Conversations from the Heart

Listen as I sit down with Michaela and Carol for a spacious, grounded conversation about what matters most when certainty falls away.

Rather than rushing toward answers, our dialogue unfolds slowly.  You’ll hear me modeling deep listening, encouraging more relational maturity, and drawing on our courage to stay present with complexity. Together, we explore how our values are often clarified not through rules or scripts, but instead through our attention, integrity, and lived experience.

This episode isn’t about fixing anything. It’s about listening for what matters, for what wants to emerge, and for what becomes possible when we stay human together.

Read more on the blog.

Want more direct access to me? I warmly invite you to become a member of The School of Human Connection. 

Join regular live calls where students in the school bring real relationship dilemmas. We slow things down and I'll help you see what's actually happening and how to respond with more integrity, strength and care.

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:

• Join the School of Human Connection
• Hop on my free Wednesday live call
• Follow me on YouTube

This week's episode is a conversation about grief as an ongoing, relational experience rather than something to “get over.” In this episode, we explore ambiguous loss, nervous system capacity, and what actually helps when grief doesn’t resolve neatly.

Together, we reflect on:

•Why some forms of grief don’t have clear endings—and why that’s not a failure

•How grief lives in the nervous system and shapes our capacity for connection

•The difference between presence and fixing when someone is grieving

•What it means to stay human, relational, and honest in the presence of loss

This episode invites a slower, more compassionate way of being with grief, one that honors presence over solutions, and meaning over closure.

Read more about grief and ambiguous loss:  Grief That Doesn't Resolve

Want more direct access to me? I warmly invite you to become a member of The School of Human Connection. 

Join regular live calls where students in the school bring real relationship dilemmas. We slow things down and I'll help you see what's actually happening and how to respond with more integrity, strength and care.

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:

• Join the School of Human Connection
• Hop on my free Wednesday live call
• Follow me on YouTube

Relational leadership isn’t people-pleasing and it isn’t weakness.

In this episode, we explore how to lead with empathy and clarity in high-stakes professional settings. Through two real leadership scenarios involving negotiation and supervision, we unpack how to stay relational without over-giving, avoid power struggles, and focus conversations on impact, responsibility, and shared outcomes.

This is a grounded, practical look at empathy as a leadership skill, not a personality trait.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why empathic leadership is not codependence, people-pleasing, or self-betrayal
• How to negotiate boundaries, fees, and expectations without defensiveness or guilt
• What to do when a supervisory relationship is strained and performance still matters
• How shifting from personality to observable behaviors restores authority and reduces conflict

Want more direct access to me? I warmly invite you to become a member of The School of Human Connection. 

Join regular live calls where students in the school bring real relationship dilemmas. We slow things down and I'll help you see what's actually happening and how to respond with more integrity, strength and care.

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:

• Join the School of Human Connection
• Hop on my free Wednesday live call
• Follow me on YouTube

What do you do when caring for someone in crisis starts to cost you your health, your sleep, and your sense of self?

Today we explore one of the most painful and complex relational dilemmas: how to stay loving and connected with a family member who is suffering, without becoming the container for their pain or sacrificing our own wellbeing.

A listener brings a raw and deeply human question about boundaries with a grieving, traumatized family member who refuses professional help. Together, we unpack the difference between compassion and enabling, support and self-erasure, love and responsibility.

This conversation offers permission where many of us feel trapped by guilt, and clarity where fear and helplessness blur our choices.

You’ll hear how boundaries can be an act of care, how stepping back can be an invitation rather than an abandonment, and why holding someone’s potential may sometimes be more loving than holding their pain.

Key Topics We Explore:

•When emotional support turns into burnout

•Why you can’t heal someone who won’t co-create their healing

•How to step back without walking away

•Boundaries as an act of care, not rejection

•Releasing responsibility while staying connected

Interested in reading more?  Find a Companion Guide on the blog.

Want more direct access to me? I warmly invite you to become a member of The School of Human Connection. 

Join regular live calls where students in the school bring real relationship dilemmas. We slow things down and I'll help you see what's actually happening and how to respond with more integrity, strength and care.

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:

• Join the School of Human Connection
• Hop on my free Wednesday live call
• Follow me on YouTube

Does your body tighter when someone criticizes you? Do you start apologizing or over-explaining before you’ve even thought it through?

In this insightful episode, Jaya brings two powerful stories that reveal how early experiences of contempt and correction still live in her nervous system today. 

Together, we unpack what happens inside when criticism feels dangerous, and how to work with the shame, fear, and self-blame that so often follow.

We explore the difference between criticism and contempt, how to separate observation from interpretation, and how to develop “pushback energy” instead of collapsing into appeasement.

If you’ve ever left a conversation replaying every word, wondering what you did wrong, this one will bring a breath of compassion and clarity.

Read more on the blog.

Want more direct access to me? I warmly invite you to become a member of The School of Human Connection. 

Join regular live calls where students in the school bring real relationship dilemmas. We slow things down and I'll help you see what's actually happening and how to respond with more integrity, strength and care.

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:

• Join the School of Human Connection
• Hop on my free Wednesday live call
• Follow me on YouTube

What’s the line between loving someone and losing yourself in the process?

This week, we explore the subtle differences between caretaking and compassion.  

Khanyilanga wrestles with how to set loving boundaries with a friend struggling with addiction, while Kate faces the fear of hurting others when she speaks her truth. 

Together, their stories reveal how easily our empathy can become entanglement, and how to reclaim grounded compassion rooted in honesty, respect, and self-trust.

Listen to learn:

•How to set boundaries without guilt or blame

•Why empathy doesn’t mean self-abandonment

•How to stay calm when others take your limits personally

•How to rebuild safety in your nervous system after relational trauma

If you’ve ever wondered where kindness ends and enabling begins, this episode will bring you home to a more balanced, liberated love.

Read more on the blog.

Want more direct access to me? I warmly invite you to become a member of The School of Human Connection. 

Join regular live calls where students in the school bring real relationship dilemmas. We slow things down and I'll help you see what's actually happening and how to respond with more integrity, strength and care.

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:

• Join the School of Human Connection
• Hop on my free Wednesday live call
• Follow me on YouTube

In this episode of Conversations from the Heart, we explore one of the most bewildering dynamics in adult relationships: when we find ourselves deeply attached to someone who simply cannot meet us where we are. 

Even when our minds know the relationship isn’t mutual or nourishing, parts of us keep circling back: longing, hoping, checking the “well” for water that isn’t there.

Through a heartfelt exchange with Judith, we trace how these patterns often have their roots in early attachment wounds. We talk about how our younger parts, the child that still wants to be seen, the teenager who still hopes someone will change, can unconsciously run the show, even in our most adult moments. And we explore how to bring loving awareness to those inner parts, to let them grieve, and to gently reorient toward relationships that feel reciprocal, alive, and truly safe.

This conversation is for anyone who has ever felt confused about why letting go feels so hard, even when you “know better.” It’s about learning the difference between codependence and interdependence, between trying to fix others and truly caring for ourselves, and finding peace in the knowing that healing doesn’t mean we stop needing people; it means we learn how to choose the ones who can meet us there.

Read more on the blog.

Want more direct access to me? I warmly invite you to become a member of The School of Human Connection. 

Join regular live calls where students in the school bring real relationship dilemmas. We slow things down and I'll help you see what's actually happening and how to respond with more integrity, strength and care.

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:

• Join the School of Human Connection
• Hop on my free Wednesday live call
• Follow me on YouTube

This conversation invites us to explore one of the deepest lessons in emotional maturity: learning to be in relationship with our feelings without being ruled by them. 

Through a heartfelt dialogue about parenting, school anxiety, and our own patterns of overwhelm, we discover that the path to growing up isn’t about avoiding what’s hard, but about developing a loving and steady relationship with the “vehicle” we live in: our body, our emotions, and our lived experience.

We walk through the tender terrain of a parent’s grief and a child’s avoidance, uncovering how easily love can turn into enabling, and how empathy can lose its grounding without boundaries. 

Together, we explore what it means to help a child,  and ourselves, build strength from discomfort, rather than collapse in its presence. This episode is a compassionate reminder that our feelings are sacred messengers, but they are not the drivers. We are.

Listen to learn:

•How to find the line between empathy and enabling

•What the Zone of Proximal Development means for emotional growth

•How to stay attuned to your child’s unique pace and capacities

•Why discomfort,  not avoidance, is the soil for confidence

•How to model agency and resilience for your kids (and yourself)

Read more on the blog.

Want more direct access to me? I warmly invite you to become a member of The School of Human Connection. 

Join regular live calls where students in the school bring real relationship dilemmas. We slow things down and I'll help you see what's actually happening and how to respond with more integrity, strength and care.

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:

• Join the School of Human Connection
• Hop on my free Wednesday live call
• Follow me on YouTube

When life has hurt us enough times, our hearts learn to protect themselves.

We grow cautious. Controlled. We tell ourselves we’re being “realistic,” when really, we’re just afraid to be hurt again.

In this week’s episode, I talk with Cody, a woman learning how to reconnect with her husband after years of criticism, conflict, and silence. Together, we explore what it truly takes to soften the walls that once kept them each safe, but now keep love out.

Listen to learn: 

•How self-protection turns into emotional isolation

•What it means to shift from “negative peace” (avoiding conflict) to real peace (rooted in connection)

•Why awareness of tension is the first step to healing

•How to speak to your partner from vulnerability instead of defense

•Simple phrases that help reopen trust after years of guarding

If your heart has grown cautious, this conversation will remind you: softness isn’t weakness. It’s the quiet courage to love again.

Read more on the blog.

Want more direct access to me? I warmly invite you to become a member of The School of Human Connection. 

Join regular live calls where students in the school bring real relationship dilemmas. We slow things down and I'll help you see what's actually happening and how to respond with more integrity, strength and care.

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:

• Join the School of Human Connection
• Hop on my free Wednesday live call
• Follow me on YouTube

What if anger didn’t have to be a threat to love, and vulnerability didn’t mean weakness?

This week we begin with a moment many of us recognize: a flash of road rage, a surge of intensity, a body flooded with energy. Beneath moments like these, something deeper is often asking for care and understanding.

Colleen joins me to explore her concern for her husband, whose driving behavior has become frightening amid health stress and unspoken emotional strain. Together, we slow the moment down and look beneath the surface. We explore how many men are socialized to equate strength with control, leaving anger as the only emotion that feels permissible, while fear, grief, and vulnerability go underground.

Rather than treating anger as something to suppress or control, we reimagine it as a powerful messenger pointing toward values, care, and aliveness. This conversation offers a compassionate redefinition of strength: not as emotional armor, but as the inner resilience that allows us to stay connected in moments of intensity.

A thoughtful exploration of anger, vulnerability, and what it takes to build relationships that can hold the full spectrum of our emotional lives.

Want more direct access to me? I warmly invite you to become a member of The School of Human Connection. 

Join regular live calls where students in the school bring real relationship dilemmas. We slow things down and I'll help you see what's actually happening and how to respond with more integrity, strength and care.

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:

• Join the School of Human Connection
• Hop on my free Wednesday live call
• Follow me on YouTube