Monogamy vs. PolyamoryMonogamy vs. Polyamory
The Urban Therapist Podcast, with Host Eddie G. Hall, Jr.
A panel of therapists and a nurse discuss monogamy, polygamy and polyamory, weighing health, emotional and spiritual implications. The conversation focuses on boundaries, self-worth and honest communication in shaping safe and sustainable relationships.
1:00:09•17 Jul 2026
Monogamy, Polyamory and Boundaries: The Urban Therapist Round-Table
Episode Overview
- Clarify definitions: monogamy, polygamy and polyamory carry different levels of consent, commitment and transparency, and shouldn’t be blurred together.
- Set and honour your own boundaries instead of trying to tolerate behaviour you can’t actually live with.
- Consider both health and mental wellbeing; multiple partners can raise medical risks and create emotional strain and confusion.
- Reflect on whether a relationship pattern is a genuine choice or a trauma response, especially when people bond over shared pain.
- Whatever structure you choose, ongoing communication and mutual respect are critical; once those go, the arrangement quickly becomes harmful.
“Don’t compromise what you want in a relationship by trying to justify something you’re not happy with.”
How do people from different backgrounds handle complicated relationships? This round-table chat on The Urban Therapist Podcast lines up that question against the hot topic of monogamy versus polyamory, using singer K. Michelle’s viral comments as a springboard. Host Eddie G. Hall, Jr. brings together a sharp mix of voices: Dr.
Derek Smith, a marriage and family therapist; registered nurse and fitness enthusiast Deshaun (Shoney T) Thompson; and licensed mental health counsellor Mimi Culpepper, with Lou weighing in from the side-lines. You’ll hear them unpack what words like polygamy, monogamy and polyamory actually mean, and why consent and clarity matter so much. Mimi splits her view into “professional” and “personal”: professionally, she focuses on safety and non-judgement, but personally she’s a firm “absolutely not” to sharing a partner.
Shoney T adds a practical angle, asking who realistically has time to juggle multiple relationships, work, kids, church and everything else. She also highlights the health risks of casual sex, pointing out that some women have literally died while “sticking it out” with unfaithful partners. Dr. Smith raises the mental and emotional toll of managing several partners, stressing the strain of multiple attachments and the impact on trust, intimacy and the stability of the nuclear family.
Mimi links some poly set-ups to trauma responses and “trauma bonds”, and notes that women today can be just as sexually casual as men. Eddie steers the group back to core themes that matter hugely in addiction and recovery circles too: boundaries, self-worth and honesty.
As he puts it, “Don’t compromise what you want in a relationship by trying to justify something you’re not happy with.” If you’re rethinking what commitment, sex and safety look like in your own life, this conversation may leave you asking: are your current boundaries truly yours, or are you just trying to make someone else’s choices feel bearable?
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