What do you do when something important is broken—but the people behind it are doing their best?

In this episode, Jen is preparing to talk to a reporter about a youth program she deeply supports—and is deeply frustrated with. She wants change. She wants honesty. But she doesn’t want to shame or vilify the people running the program.

Together, we explore how to speak truth to systemic breakdowns with clarity, compassion, and courage. You’ll hear us move through raw anger, heartfelt grief, and into honest, values-aligned language that invites collaboration instead of defensiveness.

If you’ve ever tried to advocate for change without becoming the villain—or longed to tell the truth without betraying your heart—this conversation is for you.

In this episode:

•How to speak publicly about system failures without turning people into enemies

•The vital role of anger, grief, and heartbreak in values-based leadership

•How to stay self-connected when preparing to give hard feedback

•Scripts and language tools for telling the truth with dignity

•The emotional intelligence needed to shift from blame to collaboration

•How to transform outrage into a relational invitation for change

•What to do when both sides of the conflict are hurting and hopeful

If you're looking for a high caliber small group where you can deepen your practice and really live into the principles of compassion, non-violence and relational presence, apply for The Mentorship Circle, which will begin November 2nd. It will be three hours every month of advanced teaching, deep discussion, and practical integration. Learn more here.

For ongoing practice and deeper learning, join my monthly membership program. You will find a safe space for live discussions and a supportive community of like-minded, open-hearted humans.

Stay updated on new episodes and resources by subscribing wherever you listen to podcasts or visiting yvetteerasmus.com.

Here are more ways to connect with me:

• Become a member of my online learning community
• Join our calls live
• Set up a private session
• Follow me on TikTok @dr.yvetteerasmus

What does it actually look like to live in peace without bypassing truth, collapsing boundaries, or avoiding complexity?

In this episode, I share six powerful principles for peaceful living, not as moral prescriptions, but as relational practices rooted in the universal human needs that live inside all of us. You’ll learn how to stay grounded in love and discernment, how to co-create mutual thriving, and how to repair ruptures with clarity and care.

This conversation weaves together personal, relational, and systemic insight, offering a wise, trauma-informed, and deeply humane guide to living peace in everyday moments.

In this episode, we’ll explore:

•How to respect sovereignty without detaching

•Why control is not compassion

•When and how to speak truth with care

•What justice looks like in mutual, needs-based relationships

•How to repair without rushing

•Why paradox is the hallmark of relational maturity

If you're looking for a high caliber small group where you can deepen your practice and really live into the principles of compassion, non-violence and relational presence, apply for The Mentorship Circle, which will begin November 2nd. It will be three hours every month of advanced teaching, deep discussion, and practical integration. Learn more here.

For ongoing practice and deeper learning, join my monthly membership program. You will find a safe space for live discussions and a supportive community of like-minded, open-hearted humans.

Stay updated on new episodes and resources by subscribing wherever you listen to podcasts or visiting yvetteerasmus.com.

Here are more ways to connect with me:

• Become a member of my online learning community
• Join our calls live
• Set up a private session
• Follow me on TikTok @dr.yvetteerasmus

Why do some people leave you feeling small, confused, or ashamed, even though they smile, laugh, and seem perfectly nice?

In this powerful coaching conversation, Jaya explores what happens when charm and condescension hide behind friendly facades. Together, we name the impact of what I call narcissistic fallout: the lingering disorientation that surfaces when unresolved trauma meets relational manipulation.

We explore:

•Why some conversations feel like being hypnotized

•The nervous system effects of subtle emotional control

•How to spot power moves disguised as “concern”

•What to say (and how to exit) when someone laughs at your pain

•The inner work of breaking free from spells of confusion and control

You’ll leave this episode with:

•Practical language to protect your power

•A somatic metaphor to stay grounded (the oak tree)

•A gentle reminder that your grief holds your clarity

This is an episode for anyone reclaiming their voice after emotional gaslighting or enmeshment, and learning to walk away from people who don’t feel safe in their nervous system.

 SHOW NOTES

•[03:10] How past trauma shows up in confusing conversations

•[07:20] What is “narcissistic fallout” and how does it hijack your power?

•[10:15] Why charming people can leave you feeling ashamed

•[14:30] Practical phrases to interrupt manipulation mid-conversation

•[20:50] “The porcupine and the ring” — a metaphor for protecting yourself

•[22:00] The Jungle Book python & the hypnotic quality of old patterns

•[26:40] What to do when you keep trying to be liked by people who harm you

•[32:10] How to support your inner teenager during relational triggers

•[37:00] Somatic tools for staying rooted in your power

•[39:00] Sample exit scripts you can use to protect your nervous system

Resources & Links:

•Join the Truth Over Comfort live workshop on August 14th (6–8pm CST): Register here.

•Free Communication Starter Kit

•Learn more about the Conversations from the Heart Membership Program

Loved this episode?

•Subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

•Share it with a friend who’s navigating confusing relational dynamics

•Sign up for my weekly newslette

If you're looking for a high caliber small group where you can deepen your practice and really live into the principles of compassion, non-violence and relational presence, apply for The Mentorship Circle, which will begin November 2nd. It will be three hours every month of advanced teaching, deep discussion, and practical integration. Learn more here.

For ongoing practice and deeper learning, join my monthly membership program. You will find a safe space for live discussions and a supportive community of like-minded, open-hearted humans.

Stay updated on new episodes and resources by subscribing wherever you listen to podcasts or visiting yvetteerasmus.com.

Here are more ways to connect with me:

• Become a member of my online learning community
• Join our calls live
• Set up a private session
• Follow me on TikTok @dr.yvetteerasmus

In this episode, I coach a listener named Julia who feels dismissed after bringing up a difficult experience in therapy. Her therapist tried to normalize it by offering logic instead of empathy and now Julia’s wondering how to bring it up without creating conflict or being misunderstood again.

Together, we explore:

•How to ask for more empathy in therapy (without blaming or shaming)

•What it means when a therapist skips emotional attunement

•A gentle script you can use when therapy feels misaligned

•What to do if your therapist can’t or won’t meet you where you are

If you’ve ever walked away from therapy feeling more alone than connected, this episode offers tools, language, and hope.

Stay till the end for a practical how-to guide on navigating these tough moments. Because asking for what you need in therapy is often the most healing work you’ll ever do.

In this episode:

• [02:00] How do I tell my therapist she didn’t really hear me?
• [04:00] The difference between empathy and normalization
• [07:00] When therapists fix too fast, and why it hurts
• [09:00] A script to name misattunement without escalation
• [12:00] How the therapy relationship becomes the real work
• [14:00] Post-session how-to guide: 6 steps to naming what’s not working in 

If you're looking for a high caliber small group where you can deepen your practice and really live into the principles of compassion, non-violence and relational presence, apply for The Mentorship Circle, which will begin November 2nd. It will be three hours every month of advanced teaching, deep discussion, and practical integration. Learn more here.

For ongoing practice and deeper learning, join my monthly membership program. You will find a safe space for live discussions and a supportive community of like-minded, open-hearted humans.

Stay updated on new episodes and resources by subscribing wherever you listen to podcasts or visiting yvetteerasmus.com.

Here are more ways to connect with me:

• Become a member of my online learning community
• Join our calls live
• Set up a private session
• Follow me on TikTok @dr.yvetteerasmus

What do you do when someone you care about paints you as the villain?

Maybe you spoke your truth, and they called it manipulation.

Maybe you set a boundary, and they called it narcissism.

Maybe you asked for something you needed, and they said you lied.

In this raw, real, and emotionally honest episode, Yvette walks two callers through the heartbreak and confusion that comes when our intentions are misunderstood and our character is questioned.

We talk about:

* How to respond with clarity and compassion when someone accuses you of lying or narcissism

* What an apology actually means, and how to offer one without self-erasing

* The difference between empathy and enabling (especially with adult children)

* Scripts for repair conversations when the other person won’t talk to you

* How to protect your nervous system while still keeping your heart open

If you’ve ever been stuck between wanting to make things right and needing to stay safe, this one’s for you.

Stay till the end for:

* A word-for-word apology template you can adapt to your own life

* How to spot the real need underneath an accusation

* Why the most generous thing you can do… might be walking away

Listen now and discover how to stay in your truth and your tenderness—even when someone else can’t see who you really are.

If you're looking for a high caliber small group where you can deepen your practice and really live into the principles of compassion, non-violence and relational presence, apply for The Mentorship Circle, which will begin November 2nd. It will be three hours every month of advanced teaching, deep discussion, and practical integration. Learn more here.

For ongoing practice and deeper learning, join my monthly membership program. You will find a safe space for live discussions and a supportive community of like-minded, open-hearted humans.

Stay updated on new episodes and resources by subscribing wherever you listen to podcasts or visiting yvetteerasmus.com.

Here are more ways to connect with me:

• Become a member of my online learning community
• Join our calls live
• Set up a private session
• Follow me on TikTok @dr.yvetteerasmus

What if joy isn’t the absence of discomfort, but something we can feel even in the thick of it?

In this episode of Conversations from the Heart, I speak with three brave callers, each grappling with the tension between what they feel and how they long to show up. From emotional resentment in a professional friendship, to the struggle to be kind and also firm, to standing up to power without collapsing in fear, these conversations are raw, real, and deeply human.

We explore how to:

•Navigate mixed feelings without needing to clean them up or figure them out.

•Stay connected to yourself in moments of not-knowing.

•Reclaim your voice without abandoning your values.

•Recognize when you’re operating from self-trust and when you’re just coping.

•Use healthy anger to build connection rather than break it down.

Whether you’re floundering in a relationship, feeling dismissed in a conversation, or being shamed for speaking truth to power … this episode invites you back to yourself.

Spoiler: It’s possible to feel at peace even in the middle of the mess. Not by fixing it, but by being in honest relationship with it.

If you're looking for a high caliber small group where you can deepen your practice and really live into the principles of compassion, non-violence and relational presence, apply for The Mentorship Circle, which will begin November 2nd. It will be three hours every month of advanced teaching, deep discussion, and practical integration. Learn more here.

For ongoing practice and deeper learning, join my monthly membership program. You will find a safe space for live discussions and a supportive community of like-minded, open-hearted humans.

Stay updated on new episodes and resources by subscribing wherever you listen to podcasts or visiting yvetteerasmus.com.

Here are more ways to connect with me:

• Become a member of my online learning community
• Join our calls live
• Set up a private session
• Follow me on TikTok @dr.yvetteerasmus

In this episode, we listen as Nate opens with a deeply human inquiry:

What can I do to feel more regulated, more considerate, and less internally violent while driving?

What unfolds is a rich exploration of road rage, internalized judgment, overstimulation, and the longing for care in a world that often feels aggressively indifferent. The conversation weaves together Nonviolent Communication, inner child work, trauma-informed insight, and the power of spiritual reframing.

Takeaways:

• Driving can surface deep, unconscious wounds about safety, visibility, and being cared for.
• There’s a difference between coping with a dysregulating world and designing a life that actually supports you.
• The wish to be “unaffected” is often a defensive maneuver to avoid overwhelm or pain,but true regulation requires learning how to metabolize life, not numb to it.
• “Right and wrong” can become tyrannical ideas when inherited from domination systems. Replacing them with “what meets needs” offers deeper integrity.
• Empathy begins by reclaiming your relationship with your own interior world.
• Everything (yes, even rush hour) can become a spiritual dojo.

If you're looking for a high caliber small group where you can deepen your practice and really live into the principles of compassion, non-violence and relational presence, apply for The Mentorship Circle, which will begin November 2nd. It will be three hours every month of advanced teaching, deep discussion, and practical integration. Learn more here.

For ongoing practice and deeper learning, join my monthly membership program. You will find a safe space for live discussions and a supportive community of like-minded, open-hearted humans.

Stay updated on new episodes and resources by subscribing wherever you listen to podcasts or visiting yvetteerasmus.com.

Here are more ways to connect with me:

• Become a member of my online learning community
• Join our calls live
• Set up a private session
• Follow me on TikTok @dr.yvetteerasmus

What happens when your inner life feels like a committee meeting: chaotic, conflicting, and deeply personal?

In this episode, we hold space for four courageous voices navigating the messy middle between self-betrayal and self-expression. From the tension between ambition and peace, to the heartbreak of being shut down in community, to living with a judgmental roommate, to confronting a long-lost friend after betrayal: each conversation reveals something essential about the daily work of becoming more whole.

We explore what it really takes to come home to yourself, especially when the world around you (and even inside you) feels noisy, critical, or confusing.

You’ll hear about:

•Naming and listening to the competing parts within you

•Self-regulation as a sacred practice

•How to stop outsourcing your worth to other people’s reactions

•What to say (and not say) when you’re ready to revisit old wounds

•And why you don’t have to “fix” anything before you can reclaim your voice

Whether you’re grappling with doubt, disconnection, or the longing to be seen as you truly are—this episode is a gentle invitation to let your real self rise.

If you're looking for a high caliber small group where you can deepen your practice and really live into the principles of compassion, non-violence and relational presence, apply for The Mentorship Circle, which will begin November 2nd. It will be three hours every month of advanced teaching, deep discussion, and practical integration. Learn more here.

For ongoing practice and deeper learning, join my monthly membership program. You will find a safe space for live discussions and a supportive community of like-minded, open-hearted humans.

Stay updated on new episodes and resources by subscribing wherever you listen to podcasts or visiting yvetteerasmus.com.

Here are more ways to connect with me:

• Become a member of my online learning community
• Join our calls live
• Set up a private session
• Follow me on TikTok @dr.yvetteerasmus

Ever feel like your regret is selfish? Or worry that setting a boundary will ruin the friendship? 

In this episode, you’ll hear from Judy who wants to write a condolence letter, but struggles when her grief spirals into self-blame.  Then we turn to Georgia, who just can’t take one more last-minute cancellation from a friend, but also doesn’t want to lose her friendship over it. 

If you’ve ever wrestled with guilt, struggled to speak up in friendships, or wondered how to stay openhearted while honoring your own needs—this episode is for you.

Inside this episode:

•The regret reframe that will change your life

•A word-for-word script for naming hurt without causing defensiveness

•Why your “too muchness” might be your tenderness trying to protect you

•How to stop over-functioning and start honoring your needs

•The unexpected role of nervous system regulation in friendship repair

And as a bonus, listen for a surprising metaphor involving cloudy days, sunburns, and how to stop trying to change people just so you can stay connected.

If you're looking for a high caliber small group where you can deepen your practice and really live into the principles of compassion, non-violence and relational presence, apply for The Mentorship Circle, which will begin November 2nd. It will be three hours every month of advanced teaching, deep discussion, and practical integration. Learn more here.

For ongoing practice and deeper learning, join my monthly membership program. You will find a safe space for live discussions and a supportive community of like-minded, open-hearted humans.

Stay updated on new episodes and resources by subscribing wherever you listen to podcasts or visiting yvetteerasmus.com.

Here are more ways to connect with me:

• Become a member of my online learning community
• Join our calls live
• Set up a private session
• Follow me on TikTok @dr.yvetteerasmus

What if the reason your relationships feel hard isn’t because there’s something wrong with you, but rather because you’re waking up and getting more conscious?  

In this tender, truth-filled episode, we meet Carol and Paulina, two women navigating the messy terrain of rebuilding self-trust after giving too much of themselves away in past relationships.

Carol is considering reconnecting with a longtime friend who’s consistently prioritized his comfort over their mutual care. She wants reciprocity but keeps accommodating the status quo, hoping it’ll inspire change. Together, we explore the hidden cost of chronic self-abandonment and what it takes to risk doing things differently.

Paulina, meanwhile, is mourning the loss of a toxic relationship that activated every part of her attachment system. She feels flat, emotionally shut down, and unsure if she can ever love again. Her current relationship is kind, stable… and unfamiliar. We unpack the difference between trauma chemistry and real connection, and how to trust love that doesn’t feel like chaos.

If you’ve ever confused anxiety for attraction, or found yourself resentfully staying in a dynamic that doesn’t meet your needs, this episode is for you.

You’ll learn:

• How to stop over-functioning in lopsided relationships
• The difference between behavior and intention, and which one to trust
• Why real love might feel boring at first (and why that’s a good thing)
• How to reclaim your yes and no without shame
• And how to grieve what never was without losing your capacity to love again

Listen in for practical tools, emotional wisdom, and the gentle nudge you may need to come back to yourself.

If you're looking for a high caliber small group where you can deepen your practice and really live into the principles of compassion, non-violence and relational presence, apply for The Mentorship Circle, which will begin November 2nd. It will be three hours every month of advanced teaching, deep discussion, and practical integration. Learn more here.

For ongoing practice and deeper learning, join my monthly membership program. You will find a safe space for live discussions and a supportive community of like-minded, open-hearted humans.

Stay updated on new episodes and resources by subscribing wherever you listen to podcasts or visiting yvetteerasmus.com.

Here are more ways to connect with me:

• Become a member of my online learning community
• Join our calls live
• Set up a private session
• Follow me on TikTok @dr.yvetteerasmus