In this Ask Steph episode, I share my perspective on the phrase “if they wanted to, they would” — and why it’s sometimes helpful, but often oversimplified.

I talk about the difference between basic effort and genuine capacity, and why assuming someone’s behaviour always reflects a lack of care or love can miss what’s really going on. We explore how attachment patterns, protective strategies, and stress responses shape how people show up in relationships — often in ways that can’t be changed through willpower alone.

This episode is about shifting the focus from judging someone’s intentions to getting clear on your own boundaries, non-negotiables, and whether a relationship works for you as it is — or not.

Few decisions feel as emotionally loaded as deciding whether to keep trying in a relationship or to walk away. There is no universal right answer — and for many people, especially those with anxious attachment, this question can feel endlessly destabilising.

In this episode, I share 10 reflective questions designed to support clearer, more grounded decision-making. These questions aren’t a checklist or a formula to tell you what to do. They’re an invitation to slow down, step out of fear-based urgency, and reconnect with your own values, needs, and capacity.

If you’ve been stuck going back and forth, waiting for certainty, or hoping something will finally make the choice clear for you, this episode offers a compassionate framework to help you find your own way forward.

In this Ask Steph episode, I’m answering a listener question that many people can relate to: drunk texting an ex, waking up full of shame, and not knowing what to do next.

I talk about why this happens, especially in the aftermath of a breakup when loneliness, lowered inhibitions, and longing collide — and why beating yourself up afterwards only makes things worse.

I explore how to respond in a grounded way, including whether you need to follow up with your ex at all, how to keep it simple if you do, and why the real work isn’t undoing the message but making sure you don’t end up in the same position again.

This episode focuses on creating practical guardrails — around drinking, contact, and temptation — so you’re not relying on willpower alone when you’re in a tender place. I also talk about how learning from moments like this, rather than spiralling in shame, is a powerful way to rebuild self-trust, self-respect, and self-worth after a breakup.

If you’re feeling embarrassed or disappointed in yourself right now, you’re not alone — and you’re not beyond repair. I hope this episode helps you meet yourself with compassion while still supporting yourself to make better choices next time.

Anxious–avoidant relationships are often described as doomed — intense, painful, and inherently incompatible. While these dynamics can certainly be challenging, they’re not automatically destined to fail.

In this episode, I explore what it actually takes to make an anxious–avoidant relationship work — not through chemistry, hope, or sheer effort, but through three essential, non-negotiable ingredients.

I share why these dynamics can become either deeply healing or deeply reinforcing of old wounds, and how safety, responsibility, and discernment determine which way it goes.

In this episode, I cover:

• Why anxious–avoidant relationships can feel both magnetic and destabilising
• The difference between understanding attachment styles and doing the relational work
• Why commitment is essential — and how “one foot out the door” undermines safety
• The role of humility in breaking defensive patterns and power struggles
• Why self-awareness isn’t enough without nervous system and relational capacity
• How to discern whether a relationship can actually support mutual growth and security

This episode is not about forcing a relationship to work at all costs. It’s about honestly assessing whether the conditions required for safety, repair, and growth are present — and whether both partners have the willingness and capacity to do the work.

Explore my free resources here

In this Ask Steph episode, I’m answering a listener question about infidelity and whether a fearful-avoidant partner can genuinely change.

Rather than asking whether change is possible in theory, this episode focuses on a more important question: how likely is real change, and what should you actually be paying attention to after betrayal?

In this episode, I explore:

• How someone takes responsibility for cheating, and whether their remorse goes beyond guilt or shame.
• Why understanding why the cheating happened matters more than promises alone.
• How fearful-avoidant patterns and unresolved shame can drive self-sabotage.
• What it takes to rebuild trust, including the capacity to stay present with your pain rather than rushing to move on.
• When repair after infidelity can lead to growth — and when the conditions for real repair may not be there.

If you’re navigating betrayal, I’m really sorry you’re going through that. I hope this episode helps you clarify what to look for and whether meaningful repair is possible.

Letting go of someone you love can feel like the hardest thing you’ll ever do — especially if you have anxious attachment patterns. When your nervous system equates connection with safety, walking away can feel more intolerable than staying in pain.

In this episode, I explore why letting go is so difficult, and what actually helps when love, attachment, and fear are all tangled together.

I talk about:

• Why anxious attachment makes holding on feel safer than letting go
• How we often confuse feelings with instructions for action
• Why waiting to “feel ready” or to stop loving someone keeps us stuck
• The crucial distinction between love and compatibility
• Why letting go isn’t a feeling — it’s a choice you make again and again
• How grief, discomfort, and longing are part of the process, not signs you’ve made a mistake

This episode is both a pep talk and a reality check — an invitation to trust yourself enough to choose what’s right for you, even when it hurts, and even when you still love them.

If you’re navigating a breakup or struggling to let go, be sure to check out my free breakup training: https://www.stephanierigg.com/break-up-webinar

As the year comes to a close, this episode offers a grounded reflection on what actually creates change — beyond resolutions or waiting to feel ready.

This is an invitation to reflect on agency, integrity, and the quiet choices that shape your life over time.

⁠⁠Register for the 28-Day Secure Self Challenge here

In this episode, we explore why rejection feels so big — not just in dating and relationships, but across friendships, family, work, and creative life. We look at the evolutionary and attachment roots of rejection sensitivity, and how it creates a confirmation bias that makes neutral situations feel personal.

I talk about how the fear of rejection leads us to shrink, stay silent, or hold back from opportunities, creating a self-fulfilling cycle of loneliness and limitation.

We also talk about what rejection resilience looks like in practice: separating facts from stories, reality-checking assumptions, taking small risks, and building an internal sense of worth that can withstand a “no.”

This is a gentle, grounded invitation to stop rejecting yourself first — and to live more fully, even when rejection is a possibility.

⁠Register for the 28-Day Secure Self Challenge here

Download the Anxious Attachment Pep Talks here

In this episode, we explore the deeper patterns that make emotionally unavailable partners feel so familiar — even when you want something different.

Rather than framing this as a personal flaw or something you’re “doing wrong,” this conversation explores the deeper emotional and relational patterns that make certain dynamics feel familiar, magnetic, or even safe on a nervous-system level.

I walk through five core reasons this dynamic tends to repeat:

1. Low self-worth: When love feels like something you need to earn, you may be drawn to people who require effort.
2. Inconsistent early relationships: If connection was unpredictable growing up, inconsistency can feel like “home.”
3. Hope, potential, and the saviour role: Why focusing on who someone could be keeps you invested long after the relationship stops feeling good.
4. Intermittent reinforcement: How sporadic affection creates an addictive cycle that’s hard to break.
5. Your own emotional unavailability: The surprising ways pursuing unavailable people can protect you from deeper vulnerability.

This episode offers a compassionate look at why these patterns form — and what it takes to move toward relationships that feel mutual, steady, and emotionally safe.

Register for the 28-Day Secure Self Challenge here

In this episode, we explore what it really takes to create meaningful change — especially in those seasons where everything feels hard, familiar patterns keep looping, and no amount of “trying” seems to make a difference.

We talk about the inner environment required for real change, and why self-compassion isn’t the opposite of accountability — it’s the foundation of it.

You’ll hear about:

• Why we default to shame when we feel stuck
• The myth that self-criticism leads to better behaviour
• How shame overwhelms an already stressed nervous system
• Why being on your own team is essential for honest self-reflection

👉🏼 Join the January round of my 28-Day Secure Self Challenge here

00:00 Introduction 04:13 Why Self-Judgment is So Common06:32 Understanding and Validating Anxiety08:49 The Role of Self-Compassion in Growth11:58 Isn't Self-Compassion Self-Indulgent?