Menu
Sign In Search Podcasts Libraries Charts People & Topics Add Podcast API Blog Pricing
Podcast Image

The Dr. John Delony Show

My Husband Wrecked Our Family

24 Jun 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What challenges does a woman face after her husband's infidelity?

0.031 - 18.231 Beth (Caller)

My husband started doing jiu-jitsu, peptides, testosterone, and then marijuana. He started having panic attacks and paranoia. He'd be waiting for me on our bed, like, okay, I'm ready to listen. Basically, just try to, like, violence me out to admit to cheating.

0

25.579 - 47.875 Dr. John Deloney

What up? What's going on? This is John with the Dr. John Deloney Show. I hope you are doing well. Hope you're doing better than well. Hope you're doing great. And I'm grateful that you're here pulling up a seat, trying to figure out what's the next right move for you, for your marriage, for your family, for your kids, whatever you got going on, for your job, whatever's going on.

0

48.327 - 66.894 Dr. John Deloney

Thanks for being here. If you want to be on the show, I would love to have you on. I don't answer personal things on social media, but you can click the link in the show notes, whether you're on YouTube or the podcasts, and it will send you to the link where you can fill out what's going on, the form, fill out what's going on in your life, and we can get you on the show.

0

67.455 - 70.879 Dr. John Deloney

Let's go to Beth in Colorado. Hey, Beth, what's going on?

0

72.462 - 76.367 Beth (Caller)

Hi, thank you so much. I'm really thankful that I have your time today and get to talk to you.

76.467 - 78.25 Dr. John Deloney

Well, I'm grateful I get to talk to you. What's going on?

79.478 - 89.451 Beth (Caller)

My question is, after a divorce involving my husband's infidelity, how honest should I be with my young kids about what has happened?

92.515 - 93.316 Dr. John Deloney

Tell me what happened.

94.818 - 107.494 Beth (Caller)

I'm going to give you a lot of context. If I'm giving you too much, just tell me. Okay. Because I want to set this up to explain what they've seen and been through, but I'm an oversharer, so...

Chapter 2: How does sobriety affect a wife's feelings towards her husband?

292.606 - 315.233 Beth (Caller)

I just, I was starting to wake up to that. And then he started going back on the work that he said he was going to do. He was not doing it. And so it was just like that. So then that caused me to go to my husband and say, like, I'm done with this. You're not respecting what I need. You're not keeping us safe.

0

316.034 - 340.603 Beth (Caller)

And the kids and I are going to be moving out for two months and I'm separating from you. And so... he really flipped out and he actually said, Oh, if you're doing this to me, we need to tell, I'm telling the girls, I'm telling the girls, which is my, at the time, um, eight and seven year old. And so they're already in bed and he goes into their room and says, mommy has something to tell you.

0

340.623 - 356.709 Beth (Caller)

And so I'm like put on the spot. I wasn't prepared to talk to them in that setting. And I just said, well, remember how daddy told you he broke mommy's trust and Daddy has not done the things that he needs to do to build Mommy's trust back.

0

357.411 - 367.68 Beth (Caller)

So we're going to go stay at this really cool house with a pool, and we're going to take some time away so that Daddy can work on building that trust back with Mommy.

0

367.961 - 368.061

Okay.

368.412 - 395.148 Beth (Caller)

And it's just for a little while. And my husband was saying like, this isn't what I want. Mommy planned this without me. Mommy's doing this and I don't think it's a good idea. And we just have to pray and like traumatizing them. They were sitting in his lap crying with him and he's crying. And so finally, you know, he had to work in the morning. I stayed in there until he would leave.

395.248 - 415.277 Beth (Caller)

And then I just laid with them and sang to them and cried with them. Sure. And so that has happened. They've been through that. That's why that's important. So we went and stayed at the Airbnb while he was having these mental breakdowns still. And so he actually emailed me all this, you know, confessions saying,

415.561 - 443.998 Beth (Caller)

And I said, well, while you seem to be being honest, tell me about any and all other cheating that has occurred. And he said, okay, you're right. When we were in church a week before I moved out, he left church, left the kids and I at church and said he was going to go get a protein bar at the gas station and was gone for a little while, came back.

444.67 - 463.528 Beth (Caller)

In this email, he says, well, when I left for the protein bar, I actually went to the gas station and had some stranger give me oral sex in the car. My kids' car seats were in this car. And came back and met us at church. And so I started... All right, let's stop here.

Chapter 3: What are the consequences of cutting off a father for a daughter?

497.392 - 516.814 Dr. John Deloney

Okay? And what I don't want you to do, and it's very common, it happens all the time, I want you to not make these decisions, quote unquote, for your kids because they can't carry that weight. I want you to make this decision for you because it's right.

0

516.834 - 524.104 Beth (Caller)

I just think that the worst thing I could do for my kids is get divorced.

0

524.325 - 531.715 Dr. John Deloney

That's incorrect. The best thing you could do for your kids is get them away from this maniac. Okay. Okay.

0
0

534.482 - 541.21 Dr. John Deloney

And you have to acknowledge the fact that this person blew your life to smithereens.

542.211 - 542.331

Right.

542.572 - 548.959 Dr. John Deloney

You didn't do it. What you are doing is responding to a house that got hit by a tornado.

551.121 - 551.341

Right.

551.361 - 561.533 Dr. John Deloney

And if he wants to set up a tent on top of the wreckage that was your former house and yell and scream and get mad at you for not living in that tent with him, he can do that all he wants.

Chapter 4: How does a mother explain divorce to young children?

0

726.636 - 732.101 Dr. John Deloney

Right? Like, if this happened in my house, I'd buy the house next door.

0
0

733.522 - 751.6 Dr. John Deloney

Right? Like, I'd want to be in my kid's life as much as possible. Mm-hmm. The fact what he asked for was so ridiculously low that the judge is like, okay, good for you, dummy. Right? And so I want you to see you won that. Okay. You've got full custody with every other weekend for a few hours at your house.

0

752.941 - 753.081

Mm-hmm.

753.128 - 776.241 Dr. John Deloney

right? He can't drive them around. He can't take them unsafe places. He gets to play house in your house. Right. And so, and that's going to be until the divorce hearing. Most judges are very reluctant to take away the ability for their kids to at least put their eyes on a parent unless they are patently unsafe. And he's proven he's unsafe when it comes to driving.

776.282 - 804.448 Dr. John Deloney

He's proven it's unsafe in other areas. Um, but if he threatens your life again, I want you to call the police. Okay. I want that documented for you. If he threatens the safety of your kids, I want that to go to the police immediately. Okay. You're doing all the right things as, as you, I don't know that you need to tell your kids a whole lot because they're absorbing all of this.

806.099 - 827.348 Beth (Caller)

What I told them when I did talk to them when I decided it was going to be a divorce and I just kind of looked up scripts online and I tried not to sound scripted. But I just said, mommy and daddy haven't been able to solve their adult problems while being married. And so we're not going to be married anymore. That's called a divorce.

828.155 - 851.428 Beth (Caller)

And mommy and daddy still love you and you will still get time with both of us. And your job is just to be a kid. You don't have to fix these problems or figure out whose fault it is. You know, any question they had, I just tried to kind of say those same words in different ways. I just, it's like, I'm their source of stability and consistency and safety and

Chapter 5: What steps can be taken to rebuild trust in a marriage?

993.142 - 1009.607 Dr. John Deloney

get a big, get a big, but you know what? Hang on the line here. I'm going to see if my friends at Cozy Earth, they're a show sponsor. If they can send you one of their big giant, it's the most amazing blanket. My 10-year-old daughter is obsessed with all of the family getting underneath it to watch an episode of a show at night.

0

1010.108 - 1010.548 Beth (Caller)

That would be awesome.

0

1010.568 - 1025.655 Dr. John Deloney

And I'll see if we can get them to send you one and hook you up with them, okay? I'm going to reach out to them personally, but I think they're going to send one to you guys. But getting into a routine where in the evenings, we all pile under this huge blanket. We all go out in the backyard and throw water balloons on Friday nights.

0

1027.397 - 1041.279 Dr. John Deloney

Those tiny little things, they're not big grand announcements, but they're little bitty things that will begin to re-anchor a kid. And they should be re-anchored to two of you, but they're going to only be anchored to one of you. Is this woman is safe. My mom is safe.

0

1042.701 - 1043.302

Okay.

1043.322 - 1050.233 Dr. John Deloney

Right? Yeah. And when you find yourself sobbing your freaking eyes out, don't cover that up for them.

1052.643 - 1056.769 Beth (Caller)

I've let them see me cry and that's one thing I think does actually help them.

1056.789 - 1056.869 Dr. John Deloney

Yes.

1056.889 - 1060.794 Beth (Caller)

And they'll say, are you missing daddy? And I say, yes.

Chapter 6: How can a parent maintain a relationship with a stepmother while avoiding contact with their father?

1191.945 - 1213.548 Dr. John Deloney

This is daily intensive work that has the power to transform lives. And listen, I know folks at Capstone. It is faith-based care, but they care for all types of people in all walks of life. If somebody close to me had a son who needed that level of help, or if my son needed that level of help, Capstone would be my first call.

0

1213.568 - 1232.247 Dr. John Deloney

Residential treatment is a very serious investment in money, time, and energy because the level of care is intensive and completely different. Financial aid and other support is available. Go to capstonewellness.com slash deloney to learn more. That's capstonewellness.com slash deloney.

0

1234.218 - 1258.35 Dr. John Deloney

I travel all the time and there's always that moment when you walk back into your house after a long trip and you drop your bags and you sit down for a second and you're just like, ah, I'm home. And when I get into bed after being on the road and I slide into that Helix mattress, I don't slide into the Helix mattress, I slide on top of that Helix mattress. That's so good.

0

1258.61 - 1277.775 Dr. John Deloney

And that's why all of us love climbing in our beds on top of our Helix mattresses when we get home. And anytime somebody's traveling and they stay at our house, they always wake up the next morning and they're like, dude, what was that bed I was sleeping on? And I say, it was a Helix mattress. Listen, here's why Helix mattresses are so amazing.

0

1277.755 - 1297.826 Dr. John Deloney

They don't build just one generic mattress for everybody. They build mattresses for how you sleep. Whether you're a side sleeper, a back sleeper, a hot or cold sleeper, they make mattresses just for you. So here's what I want you to do. Get online and take the Helix Sleep Quiz. It takes like two minutes, and Helix will match you with the perfect mattress for you.

1298.267 - 1325.639 Dr. John Deloney

Go to helixsleep.com and get 20% off site-wide during their 4th of July sale. Plus, you can get 25% off their Lux mattresses and get this, 30% off their Elite mattresses. That's 20% off site-wide with additional savings on the Lux and Elite mattresses at helixsleep.com. And these savings are only for my audience, so go check them out. With Helix, better sleep starts right now.

1327.681 - 1336.659 Dr. John Deloney

All right, let's go out to Jessica in Denver, Colorado. What's up, Jessica? How's it going? Just rocking on to the break of dawn. How are you?

1336.679 - 1338.761 Jessica (Caller)

Oh, just fine.

1339.782 - 1340.383 Dr. John Deloney

What's going on?

Chapter 7: What are the emotional impacts of family dynamics on children?

1482.967 - 1496.351 Jessica (Caller)

But yeah, I guess to summarize, there's just a lot of communication struggles that we have. Um, and I feel like looking back, I would definitely get frustrated and just drink and then we wouldn't deal with it.

0

1496.491 - 1511.325 Jessica (Caller)

And so now I'm wanting to deal with it and he's not wanting to, and I'm seeing him now not drinking excessively, but I just feel like he's going down some following some of the same patterns I, I did. I don't know if that makes sense.

0

1512.2 - 1514.042 Dr. John Deloney

Let me ask you a different question. Is that okay?

0

1514.562 - 1515.343 Jessica (Caller)

Yeah, yeah.

0

1516.624 - 1534.341 Dr. John Deloney

Now that you have this cataract of alcohol pulled from your eyes, are you finding yourself not liking this guy or not respecting this guy? And alcohol, his drinking has become the thing that you laser in on because it gives you permission to just like, I don't like this guy.

1536.843 - 1538.385 Jessica (Caller)

Yeah, probably a little bit.

1538.725 - 1545.788 Dr. John Deloney

Okay. What I want you to do is to And I know this is a core part of AA, but be careful of the judgment part.

1547.169 - 1547.69

Yeah.

1547.71 - 1562.369 Dr. John Deloney

And take more honest stock in. I've spent this many years with a guy that maybe I blame my drinking on my teaching job, but it may have been more for my home life too.

Chapter 8: How can one navigate complex family relationships post-divorce?

1703.856 - 1723.266 Dr. John Deloney

In fact, it makes them more fun, right? And it's annoying to my friends to quit drinking. And I've had conversations late at night with guys who are like, I wish I could have one beer and it made me fine. Yeah, yeah. But I have one and I wake up three days later, coked out of my mind, right? So like some of that might be you letting that story go.

0

1723.566 - 1737.947 Dr. John Deloney

But the bigger issue here is I wanna have a real conversation. You white knuckle it, you've done your work, it builds, it builds. And then a thing happens in your home and you're like, I wanna talk about this now. And he's like, dude, it's eight o'clock. It's nine o'clock. I don't want to have this conversation.

0

1738.608 - 1766.34 Dr. John Deloney

And so by backing all the way out and saying, okay, Saturday, I've, and this isn't, oh, I get it. I've arranged childcare. Saturday, you and I are going somewhere else. I've already set it up. And we need to have a hard conversation about the state of our marriage and where we're headed. And if he says, no, I will not have that conversation. Then you have been given a path in front of you. Yeah.

0

1767.001 - 1772.527 Dr. John Deloney

You're going to have to make peace with the answer to your or what statement.

0

1772.547 - 1776.551 Jessica (Caller)

Yeah, I think that's the part that's kind of holding me back a little bit.

1776.571 - 1787.762 Dr. John Deloney

Well, it's right because there's a reality to this. And that's why I'm saying the rest of it is just theater. Yeah. It's a way to burn off a bunch of emotional energy and never solve the core problem.

1789.023 - 1789.644

Mm-hmm.

1789.664 - 1795.81 Dr. John Deloney

And what that does is it tills the soil for resentment.

1795.85 - 1795.99

Mm-hmm.

Comments

There are no comments yet.

Please log in to write the first comment.