Continuing with part two of How to Repair after a fight, we discover that apologies are actually the easy part - the true work lies in learning co-regulation and validation without falling into shame or defensive patterns. Mental health work means accepting that sometimes repair happens on different timelines, and that's okay. I'm walking through the exact steps for offering connection after conflict, including why "right fighting" kills intimacy and how to create repair jars for when your brain goes into survival mode. For HSPs and anyone doing trauma recovery, these boundary-setting and validation skills are non-negotiable for healthy relationships.

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Fights happen. But for HSPs and survivors of dysfunctional families, repairing after conflict can feel terrifying. In this episode, I teach what I wish someone had taught me decades ago—how to repair conflict with emotional strength, regulate your nervous system, and stop shame from taking over. Mental health isn’t about being perfect. It’s about learning the skills we were never taught. I’ll help you understand the difference between guilt and shame, and how to reconnect with your inner child and loved ones after rupture. This is real mental health work—practical, empowering, and full of heart.

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Going no contact with family isn’t a straight line—and sometimes it shows up in your dreams. We talk about the complex grief of family estrangement, the truth about recurring dreams, and what your subconscious might be trying to process. Reframing our nightmares can help you build trust with your inner child. We’ll explore the deeper meaning of these dreams, the struggle of detaching, and how to bring your power back—even in your subconscious. If you’ve ever woken up haunted by your past, this is your sign that healing is happening

⁠⁠⁠https://EmotionalBadass.com/boundaries⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Relationships and family dysfunction are two complex yet vital pieces of the mental health puzzle that come together when my husband Chris joins me on the mic today, sharing our perspectives as an Italian Yankee married to a Southern belle. We unpack the realities of dating as Highly Sensitive People (HSPs), share our personal online dating journeys—complete with quirky stories—and highlight how cultural differences shape our subconscious relationship dynamics. If you've ever felt overwhelmed by dating apps, family dysfunction, or subtle misunderstandings, you'll find relatable insights and practical solutions here to boost your emotional resilience and personal growth.

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If you’ve ever felt behind in life or overwhelmed by pressure to be further along, I hope this episode gives you space to pause and really honor how far you’ve come. I reflect on the unexpected gift of this podcast becoming a record of my own growth and share a deeply personal story about my grandfather’s survival during WWII. His decision to float alone in shark-infested waters, instead of clinging to others in panic, taught me everything about self-preservation. For us HSPs, especially those working through codependency and boundaries, that lesson runs deep. Sometimes the bravest thing we can do is let go—of people, habits, or expectations—and choose ourselves, even when it hurts. This is a reminder to stop, breathe, and give yourself credit for the emotional strength it’s taken just to be here.

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Many people misunderstand their attachment style, overidentify with labels, or confuse trauma responses with personality traits. Today we break down secure and insecure attachment, discuss how anxious and avoidant dynamics form, and look at how emotional abuse and trauma erode self-trust. Many highly sensitive people (HSPs) often internalize critical voices and lose their sense of emotional safety. With radical honesty, self-awareness, boundaries, and emotional maturity, we can rebuild secure attachment—starting with our relationship to ourselves.

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Are you seeing yourself or someone you know in the Sean Combs AKA Diddy trial footage and wondering if you're in a similar toxic dynamic? In this raw episode, we look at the abuse Cassie allegedly endured as a lens to examine coercion, emotional abuse, and how power gets weaponized. Recovery from manipulative abuse often starts when high-profile cases like this one help us recognize the patterns in our own relationships. Abuse survivors know that feeling of being forced to play games without knowing the rules, watching abusers surround themselves with enablers who minimize the red flags. Self reliance and boundaries work become essential when you realize that what you thought was love was actually systematic control designed to keep you questioning your own reality and meant to trap you in relationships where respect and safety aren't negotiable.

BOUNDARIES INTENSIVE WITH NIKKI:⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://EmotionalBadass.com/boundaries⁠⁠⁠⁠

30 DAYS TO PEACE:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠https://EmotionalBadass.com/peace⁠⁠⁠⁠

NARCISSIST ABUSE RECOVERY WORKSHOP:⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.EmotionalBadass.com/workshops⁠⁠⁠⁠

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What if the alleged stories coming out of the Diddy Sean Combs trial feel more familiar than shocking? What can the trial teach us about recognizing psychological abuse in our own relationships? When domination hides behind fame and money, abuse can seem like something that only happens to the rich and powerful. But the truth is, coercion, manipulation, trauma, and control are far more common than we admit. In this episode, I speak from both lived experience and clinical work—on what it’s like to be with someone who slowly erodes your personhood, and how we must reclaim our sanity and power to break free.

BOUNDARIES INTENSIVE WITH NIKKI:⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://EmotionalBadass.com/boundaries⁠⁠⁠⁠

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⁠⁠https://EmotionalBadass.com/peace⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Why do HSPs feel like they're fighting an uphill battle in a world that's lost its conscientiousness? After working with HSPs for nearly two decades, I've learned we're the people who value conscientiousness in society - that's our gift, not a weakness. Through therapy and self-awareness, sensitivity transforms from burden into extraordinary beauty. The sunrise that makes you cry with joy, the stranger's child who warms your heart - these experiences are available to every HSP who learns effective coping strategies.

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⁠https://EmotionalBadass.com/peace⁠⁠⁠

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Feeling swallowed by grief’s endless waves? I unpack anticipatory loss, disenfranchised pain, and the ripple-effect grief few name, guiding highly sensitive people toward emotional boundaries, mental health balance, and steady peace. We explore why numbness can protect, how self-permission heals, and which daily practices anchor life when everything changes. Let every layer of loss be felt, honored, and released.

30 DAYS TO PEACE:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠https://EmotionalBadass.com/peace⁠⁠

BOUNDARIES INTENSIVE WITH NIKKI:⁠⁠⁠ https://EmotionalBadass.com/boundaries⁠⁠⁠⁠

NARCISSIST ABUSE RECOVERY WORKSHOP:⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.EmotionalBadass.com/workshops⁠⁠⁠

EMOTIONAL STRENGTH TRAINING:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.EmotionalBadass.com/strength⁠⁠⁠

THE MORNING ROUTINE :⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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