Julianne Hough's ex-husband helped her heal her childhood trauma by allowing her to be "a little girl"

She said on the 'Jamie Kern Lima Show': "What did I need at 10? I really needed safety and almost, like, a father figure to come in and be that grounding force of stability."

The 36-year-old star explained the dynamic she had with the 41-year-old hockey player gave her a "little girl feeling" with "stability" and a "stable man" at home.

She added: "He provided such a beautiful foundation for me to be a little girl, [and I] was able to start that healing."

Julianne felt she became "more of a woman" who could "listen to [her] voice more" as she began "shifting and changing and questioning."

Elsewhere on the podcast, the 'Safe Haven' actress told of her devastation when her dogs Lexi, 11, and Harley, eight, were killed by coyotes around the time her marriage was ending.

She said: "I had asked for a separation. And then ten days later my dogs were killed by coyotes.

"I woke up before my phone even rang and I knew, and I picked up the phone and my assistant at the time was just like screaming."

The tragedy also came as she was launching her company Kingry and parting ways with her long-term assistant, leaving Julianne questioning her life.

She said: "I felt so out of alignment. I'm about to start this company which is all about helping people connect to themselves and living their most expanded free self and assistant and I are breaking up, and I'm asking for a separation because something's not working.

"My dogs that represented unconditional love and safety are gone - I'm like, 'What am I doing? I'm blowing up my life.' "