The Best “Get To Know Someone New” Line Ever

by Karoline | May 6, 2025 | Creativity, IFS, Relationships, Sexuality, Spirituality, Trust

  I’m new to Sonoma County and actively in pursuit of new friends, new community, and a new sense of belonging. After 17 years of feeling very embedded in my beloved Muir Beach, I feel oddly vulnerable in a town where I barely know anyone. With my new empty nest,...

What Are Your Self-Led Criteria For New Friends Or Dating Partners?

by Karoline | Apr 29, 2025 | Healing, IFS, Relationships

I just moved away from the community I’ve loved for 17 years to follow my partner, Jeff, to a new job in Sonoma County. That means losing daily contact with my neighbors, including my next door neighbor, who does IFS parts processing with me over coffee. It means...

Why Being Good At Relationships Is Like Tennis (& Why There’s No Shame At Being Unskilled In Relationships)

by Karoline | Apr 22, 2025 | Healing, Relationships, Trust

It’s not your fault if nobody ever taught you how to be in a healthy relationship. If you grew up in a house with at least one selfabsorbed narcissistic parent who didn’t model a healthy, balanced relationship for you. Or even worse, if one of your caregivers was a...

I Can’t Think Of Anything But Those Immigrants

by Karoline | Apr 15, 2025 | Social Justice

  I have a lot going on in my personal life right now. I’m moving out of the Muir Beach home I’ve inhabited for 17 years of my life, the home where I raised my daughter, who has now left me with an empty nest that is not the home I raised her in. My...

Which Parts Show Up Around New People?

by Karoline | Apr 12, 2025 | Creativity, Healing, IFS, Mental Health, Relationships, Sexuality, Spirituality, Trust

As I explained in my blog about IFS-informed Dating and Dating The Day Democracy Died, I learned a ton about myself and my own parts by going on about thirty first dates before I wound up with my current partner Jeffrey Rediger, who I met at a trauma conference we...