We keep telling men to “open up” and “be more emotional,” but that’s not the problem — and it’s definitely not the solution. Real strength isn’t found in suppressing feelings or turning men into girlfriends; it’s found in presence, purpose, and the courage to lead with heart and integrity. 

Lisa sits down with men’s coach Nick Matiash, founder of The Evolved Man, to dismantle outdated myths about masculinity, fatherhood, and emotional expression. Nick shares how breaking down on his kitchen floor with a newborn at home became the turning point that reshaped his understanding of what real manhood looks like — not fragile, not performative, but grounded. 

This conversation cuts through culture-war noise and gets to the truth: men aren’t broken, but what they’ve been taught about being a man is. 

If you’ve ever felt unseen by the men in your life — or wondered why connection feels so hard to build — this one’s for you.

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When a relationship feels like oxygen at first and a chokehold later, you’re not “being dramatic”—you’re being indoctrinated. Narcissistic abuse doesn’t look like a one-off bad boyfriend; it mirrors a cult: love-bombing as recruitment, rules that keep shifting, punishment for noncompliance, and a leader who claims to be the only source of truth and love. If you’ve ever wondered why smart, capable people stay, this is why. Lisa sits down with licensed therapist and author Vanessa M. Reiser, LCSW, to map the cult mechanics of narcissistic relationships: idealize–devalue–discard, the Pavlovian reward/punishment loop that forges a trauma bond, and the “double bind” that ensures you’re wrong whether you comply or resist. They dismantle myths (“I’d never fall for that,” “you could have left anytime”) and name what’s really happening—coercive control that erodes free will, isolates you from your reality checks, and keeps you chasing crumbs after a manufactured high. Vanessa shares clear, clinician-backed ways to reclaim yourself: depersonalize the abuse (“it wasn’t about your worth”), rebuild nervous-system safety, and replace the fantasy with facts. 

You are not weak for being targeted; predators select, condition, and confuse. Clarity is the exit ramp. With language for what happened and community that reflects your reality back to you, you can break the bond and rebuild a self that’s yours again.  

Resources mentioned 

• Vanessa M. Reiser, LCSW — therapist & author 

• Dr. Ramani — educator on narcissistic abuse 

• Dr. Nadine Macaluso — clinician speaking on trauma bonds

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Staying up at night over your daughter’s safety is expected. Losing sleep over your son becoming the guy who drains a woman’s light? That’s the fear most moms whisper about. In a culture that platforms the manosphere and calls misogyny “self-improvement,” mothers are raising kids on two very different battlegrounds.

Lisa sits down with creator and mom Grace Presley (the viral “mid-loser” post) to name what so many feel: girls are trained to shrink, accommodate, and survive while boys risk being groomed online into entitlement and contempt. Together they unpack how “nice guy” rhetoric masks exploitation, why boys need modeling (not lectures), and how to teach mental load, empathy, and accountability at home before TikTok and podcasts do it for you. Grace shares the simple practices she uses with her 14-year-old son and the non-negotiables for calling out peers, unlearning enabling, and breaking generational patterns.

This isn’t man-hating, it’s future-making. If you’re parenting through the red-pill era, you’re not alone and you’re not powerless. Hold the line on empathy and standards, model what respect looks like, and refuse to raise a daughter who disappears or a son who takes.

Resources mentioned:
• Grace Presley — TikTok: @HeyGracePressly • Instagram: @GracePressly • Website: AstoriaWorthLoving.com
• Books: Atomic Habits — James Clear; Can’t Hurt Me — David Goggins
• Referenced manosphere examples: Andrew Tate; Fresh & Fit; Nick Fuentes (contextual discussion)

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New episodes drop every Tuesday.

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Stalking isn’t love, and it's certainly not devotion. It’s control, entitlement, and fear dressed up as “concern.” Survivors know that sickening feeling of being watched, followed, or “checked on,” only to be told they’re imagining it. But as retired Detective Lieutenant Mark Wynn makes clear: stalking is real, it’s dangerous, and it’s often the red flag that precedes lethal violence.

With over four decades in policing and global training, Mark exposes how law enforcement has historically failed survivors by treating stalking like an “incident” instead of a course of conduct—a pattern of coercion, intimidation, and surveillance meant to strip away liberty. He and Lisa pull back the curtain on how abusers minimize their behaviors (“I was just sitting in my car,” “I only put a tracker on her phone”), why victims delay reporting, and how trauma responses like denial and appeasement become survival strategies. Through raw stories, chilling stats, and lived experience, they underline what too many minimize: stalking is a pathway to homicide if unchecked.

The conversation is sobering but deeply empowering. With the right tools, training, and accountability, stalking can be predicted, prevented, and prosecuted.

You are not “crazy” for feeling unsafe. Your instincts are evidence, your safety matters, and there are resources designed to help you trust those instincts and take action.

Resources Mentioned
- One Love Foundation — healthy relationship education + risk assessment app
- Bright Sky app — safety and risk assessment tool
- Ontario Domestic Abuse Risk Assessment (ODARA) — police risk assessment model
- Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) — by Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell, Johns Hopkins
- SPARC: Stalking Prevention, Awareness, & Resource Center
- SHARP: Stalking and Harassment Assessment and Risk Profile (via SPARC)
- Coercive Control by Evan Stark
- Why Do They Kill? by David Adams
- The Stalking of Kristin by George Lardner Jr.
- Mental Healness (Lee Hammock) — self-aware narcissist creator who supports survivors

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Somewhere along the way, society convinced us that the battle lines in blended families are always drawn between “evil stepmom” and “bitter baby mama.” But what if the real chaos is coming from the man in the middle—or from a system that thrives on pitting women against each other? Survivors know that nothing fuels abuse and dysfunction like smoke and mirrors, and blended family dynamics are no exception.

Lisa sits down with Naja Hall, host of I Know I’m Crazy and founder of VIP Stepmom, to peel back the layers of high-conflict parenting after separation. From stepmoms stepping into landmines they didn’t plant, to biomoms fighting for stability while being mislabeled as “bitter,” Lisa and Naja call out the unspoken truths about how men’s avoidance and manipulation often set the stage for these wars. They trade raw stories and hard-won lessons—naming the difference between boundaries and control, exploring why “keeping it real” with kids can cross into emotional abuse, and spotlighting the cost of outsourcing fatherhood to stepmoms.

What emerges is not a call to pick sides, but an invitation to clarity: to name dysfunction for what it is, to refuse loyalty binds, and to remember that kids deserve love and stability over ego and power plays. Healing starts when we stop playing by the tropes and start telling the truth.

Resources mentioned
• VIP Stepmom — community platform by Naja Hall
• I Know I’m Crazy — podcast hosted by Naja Hall
• Girl Bye, She’s Not Going Anywhere, Neither Are You — journal by Naja Hall
• Stepmom Mastermind Intensive — monthly program led by Naja Hall
• Co-parenting apps: TalkingParents, OurFamilyWizard

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Dr. Nadine Macaluso, formerly Belfort is a British-born American psychotherapist, author, internet personality, and former model. She was the second wife of the stockbroker and financial criminal Jordan Belfort, to whom she was married from 1991 to 2005. She is a narcissistic abuse and trauma bond expert.

Abuse doesn’t always look like shouting, bruises, or threats. Sometimes it looks like the love story everyone else envies—grand gestures, tenderness, and promises of forever. That’s what makes trauma bonds so dangerous: the cycle of cruelty and kindness that keeps you hooked and questioning yourself. Dr. Nadine knows this cycle all too well. She fell hard for someone the world admired, only to discover she was trapped in an addictive pattern of control, fear, and confusion. Together we unpack why victims don’t “just leave,” how coercive control strips away free will, and why the moments that felt like love were part of the manipulation.

Resources mentioned: 

Run Like Hell by Dr. Nadine Macaluso (book)

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After abuse, so many of us wonder if love is even possible again. We tell ourselves we’re too broken, too much, or too “used up". I used to believe that too—until I met Jamie.

Together we share what it’s really like to build a relationship after abuse—the fears, the triggers, and the moments that almost felt too good to be true. We talk about unlearning survival mode, discovering what reciprocity actually feels like, and why healing doesn’t have to be complete before love can begin.

It’s not a fairytale and it’s not perfect. but it’s real. For anyone who feels like love isn’t possible after everything you’ve been through—I want you to know it is.

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If you've ever been in a relationship with a man who tells you that God hates divorce or weaponizes religion of any kind against you, this episode is for you. And this episode is one that he will not want you to listen to.

This week, I sit down with Holly Tidwell, a former pastor who spent 20 years in an abusive marriage while trying to be the perfect submissive Christian wife. Holly shares her powerful story of growing up in Pentecostal culture, attending Liberty University for biblical studies, and becoming a pastor - all while being conditioned to believe that her value was in her virginity and her role was to submit to male authority. After having four children in three years and experiencing the loss of her first daughter, Holly began questioning everything she'd been taught about God, women's roles, and what true love actually looks like. We explore how organized religion creates a breeding ground for abuse by conditioning women to be submissive, childlike, and financially dependent while teaching them that their reward for suffering will come in heaven. Holly explains how scripture gets weaponized - from "wives submit to your husbands" (while conveniently leaving out the part about mutual submission) to being told that women have a "biological duty" to fulfill their husband's sexual needs every 36 hours. We discuss the devastating impact of being taught not to trust your own thoughts and instincts, the financial and spiritual abuse that runs rampant in religious communities, and why domestic violence rates are equally high among Christians and non-Christians. 

Holly also shares what finally gave her the courage to leave, how she rebuilt her relationship with God outside of organized religion, and what she tells women who feel trapped between their faith and their safety.

Resources Mentioned:

Brené Brown's "The Gifts of Imperfection": https://a.co/d/f1tNvN0 

Connect with Hope With Holly:

TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube: @HopeWithHolly

Website: https://stan.store/HopeWithHolly 

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Cheating doesn't always happen in spite of how much it hurts you. Sometimes it happens because it hurts you - because that's the exact reason they want you to feel that pain, to feel less than. But the psychology behind serial cheating is more complex than we might think, and understanding it can help us make better decisions about our relationships and our own healing.

This week, I sit down with Dr. Kate Balestrieri, a licensed psychologist and certified sex therapist, to explore the real motivations behind serial cheating. We dive deep into the concept of "eroticized rage" and how cheaters use infidelity to restore power, seek revenge, transgress social norms, or possess what feels out of reach. Kate explains why the common narrative of "unmet sexual needs" is actually bullshit - men don't have a biological need for sex, and cheating is rarely about the betrayed partner at all. We discuss the difference between compulsive sexual behavior and coercive control, why some people weaponize the "sex addiction" label, and how patriarchal conditioning creates sexual entitlement in relationships. Kate also shares insights on why saying "just leave" isn't always realistic and how to assess whether a relationship involving infidelity is worth trying to repair. Throughout our conversation, we emphasize that no one is entitled to sex from another person, and that healing from betrayal requires individual work - not couples therapy.

Resources Mentioned:

Dr. Kate Balestrieri's book: "What Happened to My Sex Life? A Sex Therapist's Guide to Reclaiming Lost Desire, Connection and Pleasure": https://a.co/d/7Cj0iCb 

"Isn't Sex My Right?" webinar featuring Dr. Kate Balestrieri https://strongerthanbefore.podia.com/isn-t-sex-my-right-why-sexual-coercion-is-abuse-webinar-replay 

Connect with Dr. Kate Balestrieri:

Website: https://www.modernintimacy.com/

Social Media: @drkatebalestrieri

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The Five Love Languages seems like such a helpful relationship tool - until it's weaponized by an abusive partner. I brought this popular book into my own abusive relationship hoping it would help us communicate better, only to watch it become a tool for coercion and manipulation against me. This week, I sit down with sexual coercion expert Nat LaJune to unpack the deeply problematic nature of Gary Chapman's bestselling book. We explore how "physical touch" as a love language is almost always weaponized by abusive men, the patriarchal origins of the book itself, and why the entire framework can enable manipulation in relationships. Nat shares insights from her years of content creation on marital coercion, including the common tactics abusers use and why simply saying "just say no" isn't realistic for women in coercive relationships. We discuss the transactional nature that develops when love languages are weaponized, how any of the five categories can become coercive tools, and the importance of focusing on what you give rather than what you receive. Our conversation also touches on the psychology behind men who feel entitled to sex, the role Christianity plays in enabling sexual coercion, and signs that your relationship may involve coercion you haven't recognized yet.

Resources Mentioned:

"27 Love Languages" piece by Nat LaJune

Connect with Nat LaJune:

Find Nat on social media: @alwaysmending and @natlajune 

https://www.alwaysmending.com/ 

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👉 Find me at strongerthanbefore.ca

Book A Session with Lisa

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New episodes drop every Tuesday.

Subscribe, share it with someone who needs the truth — and remember:
You’re stronger than they ever wanted you to believe.