Hey About Face fam—today I’ve got something special for you. I’m introducing my brand new podcast: Falling in Love is Easy.
This show is close to my heart. It’s a deep dive into the beautiful, messy, tender (and sometimes terrifying) territory of modern relationships. If you’ve ever asked yourself why healthy love can feel so hard, or why we’re drawn to patterns we thought we left behind, this new podcast is for you.
In Falling in Love is Easy, I offer tools and tips to recover from relationship conflict, interview experts, and talk with real people about dating, intimacy, vulnerability, and all the emotional gymnastics we go through trying to love and be loved. It’s raw, honest, and sometimes funny—and it’s a space to unpack the ways love breaks us open and helps us grow.
✨ Subscribe to Falling in Love is Easy
Available now wherever you listen to podcasts! Just search the title, or use the links here:
Thank you for being part of this community. I hope you’ll come with me as we explore what happens when we stop chasing drama—and start practicing the kind of love that’s actually good for us.
With love,
Kate Marlene
I wanted to introduce you all to a podcast I really love called Atypical Daydream, hosted by Josh Caldwell.
I know you, listeners of About Face, love personal stories, road stories, travel stories, people stories... I'm really hooked on this and wanted to share. And if you follow, I'll appear in a future episode, sharing my story of calling off my wedding to travel the world.. if you haven't already heard it.
Follow Atypical Daydream wherever you get your podcasts.
Atypical Daydream on Apple--> https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/atypical-daydream/id1646907297
Atypical Daydream on Spotify--> https://open.spotify.com/show/6V1dm9knVaO0x4wgwAdhqA
As a single mom myself I've had to battle the negative stereotypes and stigmas around single motherhood and what happens after a marriage/parenting relationship breaks down. In this episode I am talking with Ruby Russell is a journalist, author, and single mom from London, also living in Berlin, and the author of Doing it All: The Social Power of Single Motherhood. Doing it All is a feminist exploration of single-motherhood, tracing a history through Victorian brothels, welfare rights activism and Black feminist traditions of othermothering. Ruby Russell tells a different story: of motherhood defined not by marriage or men, but as a nexus of solidarity beyond the patriarchal status quo.
A personal quest for empowerment, Doing It All is also a fierce critique of the structures that leave single mums marginalised and exhausted – and a call to reclaim mothering as the life force of sustainable, connected and radically responsible communities.
In this episode we cover:
You can find Ruby Russell and her book online or at your local bookstore.
Contact Kate Marlene
IG: @katemarleo
TikTok @katemarlene
email: kate@restoryatherapy.com
Somewhere there is a mugshot of me after I got arrested at a house party in Seattle when I was 20. There is also a picture of me graduating law school a few years later. Both of these pictures tell a story, and both are true. But how do I make meaning from these stories and these truths? What do these stories tell me about myself and my life?
In this solo episode, I'm talking about how I have come to understand the power of storytelling, identity, and how we can use narrative in harnessing potential and creating our lives.
In this episode I cover:
For more information about sessions, you can reach me at www.restoryatherapy.com
IG: katemarleo
Join my Patreon for extra content: www.patreon.com/katemarlene
"Just because someone is related, doesn't mean they love you," can be a difficult idea to accept, but recognizing that family relations don't always serve us can be empowering.
Family estrangement is a taboo topic and those of us who have had to go no contact with famly members never make the decision lightly. Kate speaks with break-up coach and family estrangement expert, Janice Formichella about her own experience severing from the LDS church and the difficult decision to go no contact with toxic family members, including her parents.
In addition to sharing their own stories of family estrangement, this episode also covers:
Kate Marlene
IG: @katemarleo
Janice Formichella
IG: JaniceFormichella
Music: Always on My Mind by Marbert Rocel
When it comes to texting- I am the worst! I have a history of sending break-up texts, having serious conflicts by text message, and trying to communicate my emotional reactions and needs by text message.
The thing is- we don't get anywhere by dumping on others through text message. We lose nuance, accountability, and the opportunity for conflict resolution.
In this episode, I talk about my own history of being a bad communicator by text message, how I learned to (eeek!) call instead of text, and some thoughts on the relationship between text messaging, people pleasing, and conflict avoidance.
Texting can go wrong--and fast. Try to make it a practice to avoid serious conversations by text and you will improve your own anxiety around texting as well as your capacity to resolve conflict with your partner, friends, family, and colleagues.
I started this podcast after my own 'rock bottom' story and recovery journey, really in effort to capture the essence of personal growth and transformation coming out of darkness. But, what if there is no rock bottom?
What if you simply feel, or hear a voice deep down that tells you ... something isn't right?
'Rock bottom’ stories can be inspiring, they do not always capture the very normative experiences of burnout, feelings of disconnect, and a lack of purpose, particulary at mid-life. And, how do we define mid-life? Could it be, not a number, but rather a point in life to look back, reflect, and create transformation in our next phase?
In this episode, I interviewed author Ben Katt, about his new book, "The Way Home: Discovering the Hero's Journey to Wholeness at Midlife," which captures the personal transformation of someone who “lost his heart” but not in the most cinematic rock bottom ways we are accustomed to encountering. As he intros his book, there are countless ways to lose your heart, and he offers a guide to find your heart, and your way home.
Ben Katt is a meditation teacher and spiritual coach. He weaves personal experience, spiritual wisdom, and mythology, following the hero’s journey to inspire a path from isolation to belonging, securtity to surrender and conformity to wildness.
Kate Marlene
IG: @katemarleo
Ben Katt
IG: @akabenkatt
I wanted to share a difficulty that I have been struggling with the last month and how I was able to manage some hard, even shameful emotions that came up for me. When my kids' father got sick and ended up in the hospital for the last month I had to accept my new role as a single mom, without the help of a co-parent.
In this episode I discuss the stages of grief I went through, including some anger and resentment that I was not proud of. I also discuss the shift I was able to make from fear and anger towards service, an old recovery tool that helped give me perspective on my loss and how I can focus my attention on the needs of others.
Email me at kate@restoryatherapy.com
For more about my narrative work and to work with me: www.restoryatherapy.com
Art, exhibitions, and products: www.katemarlene.com
Facebook: Kate Marlene/Restorya
IG: @katemarleo
Love stories captivate all of us, but how do narratives of love influence how we date, make meaning, and tell our own stories? What do we look for in the love stories of our own lives and how do larger narratives about love influence how we pursue and experience romance?
In this episode, I interview Olivia de Recat, author, illustrator, and cartoonist for the New Yorker. Her book Drawn Together was named one of the best books of the Year by the New Yorker in 2022. This book was absolutely beautiful, truly hilarious, and a vulnerable look at romantic love stories in all shapes It’s a collection of illustrated love stories, but also a kind of memoir that looks at Olivia’s relationship to love and relationships. I wanted to talk to her about her book, and how relationships are shaped by the love stories we know and tell.
Kate
IG @katemarleo
www.restoryatherapy.com
Find Olivia
IG @drawingolive
Being sick can have a negative impact on our sense of self and mental well-being. Do you feel unproductive, unable to be a good parent, or isolated and lonely when you're sick? When we are ill, a myriad of stories, beliefs, and negative associations can surface. These stories can impact our sense of self and, in my case, even lead to questioning my ability to work or be a good parent, fostering self-doubt and blame.
To stop negative self-reflection during illness we must detach our identities and self-worth from the condition. It's about seeing the illness objectively, as something separate from who we are. Today, I want to share my story and offer insights that could provide support to anyone facing illness, whether it's a common cold, flu, or something more serious and chronic.
If you're interested in sessions with me you can book at www.restoryatherapy.com
Find me IG: @katerestorya
Facebook: Kate Marlene/Restorya Therapy
TikTok: KateMarlene
One of the greatest pains we will ever endure in life is heartache, either from a break-up, rejection, divorce, or the severance of a relationship. In this episode I talked with Janice Formicella, a break-up coach and host of the podcast, "Break-ups, Broken Hearts, and Moving On." We talked about recovery from our own divorce and other break-ups, withdrawal after break-up, the power of no-contact, and how to use the pain of a break-up to fuel personal growth at any stage of life. We also talk about the power of narrative, understanding the self, and shifting our narratives around break-ups towards empowerment.
Kate Marlene Leone is a narrative therapist and works with clients internationally. More information at www.restoryatherapy.com
IG: @katerestorya
TikTok: @katemarlene
If you leave a review, send me a screenshot and I have a small gift for you!
Almost exactly 20 years ago I got pregnant. I was still in college and my boyfriend at the time was getting ready to start a Ph.D. at Harvard. We had big life dreams, that for both of us, seemed inevitable, not to be disrupted by an unexpected pregnancy.
A couple years ago I met up with Jeremie when we were both in Paris and he agreed to let me record this conversation about what happened, our relationship, and how our lives were impacted. I want to clarify firstly, this is not an anti-abortion narrative, however it is a conversation about “what-ifs” and it’s something I would do regarding any large life decision as great as this one.
I have to say I was a bit shocked learning about his feelings at the time and even in hindsight. There were a lot of things we never said, until now, and I think the conversation reflects more broadly on middle-age look backs, life choices, and the way our perspectives and learnings can change over time.
Again, it’s a story about stories. The stories we tell, the stories we may have forgotten, and the stories of what-if.
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About Face is produced by me, Kate Marlene and is part of my larger project, Restorya, a narrative therapy practice based in Berlin.
If you are interested in booking a session with me, please go to www.restoryatherapy.com for more information about my work.
You can also follow me on Facebook at Kate/Restorya
Instagram: @katerestorya
TikTok: @katemarlene
Music from this episode is an intentional flashback by Modest Mouse, my favorite band in college.
Any time we try to convince others of our truth and convictions we lose power. When I got divorced I heard a lot of rumors about myself-- I'm crazy, left my husband for a younger boyfriend, etc. This experience taught me a lot about how to stand in my own power and truth and to not let myself be vulnerable to the thoughts and opinions of others.
I got on a dating app in 2012 and met my now ex-husband. Now I have two German kids and I can't leave the country! On a bad day this really gets be down, however, it has taught me a lot about the power of reimagining possibility within the very real limitations of our lives and circumstances. This episode is for anyone who has felt held back back or "stuck" because of circumstances, past decisions, and the consequences of just living our lives. Reimagine your limitations with real hope, possbility, and space for growth.
Last summer I got hypnotized for over two hours and I wanted to share about this experience as well as the relationship I found between narrative healing and subconscious imagery. In this episode I interview Marta Styczen about her hypnotherapy practice and we talk about my session, including the process of going under hypnosis, what it is really like, whether anyone is susceptible to hypnosis, what I learned, and how I found it to be such a powerful source of healing and information. While there was also a situation of what could be considered "past life regression," we also talked about the role of imagery, metaphor, and of course, narrative.
I talk about how the session unlocked some early experiences, some painful, but also awakened some understandings for me around relationships with men, my past, and my current energies.
Marta shares about her Quantum Healing Hypnosis practice, the role of deep meditation, connecting with a higher self, and how she is self-recovered from schizophrenia.
We also talk about how language itself is an artificial construct and is limited in communicating some messages and ideas and how the right side of our brain uses imagery to tell stories.
For more information about Marta:
current location & session booking via website www.selfhealing.work or IG @marta.styczen.
Mental health advocacy projects: neurodivergencegallery.org & IG @neuro_gallery
Instagram: @restorya
FB: Kate Marlena-Restorya
Restorya is a member of Bear Radio.
Theme music by Kenichi and the Sun
Today I want to talk about something I call “Attachment Stories,” and it’s the stories that attach themselves to events, issues, or traits about ourselves, our families, communities etc. Basically, it’s the accompanying stories that might crop up in a damaging way.
Many of you have probably heard this expression: “Pain inevitable, suffering is optional” an ancient Buddhist expression, made popular by Haruki Murakami. This quote is basically the premise of how to face attachment stories. That is to say that the human experience will inevitably involve pain: we will face hardship, loss, and eventually death, but the suffering that accompanies it will be of our own making. So, beyond the other Buddhist tenants of acceptance and impermanence, we can also look more practically at these attachment stories that really can exacerbate the suffering of our lives.
In this episode I share about my own experiences in the last month- a new lockdown, my daughter's brain surgery last month, getting served divorce papers, and losing my apartment. I share about how these experience triggered my old self narratives and how I was able to reconnect with other stories around love, connection, and self-empowerment.
I used to think I could insulate myself against pain or hardship by doing the right thing or making "good decisions." When my daughter was diagnosed with a rare brain condition, I had to face my greatest fears of illness, vulnerability, and a total loss of control. In this episode I share about going through the transition from denying and fighting against hardship and how learning to accept difficult fates and struggles has taught me about connection, humanity, and empathy.
This episode was inspired by an essay I wrote called, "The Things We Cannot Handle," originally published in Scary Mommy in 2017.
If you are interested in learning more about narrative please check out my website www.restoryatherapy.com and feel free to book a session with me.
You can find more content at Patreon and please consider subscribing to support my work.
https://www.patreon.com/join/restorya
Email: kate@restoryatherapy.com
@restorya on Instagram
Facebook: Kate Marlena-Restorya
Restorya is a member of Bear Radio, the premier English speaking podcast network of Berlin
Our theme music is the song JEANNE by KENICHI & THE SUN from album White Fire which you can find here.
