Tara Pettit DeLoach, LMFT

07/27/2026

07/27/2026

Have you experienced a moment where you became ashamed of your joy? For many of us, often when we were young, there were moments when we were shamed for our delight, our exuberance, our authenticity. What was one of your moments?

04/26/2026

04/21/2026

04/20/2026

Avoidance gives you a tiny hit of relief.

Not because the problem is gone—but because you don’t have to deal with it.

So you “forget.”

You stay busy.

You promise you’ll deal with it tomorrow.

But what you avoid doesn’t disappear. Just the opposite: The problem gets bigger.

The only way to deal with something is to, well, deal with it. Which means: Giving voice to the feelings you’ve been pushing aside.

Every person I wrote about in MAYBE YOU SHOULD TALK TO SOMEONE was avoiding something (myself included!).

And then… we weren’t. And that felt so much better.

A question to try today:

What feeling am I trying not to have?

04/16/2026

When someone promises change, it can buy them time.

And it can cost you yours.

In this podcast session, Elena is trying to decide what to do after discovering that her husband has been having multiple affairs. They’re in couples counseling. He’s vowed to change.

But at some point, the question stops being “What is he saying?” and becomes “What is he *showing*?”

Want to hear how we help Elena move forward?

🎧 Listen to , “Elena’s Cheating Husband” ➡️ bit.ly/4sp2WXj

04/15/2026

A lot of people are told they have to forgive in order to heal.

But as I say in MAYBE YOU SHOULD TALK TO SOMEONE, “forced forgiveness” isn’t healing.

You can feel compassion for someone’s pain without absolving what they did.

And if you’re the one asking for forgiveness from someone else, remember that’s not their job.

The work for you is to find a way to have compassion for yourself while also holding yourself accountable (i.e., “What have I learned from this; have I offered a sincere apology or amends without the expectation of absolution; how will I do things differently next time?”).

Remember Rita’s story from my book—her desire for forgiveness from her adult children coupled with her inability to forgive herself?

If you struggle with forgiveness from either side of it, now might be a good time to read Maybe You Should Talk To Someone:https://bit.ly/40E59mJ