Callie Manea Counseling

08/29/2025

Well said.

06/27/2025

Something I hear often from clients I work with that have been hurt by their spouse or partners behavior/choices is they’re partner says they "just want to move on". But pretending like it didn't happen won't solve it - read on.

Learning to repair in couple relationships -Therapy Services in Flower Mound Texas

05/31/2025

Headed with the family to Disneyland this week and will be out of the office - enjoy this photo of me(the blondie) and my sister circa 1989. 😃

05/28/2025

When you don’t have a co-parent willing to work with you in the best interest of your kids post-separation/divorce, parallel parenting may be a more accurate term.

This often goes hand in hand with what is called post-separation abuse, where the control, manipulation, and untrustworthy behavior have you may have experienced in your previous relationship with them continues.

There may be shame, embarrassment, and a whole lotta frustration and pain that goes along with this. You may even hear things from people like “it’s best to work together for the kids” or “you need to set their behavior aside and just get along”. These kinds of statements further minimize and ignore the other parent’s treatment of you, while putting responsibility for their behavior into your lap, even though you have no control over how they choose to act.

The other parent may continue to act like their behavior is because you’re “difficult” or “uncollaborative” but you know the truth. There is no such thing as them being a good parent while actively harming their kids other parent(you).

For those going through this, there is hope. There can be joy, peace, and a life on the “other side” from this horrendous experience. Continue to take care of yourself and your kids how you can, seek support and resources to empower yourself with tools to protect yourself in this process, and know that it is not your fault.
Hold fast. 💪

05/19/2025

The Fawn Response: A State of Survival

There are so many reasons we may “fawn”, and it’s important to remember there’s usually a reason it’s happening.

Lean into curiosity and awareness rather than shame around this - our body learns to survive how it can, and sometimes it just needs a little help when it’s not working for us.

If you’re in Texas and need some help with this, feel free to reach out to schedule individual sessions at the link in my bio. 💜

05/05/2025

Full Quote: “You can’t eat beauty, it doesn’t feed you...beauty was not a thing that I could acquire or consume, it was something that I just had to be. You can’t rely on how you look to sustain you. What actually sustains us, what is fundamentally beautiful, is compassion—for yourself and for those around you. That kind of beauty inflames the heart and enchants the soul.” -Lupita Nyong’o

Credit-

05/01/2025

Celebrating 2 years married with this guy! 🎉

Some things I love - He’s given the best answer to the “would you love me if I was a worm” question, filmed the sunrise for me after the end of an early morning run, and always holds onto my inner tube to keep me from floating away and to stay close by. Best decision I ever made, and I’m looking forward to many more years together! 💖

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04/30/2025

I’m not a fan of “well it had to happen because _____”.
I am a fan of “it happened and I decided to get ______ out of it”.

My book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1524874833/

04/28/2025

Need help with the mediation process? Kim Petroni is hosting a Mediation Clarity Workshop - you can register at the link here: https://www.notacasserolewidow.com/mediation101

04/26/2025

New post on the blog - if you’ve experienced betrayal trauma and need some tips on first steps to healing, here is a good place to start. ❤️‍🩹

https://www.calliemanea.com/blog-1/betrayal-trauma-recovery-tips

Navigating Betrayal Trauma? Here are some tips from a Betrayal Trauma Specialist

04/25/2025

Sometimes when we start on the path of healing, we jump headfirst and read all the books, listen to all the podcasts and immerse ourselves in the world of healing and recovery.

And this is absolutely normal! It’s important to make sense of our world, what we’re experiencing, and to find things that help us connect to our experience and find emotional healing and safety. I’m a big believer in “knowledge is power”.

What can sometimes happen is that this adds to the “I’m in crisis!” process that is happening to our nervous system, and make it difficult to regulate and to move through the stages of healing.

What we need is balance. We don’t have to stop seeking the resources, we can keep connecting and talking about it with people who get it, AND it is helpful to have times where we focus on other aspects of our life as a reminder that our pain is not the whole of who we are.

At first it might be hard to focus some time for other interests, self care rituals, and people who aren’t in our recovery world. But when we do this we send signals to our brain that we are going to figure it out, that we are going to make it to the other side - that we are healing.

Give yourself time to do the things that make you, you. In the midst of pain and struggle, we can find moments of peace and joy. We can “surthrive”.

It might feel impossible at times, but really, it’s necessary.

Sending up a signal to all those in the trenches and doing the hard things. You are AMAZING.

04/17/2025