Why Friends Gossip During Your Divorce And How to Heal

Why Friends Gossip During Your Divorce And How to Heal

From Pulling Threads, Weaving Authenticity by Leslie Mathews

April 4, 2026 · 34 min

About this episode

Leslie Mathews discusses the impact of gossip during divorce and offers insights on healing from betrayal.

When a friend gossips about your divorce or breakup, it's not just betrayal — it's trauma. Here's what the research says, and how to heal.🔗 Work with Leslie: www.theloomlife.comThere is a specific kind of pain that happens when you're going through the hardest thing in your life — a breakup, a divorce, infidelity — and the person you trusted to hold your story turns it into someone else's entertainment. This episode is personal. It's also one of the most important conversations we've had on Pulling Threads.Today Leslie — therapist, former attorney, coach, and founder of The Loom Life — unpacks why women gossip about each other during a crisis, what drives it neurologically and evolutionarily, and what it costs the person whose story is being shared.In this episode:The real definition of gossip — and the crucial line between healthy processing and harmful betrayalWhy female connection is physiologically regulating (the UCLA tend-and-befriend study explained)The dopamine reward behind gossip and why it happens even without malicious intentRobin Dunbar's research on social grooming and what old wiring is doing to modern friendshipsWhat gossip does to your nervous system, your…

People in this episode

Host: Leslie

Topics covered

  • gossip
  • divorce
  • betrayal
  • healing
  • female connection

Keywords

  • trauma
  • neuroscience
  • emotional healing
  • friendship
  • trust

Mentioned in this episode

Products: EMDR

Books & works: Pulling Threads, Pulling Threads02:00

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