Claim OwnershipReal Talk with Lisa Sonni: Relationships Uncensored
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© 2025 Real Talk with Lisa Sonni: Relationships Uncensored
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This is the podcast your abuser doesn’t want you to hear.
Hosted by relationship coach and abuse recovery educator Lisa Sonni, Real Talk pulls back the curtain on toxic and abusive dynamics, romantic relationships, familial, and friendships. This is the raw truth no one else is saying out loud. No sugarcoating. No “just leave” advice.
Just real stories, real insight, and real talk—so you can finally feel seen, not silenced.
25 Episodes
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Therapists hear what people say in marriage. Divorce lawyers see what people do when it ends. And what they see tells the truth about power, control, and the quiet games that keep women stuck in “high-conflict” divorces. Lisa sits down with family lawyer and content creator Justin Lee to expose the patterns behind the myth that “women ruin men in divorce.” They unpack how abusers weaponize the court system — dragging out cases, withholding money, and using children as pawns — while clai...
“Abuse isn’t gendered.” That phrase gets thrown around every time women speak up. Yet, it’s not true and it’s not harmless. Lisa sits down with Rebecca Pacheco, Education and Development Manager at Embrave: Agency to End Violence, to break down why gender can’t be removed from the conversation on violence. Together they unpack the difference between domestic violence and gender-based violence, the patriarchal systems that sustain abuse, and how funding cuts and systemic neglect leave ...
If you’ve ever said yes to sex when every part of you wanted to say no, that’s not “being a good partner,” It’s coercion. Coercion is abuse. Lisa sits down with certified sex therapist and clinical sexologist Dr. Danielle Kramer to talk about sexual coercion, consent, and how entitlement destroys intimacy. They unpack the cultural conditioning that teaches men to pursue and women to comply — and how that conditioning turns connection into control. Dr. Kramer breaks down the differenc...
“If it was really abuse, you would’ve left.” That lie has silenced survivors for decades. The truth? Most women in abusive relationships don’t know it’s abuse, because abusers work hard to make sure they don’t. Lisa sits down with trauma therapist and “Love & Trust Therapist” Chelli Pumphrey to unpack the psychology behind not knowing. They dive into gaslighting, cognitive dissonance, and how abusers weaponize your empathy, optimism, and attachment against you. Chelli also shares her own ...
We keep telling men to “open up” and “be more emotional,” but that’s not the problem — and it’s definitely not the solution. Real strength isn’t found in suppressing feelings or turning men into girlfriends; it’s found in presence, purpose, and the courage to lead with heart and integrity. Lisa sits down with men’s coach Nick Matiash, founder of The Evolved Man, to dismantle outdated myths about masculinity, fatherhood, and emotional expression. Nick shares how breaking down on his kitc...
When a relationship feels like oxygen at first and a chokehold later, you’re not “being dramatic”—you’re being indoctrinated. Narcissistic abuse doesn’t look like a one-off bad boyfriend; it mirrors a cult: love-bombing as recruitment, rules that keep shifting, punishment for noncompliance, and a leader who claims to be the only source of truth and love. If you’ve ever wondered why smart, capable people stay, this is why. Lisa sits down with licensed therapist and author Vanessa M. Reiser, LC...
Staying up at night over your daughter’s safety is expected. Losing sleep over your son becoming the guy who drains a woman’s light? That’s the fear most moms whisper about. In a culture that platforms the manosphere and calls misogyny “self-improvement,” mothers are raising kids on two very different battlegrounds. Lisa sits down with creator and mom Grace Presley (the viral “mid-loser” post) to name what so many feel: girls are trained to shrink, accommodate, and survive while boys risk be...
Stalking isn’t love, and it's certainly not devotion. It’s control, entitlement, and fear dressed up as “concern.” Survivors know that sickening feeling of being watched, followed, or “checked on,” only to be told they’re imagining it. But as retired Detective Lieutenant Mark Wynn makes clear: stalking is real, it’s dangerous, and it’s often the red flag that precedes lethal violence. With over four decades in policing and global training, Mark exposes how law enforcement has historically fa...
Somewhere along the way, society convinced us that the battle lines in blended families are always drawn between “evil stepmom” and “bitter baby mama.” But what if the real chaos is coming from the man in the middle—or from a system that thrives on pitting women against each other? Survivors know that nothing fuels abuse and dysfunction like smoke and mirrors, and blended family dynamics are no exception. Lisa sits down with Naja Hall, host of I Know I’m Crazy and founder of VIP Stepmom, to ...
Dr. Nadine Macaluso, formerly Belfort is a British-born American psychotherapist, author, internet personality, and former model. She was the second wife of the stockbroker and financial criminal Jordan Belfort, to whom she was married from 1991 to 2005. She is a narcissistic abuse and trauma bond expert. Abuse doesn’t always look like shouting, bruises, or threats. Sometimes it looks like the love story everyone else envies—grand gestures, tenderness, and promises of forever. That’s what mak...
After abuse, so many of us wonder if love is even possible again. We tell ourselves we’re too broken, too much, or too “used up". I used to believe that too—until I met Jamie. Together we share what it’s really like to build a relationship after abuse—the fears, the triggers, and the moments that almost felt too good to be true. We talk about unlearning survival mode, discovering what reciprocity actually feels like, and why healing doesn’t have to be complete before love can begin. It’s no...
If you've ever been in a relationship with a man who tells you that God hates divorce or weaponizes religion of any kind against you, this episode is for you. And this episode is one that he will not want you to listen to. This week, I sit down with Holly Tidwell, a former pastor who spent 20 years in an abusive marriage while trying to be the perfect submissive Christian wife. Holly shares her powerful story of growing up in Pentecostal culture, attending Liberty University for biblical stud...
Cheating doesn't always happen in spite of how much it hurts you. Sometimes it happens because it hurts you - because that's the exact reason they want you to feel that pain, to feel less than. But the psychology behind serial cheating is more complex than we might think, and understanding it can help us make better decisions about our relationships and our own healing. This week, I sit down with Dr. Kate Balestrieri, a licensed psychologist and certified sex therapist, to explore the real mo...
The Five Love Languages seems like such a helpful relationship tool - until it's weaponized by an abusive partner. I brought this popular book into my own abusive relationship hoping it would help us communicate better, only to watch it become a tool for coercion and manipulation against me. This week, I sit down with sexual coercion expert Nat LaJune to unpack the deeply problematic nature of Gary Chapman's bestselling book. We explore how "physical touch" as a love language is almost always...
There's a kind of abuse happening in relationships that doesn't involve broken dishes or broken bones, but it's just as damaging. It's the slow destruction of your sense of self through weaponized incompetence, emotional labor dumping, and the constant message that you should just accept less because "that's how men are." This week, I sit down with Abby Eckel, online content creator known for challenging gender norms and traditional relationship stereotypes. They dive deep into how we're cond...
Somebody can look you dead in the eye, say everything that you've been dying to hear, and they can still be lying to you. The science behind deception in abusive relationships reveals how manipulators weaponize psychology to systematically break down their victims. This is the podcast they don’t want you listening to. This week, I'm joined by Dr. Abbie Maroño, a behavioral expert with a PhD in psychology who trains the Secret Service and FBI on deception, body language, and influence. W...
The hardest truth about parental accountability isn't admitting you were wrong- it's living with the consequences when your own children can't trust you enough to let you back in. This is the podcast your toxic Mom doesn't want you to listen to. This week, I sit down with Crystal Allon, a mother, content creator, and recovering alcoholic who is estranged from two of her adult children. Together, we explore what real accountability looks like when your kids go no contact, not the defensi...
Male fragility isn't weakness - it's emotional inflexibility that becomes a weapon to avoid accountability. When men explode over basic feedback, it's not about your tone or timing. This week, I'm joined by anti-misogyny educator Brent MacLerie to unpack why so many men interpret accountability as an attack. We dive into the "honesty trap" that keeps women walking on eggshells, explore how fragility becomes a control tactic, and discuss the historical roots of male entitlement in relationship...
This episode is going to hit different. I'm joined by therapist and domestic violence survivor Aishia Grevenberg to destroy the most dangerous myth keeping women trapped: that your love can heal an abusive man. What You'll Learn: • Why high-functioning, successful women become targets for abusive men • The childhood conditioning that teaches us to "perform" for love • How abusers weaponize therapy and self-improvement narratives to keep you hooked • Why individual therapy doesn't work for abu...
This episode is going to challenge everything you've been told about abusive men and why they do what they do. We're ditching the "he's just hurt" narrative and getting real about what's actually happening here. What You'll Learn: • Why therapy can't fix what isn't actually broken (spoiler: it's working exactly as designed) • The difference between trauma responses and entitlement • How seven systems work together to normalize abuse and make you question your reality • Why asking "why won't h...
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