9. The Court Date You Can’t Stop Thinking About - Breaking the Anxiety Spiral

Custody battles and co-parenting conflict activate the nervous system in a deep, physical way. This episode shares grounded ways to work to break free from anxiety when you can’t stop thinking about a court hearing — without denying the reality of what’s at stake: the money side, the custody, the amount of contact that you'll have to maintain with your ex, how much control each parent has, and your child's safety.

Faustina shares how in her experience, all that anxiety about the legal battle did was rob her of her experience of the present. When she realized time was flying by, and her son was growing up, while she was spending all that time in her head preparing for potential scenarios, she decided to no longer let anxiety rob her of her son's childhood. Over time she learned to not go into that rabbit hole of rehearsing arguments, plan the hearing two or three steps ahead, brace for the consequences of a ruling... And instead, stay in the moment with her child, and stay connected to him as he grows up. There's wisdom in letting go and letting God.

For more exploration about anxiety, please see this Episode by Mel Robbins about Anxiety.

Keywords: co-parenting stress, custody battle, family court, stress, high conflict co-parent, custody anxiety, trauma-informed parenting, court stress, nervous system regulation, overwhelmed motherhood, parenting resilience, emotional grounding, parenting under stress, custody battle, legal battle, divorcing the narcissist, court hearing, coparenting stress, legal abuse, divorcing a narcissist, NPD, navigating divorce with ASD