This episode is part of a short mini-series called Conversations We Needed With Our Parents Growing Up.

Healthy relationships are often modeled long before they’re ever taught, and for many of us, that modeling was complicated. What happens when our parents couldn’t show what safety, respect, or repair looked like because no one showed them?

In this episode, Theresa and Walker talk about the gap between intention and example — why it’s easy to tell kids what to do but harder to live it ourselves. They explore how shame and avoidance shape family dynamics, how nervous system regulation helps rebuild connection, and why modeling imperfection with honesty is often the most powerful teaching of all.

Theresa shares how parents can still teach through vulnerability, even if they’re still learning themselves, while Walker reflects on his own experiences raising his daughter and repairing through conversation. They remind us that healthy relationships aren’t built on perfection, but on presence, safety, and willingness to keep trying.

🎥 You can also watch this conversation on our YouTube channel if seeing the dialogue unfold feels more supportive for you.

—Walker & Theresa

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