Holding Space for Others Without Losing Yourself

Update: 2025-11-07

Description

In this deeply personal and professional episode, Amy Bradley Radford opens up about her most difficult season — walking through cancer diagnoses, loss, and caregiving across her family — and how those experiences reshaped her understanding of Neutral Space, compassion, and healing.

Amy shares how even healers reach a breaking point, what compassion fatigue really looks like for massage therapists, and how to return to center through grounding, allowing, and letting go. With honesty, humor, and heart, she offers a map for staying steady in the storm — whether that storm is at the massage table or in your own life.

You’ll learn:

What compassion fatigue looks and feels like for bodyworkers.

How Neutral Space protects your energy and your clients’ healing.

The seven elements of holding space without over-giving.

Why allowing, not forcing, creates deeper healing outcomes.

Amy’s real-life journey through loss, burnout, and rediscovering balance.

(Approx. 48 min episode — reflective, heartfelt, and restorative)

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction and Welcome Back
03:20 The Hardest Season: My Family’s Journey Through Cancer and Caregiving
10:00 Finding Calm in the Chaos — Living in the Eye of the Hurricane
14:45 Understanding Compassion Fatigue in Massage Therapy
20:10 The Power of Neutral Space — Caring Without Carrying
25:30 When Giving Becomes Too Much: The Balance Between Help and Healing
31:00 Allowing vs. Forcing Outcomes: Trusting the Process
36:15 The Seven Elements of Holding Space
42:00 Burnout vs. Compassion Fatigue — What’s the Difference?
46:10 When the Healer Finally Stops: Rest, Reset, and Recovery
49:00 Returning to Center and Final Reflections