Family Law Cafe Podcast

Breaking Free: How Coaching Can Transform Your Divorce Journey

Joanna Toch

In this insightful episode, Joanna Toch speaks with Louize Yafai, a breakup, divorce, and domestic abuse coach. Louize shares her personal journey through an acrimonious divorce and how it inspired her to become a coach. She discusses the emotional rollercoaster of divorce, strategies for emotional regulation, the importance of taking control, and how coaching can complement legal advice. The conversation also touches on financial abuse, co-parenting, boundary setting, and rebuilding confidence post-divorce.

Topics Covered:
Louize’s personal experience with divorce and emotional overwhelm
How coaching helps individuals process emotions and regain control
The importance of a support network in divorce
Common emotional patterns in breakups and strategies for emotional regulation
How financial abuse manifests and how to rebuild financial independence
Co-parenting: The difference between co-parenting and parallel parenting
The impact of unresolved trauma on future relationships
How boundary setting builds confidence and self-worth
Moving on after divorce and preparing for a new relationship


Guest Bio:
Louize Yafai is a certified breakup, divorce, and domestic abuse coach. Having navigated her own high-conflict divorce, she now helps individuals process emotions, build confidence, and move forward with clarity and empowerment.

Five Key Takeaways
Divorce is an Emotional Rollercoaster: It’s normal to experience shifting emotions—anger, sadness, relief, and frustration. Coaching helps process these feelings constructively.
Lawyers Aren’t Emotional Support Systems: Lawyers provide legal strategy, not emotional guidance. Coaching ensures clients can engage effectively with their legal team.
Regaining Financial Independence is Empowering: Many individuals, particularly women, feel lost post-divorce. Small wins, like opening a solo bank account, help rebuild confidence.
Co-Parenting Requires Emotional Maturity: It’s about prioritizing the children’s needs over parental conflict. Parallel parenting often exacerbates tension.
You Must Heal Before Entering a New Relationship: Without self-reflection and boundary setting, people risk repeating unhealthy relationship patterns.