Leslie Mathews JD, MSW

Leslie Mathews JD, MSW Helping women untangle the legal, emotional, and identity knots of divorce. Divorce can unravel everything—but it can also remake you.

With a background in law and a Masters in Social Work, I offer strategic and soulful support through The LooM Life—guiding you to peace, power, and clarity. With both a JD and MSW, I guide women through the emotional, logistical, and legal overwhelm of divorce. Through The LooM Life, I offer strategy, support, and soul as you untangle what was and reweave what’s next.
👉 Book a free consult to learn how we can work together. Strategic & soulful coaching by a lawyer-turned-therapist.

11/23/2025

Forgiveness isn’t saying it was okay.
It’s saying I won’t carry this weight anymore.

Forgiveness isn’t approval.
It’s release.

It’s the moment you stop letting someone else’s behavior live in your body…
in your nervous system…
in your decisions…
in your self-worth.

When you forgive, you’re not freeing them.
You’re freeing you.

You’re choosing peace over bitterness.
Presence over rumination.
Your life over your history.

Forgiveness isn’t a gift to the person who hurt you.
It’s a homecoming to yourself.

💛 Have you ever felt the difference between forgiving and excusing?

11/22/2025

A mentor once told me something on the golf course that changed how I handle failure, both in sport and in life:

“Don’t judge the shot. Learn from it.”

That one sentence shifted everything.
Because most of us don’t just judge the shot — we judge ourselves.

But golf… like healing… like rebuilding after divorce… is a game of presence, not perfection.

Every swing is feedback.
Every miss is data.
Every do-over is a chance to regulate, reset, and choose differently.

And honestly?
The moment you stop making failure mean something about your worth is the moment you start playing life with so much more freedom.

✨ What if your next “miss” is just information, not identity?

11/22/2025

When you’re in divorce negotiations—whether it's mediation, a legal meeting, or a conversation with your attorney—you might think you're making rational decisions. But if your nervous system is dysregulated (fight, flight, freeze, or fawn), you're not actually negotiating… you're surviving.
This is why so many women walk out of meetings saying,
"Why did I agree to that? That’s not what I wanted.”
It’s not because you're weak, emotional, or indecisive—it's because your brain literally cannot access higher-level decision-making when it doesn’t feel safe.
As a trauma-informed divorce coach and therapist, I teach my clients how to:
Recognize their nervous system state before entering legal meetings
Use pre-agreed signals with their attorney when they need to pause, regulate, or step away
Prepare for emotionally triggering topics ahead of time
Stay anchored in logic, values, and long-term goals—not panic or fear
You deserve support that honors your mental health AND your legal strategy.
Watch my full conversation with Melanie Miller on The CxC Show to go deeper into why nervous system education is one of the most overlooked parts of divorce preparation—and how it can change everything.

11/22/2025

Our bodies struggle to distinguish between a lion chasing us and an emotional threat. When fight-or-flight hormones surge, higher-level brain functions go offline, hindering clear thinking and problem-solving. Breathing and grounding techniques, like saying "I am safe" with a hand on the chest, are powerful ways to signal safety to the nervous system, reminding it that the lion isn't chasing us. Awareness of these responses is key.

11/21/2025

I shared insights on Melanie's podcast, The CxC Show, about exercise, yoga, and natural self-care. We explored how these practices, including self-pleasure, can provide healthy dopamine and oxytocin boosts. This offers a natural way to improve well-being. Listen to the full episode for more!

11/20/2025

Co-parenting during the holidays? Yeah… it’s a lot.
The plans, the emotions, the scheduling acrobatics, the pressure to “make it special” with half the time and double the expectations.

You can’t control your co-parent.
But you can protect your nervous system — and when you do, you protect your kids’ peace too.

Here are a few grounding reminders for the holiday season:

✨ 1. Plan early, but hold plans loosely.
Kids don’t need perfection — they need predictability and presence.

✨ 2. Let go of the fantasy holiday.
You don’t have to “make up for anything.” Simple moments are enough.

✨ 3. Decide your calm before conflict.
Before any conversation, literally tell your body:
“I’m safe. I choose calm. I choose clarity.”

✨ 4. Your emotions don’t make you a bad parent.
They make you human. Feel them, then respond intentionally.

✨ 5. Focus on the home you CAN influence.
Your kids feel your energy. When you’re grounded, they soften too.

You can’t control the co-parenting chaos —
but you can choose peace inside your home, inside your body, and inside your holidays.

💛 What’s one boundary or intention you’re holding onto this season?

11/19/2025

When you’ve been gaslit or doubted for years, clarity doesn’t always feel like freedom at first…
Sometimes it feels like danger.
Sometimes it feels like guilt.
Sometimes it feels like a test you’re afraid to fail.

But learning to trust your gut again?
That’s rebellion in its purest, softest, bravest form.

Every pause.
Every breath.
Every moment you check in with yourself instead of seeking permission…

You’re repairing the bridge between what you FEEL and how you LIVE.

This is what healing looks like.
This is what coming home to yourself feels like.

✨ If this resonates, you’re not alone. Your clarity is allowed.

11/19/2025

Leslie and Elina explore how intuitive eating is applied, highlighting its systemic nature. Later, two women discuss the societal lack of trust placed upon them. A vital conversation about bodies and beliefs.

Eventually, I learned that real strength isn’t in the fight. It’s in the pause.The inhale before you speak.The moment yo...
11/18/2025

Eventually, I learned that real strength isn’t in the fight. It’s in the pause.

The inhale before you speak.
The moment you feel your feet on the ground instead of reacting from fear.
The second you choose self-trust over old patterns.

That pause became my power.

Because the pause is where your nervous system resets, your truth becomes audible, and your next choice can actually align with your values—not your wounds.

This is the work:
Learning to respond from your Self, not your survival mode.

💛 Tell me—what’s one place in your life where you’re practicing the pause?

11/16/2025

When you’ve lived in crisis mode for too long, “okay” can start to feel like the finish line.

But you weren’t born to just get through it.
You were meant to rise from it — stronger, softer, wiser.
Survival is your body’s instinct.
Rising is your soul’s calling.
This next chapter isn’t about being “fine.”

It’s about remembering what it feels like to truly live again — with peace, with presence, and with your whole heart back online. 💛

Address

Saint Petersburg, FL
33704

Website

http://loomlifetherapy.com/, https://youtube.com/@pullingthreads_lesliemathews, https://www

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Leslie Mathews JD, MSW posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Leslie Mathews JD, MSW:

Shortcuts

Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn
Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share via Email
Share on WhatsApp Share on Instagram Share on Telegram

Category

Mindful Storytellers Live Here

Mindful Mayhem is a place to share the things we love and make us feel great, as well as what we have learned from living with autoimmune disease, ADD, chemical intolerance and allergies.

Galleries from our travels, gardens and crazy life are coming to the website soon! Capturing the things we are passionate about guides my mindful journey and helps me stay focused on the present. Right now that is extremely therapeutic and essential.

Ella and Jack love to share their music, stories and experiments on our Youtube channel, so be on the lookout for videos from their Mindful Mayhem channel!

You can also find us on Instagram at mindfulmayhem.com, IG @mindful.mayhem and @houseofmindfulmayhem