We often think of trauma as the things that happen to us. Emotional neglect, however, is the trauma of what didn't happen. It's the absence of attunement. The absence of someone noticing and staying connected with your inner world. It often looks like growing up in a home where your physical needs may have been met, but your emotional world was not consistently seen, understood, or held. Emotional neglect is especially hard to name because as a child, you don't have language for it. A...
One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned through this work is that the Universe will always encourage you back into alignment. When something feels heavy, draining, chaotic, confusing, or just plain off, that discomfort isn’t a punishment. It's an alert from your nervous system saying, ‘this is not aligned with the truth of who you are.’ Discomfort is directional guidance. It's the Universe nudging you back towards your truth through the communication network of your nervous system, and thi...
If a relationship is built on you being boundary-less or not having needs, suddenly having boundaries or communicating your needs can end that relationship. It can upset the boundary pushers in your life and leave you feeling disposable, like you're only valued when you're giving, or that relationships stop or change when you stop over-functioning. That feeling of disposability doesn't mean you’re unlovable or you weren't worth holding onto, it means there's a pattern there. In this e...
It’s common for this time of the year to bring out feelings in your parts of self. Maybe it’s your inner child's hope for things to be different or it’s your inner teenager's edge. The hardest place to hold boundaries and stay emotionally regulated tends to be in your family of origin, meaning we might need some additional support navigating the holiday season. Maybe you're already anticipating the unsolicited advice, the uncomfortable conversations, the pressure to overextend or over...
I think we’ve all experienced the magnetic pull toward something you know doesn't serve you. Maybe it's the text you shouldn't send, the boundary you keep putting off, the dynamic you swore you would never repeat again. That voice that whispers “maybe this time it will be different.” That's the pull of your patterning. It's not weakness, it's wiring. The patterns that pull us aren’t random. They're rooted in familiarity. They’re your nervous system's way of trying to complete a story ...
Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results isn’t the definition of insanity, it’s the definition of unconsciousness. It's what happens when our nervous system reaches for what's familiar, even if it hurts. It's dating the same pattern in a different person. It's choosing relief over repair. It’s self-abandonment dressed up as self-protection. But we don't have to do that anymore. We don't need to meet our needs or manage and tolerate our feelings in ways that l...
You’ve already begun building a home inside of yourself; a place of safety, care, and truth. Now, we're going to learn how to take care of the part of you that protects that home: the inner teenager. Your inner teen is the gatekeeper for your inner child. It's the part that made an unconscious agreement to keep your inner child safe, who tried to protect you but had no idea what boundaries were. The inner teenager, like all teenagers, doesn’t want to be told what to do, they just want...
Every single one of us has a younger part inside that needed more than we got. Maybe you needed more softness, more understanding, more emotional attunement, more space to just be. When those needs weren't met, that little part of us didn't just disappear as we grew up. It remained inside of you, stunted and waiting. That little one is still waiting, not for a parent to come back or for the world to finally get it right, but for you, the conscious, grounded, compassionate adult versio...
Awareness is a powerful beginning. It's the light that lets us see our patterns clearly, sometimes for the first time. But healing doesn't stop there. Once we can see those patterns, we have an invitation to choose differently. In this episode, I’m speaking with someone who embodies the meaning of doing things differently. Sara Sparkles is a master Pilates trainer, tarot reader, and tarot coach who helps build strength, alignment, and confidence in people's bodies and lives. She’s kno...
If we're honest, most of us know what it feels like to do the same thing over and over again. To think the same thoughts, react in the same ways, bring the same type of people in our life, repeat the same cycles, and then wonder why nothing changes in our lives. We've spent the last several episodes going deep into why these cycles exist. But insight alone doesn't create transformation. Awareness without action becomes another story that we tell ourselves, another attempt at trying to...
The past few episodes, we’ve been looking back into the parts of you that were formed in response to your earliest experiences. We've met your inner child, your inner teenager, and your maladaptive adult. Each of those parts has shown you the feelings that live inside you, the actions you take to manage those feelings, and the patterns that have quietly been running the show. Now, it’s time to start shifting from looking back to looking forward. This episode, we’re taking everything y...
Identifying the patterns that no longer serve you and being able to manage and tolerate your feelings in ways that are less harmful to yourself and others is how we open the door to change. Not by forcing your feelings away, not by escaping them, but by learning how to manage and tolerate them with awareness, compassion, and integrity. This episode, instead of looking at each part individually, we're going to zoom out a little and talk about the patterns that run through your inner ch...
This week, we’re continuing our series on the parts of self and talking about a part that most of you probably are familiar with but have never necessarily named it: your maladaptive adult. Your maladaptive adult is the part of you that has logic. Your brain has developed and it can often see and even label the problem, but it doesn't have the resources or the coping skills of a healthy, conscious adult. Instead, it's still pulling from the child and the teenager's toolbox, and this c...
This is such a special episode for me because I’m joined by someone I not only deeply admire as an artist, but also as a human being. Josh Radnor is an actor, writer, director, musician, and husband whose healing journey has completely transformed the way he shows up in the world. Through our work together, Josh has shown me what it looks like to live with intention, to do the deep inner work, and to allow that healing to ripple outward into his art and relationships. In our conversat...
The last few episodes have been about your inner child. Now, we're moving into a different energy: your inner teenager. Your inner teen isn’t just a wounded part of you, they’re a protective part of you. They made an unconscious agreement with your inner child to make sure they never felt those painful feelings again. While your inner child may have hidden, cried, or tried to be extra good, your inner teenager picked up more powerful tools. Tools like independence, rebellion, performa...
Inner child work isn’t an ‘aha’ moment where you turn on a light switch and it's done; rather, it’s a relationship you build with yourself over time. There is no finish line, but those in the last stage of their healing have so much valuable wisdom and light to share with others just starting their own paths, which is exactly what my guest Michelle Peters is here to do. Michelle isn’t joining me as an expert or a coach, she's here as a human being with a powerful story, and I believe ...
Last episode kicked off the conversation around the protective patterns we developed in childhood to keep ourselves safe, and how maladaptive they can become in adulthood. These are the patterns that can block us from healthy relationships, aligned decisions, and grounded self-worth. Now, we’re diving deeper into identifying these patterns, not to shame them, but to create more agency and choice. I’m giving you a simple worksheet to help you begin to recognize where these patterns and...
Every one of us carries patterns into adulthood that we developed as children to keep ourselves safe. What began as survival strategies become maladaptive patterns once we reach adulthood and no longer need them, but until we become conscious of these patterns we’ll continue to repeat them. Today is the start of a new series on parts of self work and this first episode is all about the patterns that take over in moments when we struggle to hold boundaries. We’re exploring the main par...
Self-worth isn’t something we earn, it’s something we uncover when we stop abandoning ourselves. My guest this episode, Shilpa Shah, is an entrepreneur, a creative, a mother, and a living example of this mindset shift. Shilpa isn’t here as an expert or strategist, she’s here because she’s lived the work. She has done the brave and deeply human process of reclaiming her self-worth and stepping into her voice through boundary work. This episode, Shilpa and I discuss the specific challen...
When you’re beginning this work, it’s hard to know what’s waiting for you on the other side. My wonderful guest this episode, Katie Parisi, has climbed the mountains of emotional healing herself and can now provide a vantage point to others who are unsure about taking that first step. Katie is a breathwork and energy healing practitioner who specializes in nervous system regulation, emotional release, and trauma-informed healing. During our conversation, we delve into the transformati...