SHOW NOTES: SAVE up to 30% at Cozy Earth  [https://cozyearth.com/]with code JFF30 (through 6/1)—HERE [https://cozyearth.com/products/womens-bamboo-stretch-knit-long-sleeve-pajama-set?_pos=5&_sid=bd5aaf48a&_ss=r&variant=41039987146932] are the pajamas JFF loves! Join us for the Sex Worth Wanting Retreat [https://buytickets.at/jenniferfinlaysonfifephd/1873985]! Read That We Might Have Joy [https://amzn.to/42xSOB3] (currently $14.95 on Amazon)

Grace & Growth: Parenting Special Needs Children

Most of us enter parenthood knowing it will be both challenging and rewarding. We expect difficulty. We expect exhaustion. But what we don't expect — and what we can never be fully prepared for — is a life-altering diagnosis and the grief that follows when reality doesn't match what we had envisioned for our child and our family. In this episode, Dr. Jennifer Finlayson-Fife joins Brad Broyles and Nathan Palmer of The Polaris Connection Podcast [https://polarisacademy.org/podcast] to share more about her own experience as the mother of a son with autism. She discusses the difficulty and overwhelm she faced early on and the unglamorous process of learning to stop trying to solve her son and start truly choosing him. While this conversation centers on parenting a child with autism, it speaks to the universal challenge of loving our children as they are rather than as we imagined them to be. _________ Join us for a one-day couples workshop in Alpine! Tickets HERE [https://buytickets.at/jenniferfinlaysonfifephd/2138688]

Known and Loved | A Mother's Day Tribute

ONE DAY SALE - SAVE 30% on The Art of Desire TODAY ONLY with code MDAY30 [https://www.finlayson-fife.com/courses/course/the-art-of-desire] This episode was originally recorded in 2022, when my mother was very much alive — in fact, she had just taken up ballroom dancing at 89. By the time the episode aired in 2023, she had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. How quickly things change. She passed away in early 2024 and I have been missing her ever since. My mom loved me wholeheartedly. She was present through every confident and successful moment in my life and every doubt-filled one. Her love shaped me and the work I do tremendously. My mother wasn't perfect. None of us are. But she loved with her whole heart, and I have spent my career believing that kind of love is possible — in part because I was the recipient of it. Whether you are celebrating your mother today, grieving her, or reflecting on the kind of love you want to give — I hope this episode offers you something meaningful. <3 Jennifer

What Marriage Asks of Us

Most of us enter marriage hoping to lock in someone who will love us, support us, and make us feel okay about ourselves — no matter what. So when friction, disagreements, and disconnection show up, it can feel like something has gone terribly wrong. But marriage wasn't designed to keep us comfortable. It was designed to pressure our growth. And the engine of that growth is conflict — the honest collision of two people who see the world differently learning to love each other and create a shared life that makes room for both of them, in all their difference. In this conversation, Dr. Finlayson-Fife joins Amy and Greg Langford [https://langfordlifecoaching.com/] of the Undressing Intimacy Podcast [https://langfordlifecoaching.libsyn.com/] to explore the ideas at the heart of her book That We Might Have Joy [https://amzn.to/4wakGsn]. They discuss what happens when we stop asking marriage to manage our sense of self and start letting it do what it was actually designed to do. The reward is not comfort, Dr. Finlayson-Fife teaches, it's something better — genuine desire, real intimacy, and the gift of two people choosing to share their life with each other. GET THE BOOK (it's on SALE!) or LEAVE A REVIEW (it would mean a lot to us!) [https://amzn.to/4wakGsn]

Having Sex vs Making Love

The couples who approach Dr. Finlayson-Fife about sexual dissatisfaction often aren't struggling with frequency — they're struggling with meaning. The attraction, the aliveness, the passion that once came so naturally seems to have slipped away. In this NEW episode, Dan Purcell of the Get Your Marriage On Podcast [https://getyourmarriageon.com/podcast/] asks Dr. Finlayson-Fife for her perspective on the difference between having sex and making love — and what couples can do to bring more soulfulness to their sexual relationship.  LAST CALL FOR SWITZERLAND — Learn more HERE! (Sales close on May 2nd) [https://fueledevents.wetravel.com/trips/austria-switzerland-couples-retreat-with-dr-jennifer-finlayson-fife-tionna-van-gundy-csep-58682184#about-your-trip]