Restored: Helping Children of Divorce

When Michael Comstock was 17, he discovered that his mom was having an affair. The betrayal didn’t just affect his parents’ marriage—it shattered his sense of safety, trust, and family.
Years later, Michael realized the fallout was still affecting him. He struggled to trust women, sabotaged relationships, feared marriage, and wondered if he was doomed to repeat his parents’ story.
In this episode, we talk about:
Why a parent’s affair can feel like a betrayal of the children too
How divorce wounds can surface years later in dating and relationships
Why Michael felt guilty building a relationship with his stepfather
What helped him forgive his mom and stepfather without excusing what happened
How he went from fearing marriage to becoming a husband and father
If your parent cheated, if you struggle with anger or trust because of what happened in your family, or if you’re afraid you’ll repeat your parents’ mistakes, this episode is for you.

Resources:
Learn more about Restored’s healing program for young adults:
https://restoredministry.com/program
You can also anonymously share your story with Restored:
https://restoredministry.com/story

Confident people still feel fear. The difference is how they respond to it.
In this episode, Trevor Ragan explains why fear, anxiety, and discomfort don’t necessarily mean you’re weak, unprepared, or on the wrong path. In fact, trying to suppress those emotions can make them even stronger.
Trevor is the founder of The Learner Lab and has spent nearly a decade studying learning, performance, resilience, and difficult emotions. He’s worked with professional and Olympic athletes, Major League Baseball teams, and leaders at the United Nations.

In this episode, you’ll learn:
How confident people handle fear differently
Why trying to eliminate fear can backfire
How to move forward even when you don’t feel ready
Why confidence isn’t the absence of difficult emotions
How to build skills you may not have learned growing up

If fear keeps you from taking risks, having difficult conversations, pursuing relationships, or building the life you want, this episode is for you.

More resources:
Join our 6-week healing program 
https://restoredministry.com/program

Free guide: 10 Tips to Help Someone Whose Parents Are Separating or Divorcing
https://restoredministry.com/10tips

Learn more about Trevor:
https://thelearnerlab.com

Shownotes
https://restoredministry.com/blog/184

If you grew up in a broken or dysfunctional family, you may have entered adulthood without ever seeing what healthy conflict looks like.
But avoiding conflict isn’t the answer. In fact, healthy conflict can be one of the main ways couples build trust, deepen intimacy, and discover whether they can actually build a life together.
Our guest, Adam Lane Smith, is a former licensed marriage and family therapist, bestselling author, and attachment specialist whose work has attracted more than 1.3 million followers across social media. In this conversation, Adam breaks down the practical relationship skills many people never learned growing up.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
Why people from broken families often struggle in relationships
How healthy couples handle conflict differently
Why avoiding conflict can actually weaken trust
What conflict reveals about whether someone is marriage material
How to communicate, repair, and build trust after things go wrong
If conflict makes you shut down, blow up, people-please, or wonder whether you’re capable of building the healthy marriage you never saw growing up, this episode is for you.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
👉 Join the waitlist for our new healing program for young adults impacted by their parents’ divorce or family dysfunction:
RestoredMinistry.com/program
👉 Get the free guide: 10 Tips to Help Someone Whose Parents Are Separating or Divorcing:
RestoredMinistry.com/10Tips
👉 Learn more from Adam Lane Smith, including his Secure Circle, relationship resources, programs, and coaching:
AdamLaneSmith.com
👉 Shownotes
https://restoredministry.com/blog/183

What if you’ve understood your wounds intellectually—but your body is still carrying them?
After her parents’ divorce, Annie Sarlo spent years hiding her family’s dysfunction, struggling with anger, anxiety, perfectionism, and difficulty receiving love. Her healing eventually taught her something surprising: we’re wounded in relationship, and we often heal in relationship—but talking alone isn’t always enough.
In this episode, Annie shares:
Why safe relationships can heal wounds caused by broken relationships
How family dysfunction can make receiving love difficult
Why movement, martial arts, breathing, and nature became part of her healing
The path from self-knowledge → self-possession → self-gift
How to find a person or place where you finally feel safe enough to exhale
If you’ve done a lot of thinking or talking about your past but still feel anxious, guarded, or stuck, this episode is for you.

Resources:
👉 Learn more about Annie Sarlo and her whole-person coaching:
anniesarlo.org
https://sandamianocoaching.com

👉 Join the waitlist for our new healing program for young adults impacted by their parents’ divorce or family dysfunction:
https://restoredministry.com/program 

👉 Get the free guide: 10 Tips to Help Someone Whose Parents Are Separating or Divorcing:
https://restoredministry.com/10tips 

Shownotes

When dysfunction is all you know, it can feel normal.
For Michaela, growing up with a narcissistic father meant fear, control, walking on eggshells, protecting her younger siblings, and even parenting her own parents. For years, she didn’t realize how unhealthy her family dynamics were. It wasn’t until she encountered healthy families that she began to see how different love could look.
In this episode, Michaela shares how those relationships helped reshape her understanding of family, love, boundaries, and healing.
We talk about:
Why unhealthy family dynamics can feel normal when you grow up inside them
What it’s like growing up with a narcissistic and controlling parent
How healthy families and mentors can show you a different way to love
How to stop carrying responsibility for everyone around you
Why forgiveness doesn’t always require reconciliation
If you grew up with a narcissistic, abusive, or deeply dysfunctional parent and want to build something healthier, this episode is for you.

Resources Mentioned
Free Guide: 7 Ways to Work Through the Pain of Your Parents’ Divorce
Book: It’s Not Your Fault
Share Your Story with Restored