Listener Subscription

In the season opener of We Need To Talk, I sit down with bestselling therapist and founder of Relational Life Therapy, Terry Real, to expose the part of you that’s actually running your relationships. We talk about the “younger part” that learned to survive in your family, how it hijacks your adult brain in conflict, and what it takes to get your wise adult back online when all you want to do is fight, flee, or fix. Terry doesn’t just explain the model—he uses me and my marriage as the live example. If your relationships keep looping the same arguments, this episode is the map.

Xxoo Darcy

REFERENCES/RESOURCES

www.alternativescounseling.com

Terryreal.com

Relationallife.com

www.instagram.com/realterryreal/

Us: Getting Past You & Me to Build a More Loving Relationship

CREDITS

“We Need To Talk With Dr. Darcy Sterling” is a Sterling Standard Production. Editing and sound engineering by Bart Migal. Our theme music is by Trending Music. Special thanks to Amanda Cristiani and Robyn Jaenchen.

DISCLAIMER

Instagram:@drdarcysterling

Facebook:Dr.Darcy Sterling

Tik Tok:@doctordarcysterling

X:@DrDarcySterling

YouTube:@DarcySterling

Threads:@drdarcysterling

Watch this episode here on YouTube.

Listener Subscription

Season 3

Before we get into this, I want to name why this episode exists.

A while back, I interviewed

Molly Roden Winter about her book More. It became one of the most listened-to episodes of this show. Not because it was shocking—but because it challenged something people quietly assume they’re not allowed to question.

While I was reading the book, I kept thinking about one thing: I want to hear this from the other side.

This episode is that conversation.

This is me talking with Stewart Winter, Molly’s husband, about what it’s actually like to live inside a relationship that refuses to default to the script. Not theoretically. Not philosophically. Practically.

We talk about intensity. About choosing a partner who doesn’t make you comfortable—but makes you honest. About the difference between expanding a relationship and escaping one. And about how people use concepts like “open-mindedness” to avoid reckoning with their own limits.

This isn’t an episode about monogamy versus non-monogamy.

It’s about what happens when you stop outsourcing your choices to culture—and start owning the consequences of the life you build.

Listen carefully. Because the real question underneath all of this isn’t what kind of relationship do you want.

It’s whether you’re willing to tolerate the version of yourself that your relationship requires.

A couple of months ago, I interviewed New York Times bestselling author, Molly Roden Winter. Her book, “More: A Memoir of Open Marriage” documents her journey as a Brooklyn Mom who ventures into the world of polyamory, as she opens her marriage.

My interview with her sparked such a buzz from listeners — more than any other episode of WNTT. It’s linked below if you haven’t listened.

I just re-read her book while I was on a vacation and I have to tell you, about every 50 pages I found myself taken aback by how well her husband Stewart navigated their experience. He was repeatedly in situations where there were five wrong ways of responding to things, and in my opinion, he consistently landed on the right one.

Was he lucky? Or has he actually been taught relationship skills?

Those were the answers I wanted, so I invited him to join me.

Stewart Winter did not disappoint.

CREDITS

This episode of “We Need To Talk With Dr. Darcy Sterling” was produced by Darcy Sterling. Editing and sound engineering by Bart Migal. Our theme music is by Trending Music. Special thanks to Amanda Cristiani, Stephanie Sterling and Preston Smith. “We Need To Talk With Dr. Darcy Sterling” is a Sterling Standard Production.

Link to Molly’s book: More: A Memoir of Open Marriage

DISCLAIMER

Instagram:@drdarcysterling

Facebook:Dr.Darcy Sterling

Tik Tok:@doctordarcysterling

Twitter:@DrDarcySterling

YouTube:@DarcySterling

Threads:@drdarcysterling

Watch this episode here on YouTube.