"I'm relationship style agnostic - I don't think there's one right way to do relationships, but gosh are there a lot of really crappy ways to do relationships."

On today's episode, Laura and Dr. Joli Hamilton, a certified sex educator and jealousy researcher whose writing focuses on couples for whom nonmonogamy works for some phases of their lives but not all phases, discuss what lessons nonmonogamy can teach people who decide to intentionally pursue monogamy instead. This is the episode you can share with your sister, cousin, or monogamous friend who wants to "get it" but isn't sure they do - it's about how the personal growth and lessons of being nonmonogamous (forever or temporarily) can improve our interpersonal connections with friends as well as a partner.

They chat about communication, gender roles and scheduling, discovering how many cultural scripts you've bought into, trauma and co-regulation, and the joys and challenges of building poorly defined and unlabeled relationships with non-romantic partners.

Find Dr. Joli Hamilton at drjoli_hamilton on Instagram or listentojoli.com, or read more about her on the guest page on the podcast's website.

Coming up later in April, join Laura for a class on Polyamory and Parenting running live on April 23 at 3 pm Eastern, or with a second live q&a on April 30 at 11:30 pm Eastern following a week of the class recording being available to purchasers; tickets are available at https://ko-fi.com/readyforpolyamory/shop. As always, you can find the blog at www.readyforpolyamory.com, the facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/readyforpolyamory; Laura on tiktok and instagram @readyforpolyamory or Twitter @lauracb88.

Special Guest: Dr. Joli Hamilton.

Season 5 Episode 2: Polyamory Advice Is Relationship Advice