Send Lisa a question for her to reply in a future episode!

You’re not “too sensitive.” You’re reacting to a system that teaches men entitlement and then calls women dramatic for pushing back. If accountability feels like a constant uphill battle in your relationships, there’s a reason.
In this conversation, Lisa sits down with Lex, a psychotherapist and male creator who’s willing to say the quiet part out loud. Together, they dismantle the myth that women “don’t take accountability” and name what’s actually happening underneath the defensiveness, blame-shifting, and emotional shutdown so many women are navigating. 

Lex shares how unpacking his own internalized misogyny changed the way he understands relationships, power, and responsibility,  and why men centering themselves in conversations about harm is part of the problem, not the solution. This conversation weaves together patriarchy, emotional suppression, entitlement, and why abuse thrives where accountability is avoided.
If you’ve ever been told you “provoked” mistreatment, carried the emotional labor for two people, or felt like your pain was dismissed as an attack, this conversation will help you see the truth clearly. 
Accountability isn’t cruelty. It’s the bare minimum.

Join Lisa Sonni & Dr. Peter Salerno in Boston, MA November 13-15, 2026 here: https://lisasonni.com/unbreakable-and-irreplaceable/

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This is the podcast they don't want you listening to.

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New episodes drop every Tuesday.

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From the outside, it looks like a happy marriage: smiling photos, family dinners, and church events. Inside the house, it is a completely different story.

Lisa is joined by survivor turned coach Sarah White for an honest conversation about the quiet, hidden abuse that lives behind the image of the “good relationship.” Together, they unpack why so many women stay silent, protect the man hurting them, and convince themselves that what is happening is not really abuse. Sarah shares how emotional abuse, sexual coercion, gaslighting, and chronic confusion slowly eroded her health, her self trust, and her sense of safety. They talk about the pressure to perform happiness, especially inside religious communities, and the fear of being judged for leaving a marriage that looks perfect from the outside.

This episode explores the toll emotional abuse takes on the body, why confusion is a warning sign, and how kindness and cruelty can exist in the same relationship. Lisa names the moment many survivors resist but eventually face: He knows he is hurting you, and waiting for him to understand only keeps you trapped.

If you have ever cried alone after family gatherings, questioned your reality, or wondered why your body feels constantly on edge, this conversation will help you see the truth without shame.

You are not betraying anyone by choosing yourself, you are finally telling the truth.

Reach Sarah White

Instagram: @echosofherbravery or @sarahjeanettteeeWeb: www.echosofherbravery.com

Email: [email protected]

Join Lisa Sonni & Dr. Peter Salerno in Boston, MA November 13-15, 2026 here: https://lisasonni.com/unbreakable-and-irreplaceable/

Support the show

This is the podcast they don't want you listening to.

👉 Find me at lisasonni.com 

Book A Session with Lisa

Join my online survivor community called She Rises Collective where we are breaking free, rebuilding and dismantling patriarchy. 

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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.

Send Lisa a question for her to reply in a future episode!

If you have ever thought, “I just need him to understand”, the truth is, he already does.

Lisa is joined by therapist and survivor Aishia Grevenberg for a raw, no-nonsense conversation about why abusive men do not change through communication, therapy, or better explanations. Together, they dismantle the comforting myth that he is confused, emotionally unaware, or just needs you to say it differently.

They explore why abusive men communicate just fine at work, with friends, and in public, yet suddenly “don’t understand” when you express pain. Why couples therapy often makes things worse. Why explaining, proving, and defending yourself keeps you stuck. And why abuse is not a communication issue, but a power issue rooted in entitlement and control.

Aishia breaks down how men use emotional reactions as fuel, how calm becomes your exit instead of your weapon, and why waiting for an epiphany is not the same as change. Lisa weaves in lived experience, naming the moment many survivors finally see the truth. He heard you, he understood you, and he chose to keep hurting you.

Freedom begins when you stop explaining and start listening to what his behavior has been telling you all along.

Join Lisa Sonni & Dr. Peter Salerno in Boston, MA November 13-15, 2026 here: https://lisasonni.com/unbreakable-and-irreplaceable/

Support the show

This is the podcast they don't want you listening to.

👉 Find me at lisasonni.com 

Book A Session with Lisa

Join my online survivor community called She Rises Collective where we are breaking free, rebuilding and dismantling patriarchy. 

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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.

Send Lisa a question for her to reply in a future episode!

Abusers do not just lie. They build entire realities that feel safer than the truth. Realities where doubt keeps you tethered, confusion feels normal, and leaving feels unthinkable. If you have ever felt like you were trapped inside a story you could not escape, this conversation will land deep.

Lisa sits down with psychologist and author Dr. Alan Godwin to unpack how abusers construct false realities through isolation, narrative control, and emotional manipulation. Together, they explore how these story-based fortresses are built slowly, why they target our deepest need to belong, and how abnormal behavior becomes normalized over time. What begins as trust turns into attachment, and attachment becomes the very thing used against you.

Alan explains why intelligent, self-aware people are especially vulnerable. Not because they are naive, but because abusers exploit empathy, loyalty, and the human instinct to give the benefit of the doubt. Lisa weaves in lived experience, naming the moment when what is true gets replaced with what only sounds true, and why survivors often end up defending the lie that is hurting them.

This episode is about understanding how you became blind, and why that blindness was never a personal failure.

The truth cracks the fortress. And once you see it, you can begin finding your way back to yourself.

Join Lisa Sonni & Dr. Peter Salerno in Boston, MA November 13-15, 2026 here: https://lisasonni.com/unbreakable-and-irreplaceable/

Support the show

This is the podcast they don't want you listening to.

👉 Find me at lisasonni.com 

Book A Session with Lisa

Join my online survivor community called She Rises Collective where we are breaking free, rebuilding and dismantling patriarchy. 

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Get My Books Here

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.

Send Lisa a question for her to reply in a future episode!

You’re not crazy for thinking therapy would help. You were taught that relationships can be “fixed” if you just try harder, communicate better, or show more empathy. But when you sit beside someone who thrives on blame, chaos, and control, therapy doesn’t heal the relationship, it becomes another weapon used against you. 

Dr. Peter Salerno, psychotherapist and expert in personality pathology, joins Lisa to dismantle one of the most dangerous myths survivors are sold: that couples counseling can repair abusive dynamics. He breaks down why disordered partners don’t collaborate, why they show up as “model clients,” and how therapists who aren’t trained in pathology end up validating abuse, deepening your confusion, and escalating the danger. 

Together they expose how language from therapy (boundaries, respect, communication) gets twisted into ammunition, and why survivors often leave sessions questioning themselves instead of the abuse. 

This conversation is a lifeline if you’ve ever left therapy feeling smaller, more ashamed, or more bonded to someone who’s harming you. You’re not the problem, the dynamic is. Seeing the truth is the first step toward reclaiming your safety, clarity, and self.

Join Lisa Sonni & Dr. Peter Salerno in Boston, MA November 13-15, 2026 here: https://lisasonni.com/unbreakable-and-irreplaceable/

Support the show

This is the podcast they don't want you listening to.

👉 Find me at lisasonni.com 

Book A Session with Lisa

Join my online survivor community called She Rises Collective where we are breaking free, rebuilding and dismantling patriarchy. 

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Get My Books Here

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.

Send Lisa a question for her to reply in a future episode!

You didn’t “miss the signs.” Your brain protected you from them.

That’s not stupidity, it’s survival.

Dr. Jennifer Freyd, the researcher who coined the term DARVO and “betrayal blindness,” joins Lisa to unpack the psychology behind why survivors don’t see abuse while it’s happening. 

Together, they break down how the mind hides danger to preserve attachment, why love and dependence make leaving so hard, and how abusers exploit that instinct to keep you blind.

This episode isn’t about shame, it’s about biology. Your brain did exactly what it was built to do: protect you from losing the person you thought you needed. Seeing that truth is the beginning of your freedom.

Join Lisa Sonni & Dr. Peter Salerno in Boston, MA November 13-15, 2026 here: https://lisasonni.com/unbreakable-and-irreplaceable/

Support the show

This is the podcast they don't want you listening to.

👉 Find me at lisasonni.com 

Book A Session with Lisa

Join my online survivor community called She Rises Collective where we are breaking free, rebuilding and dismantling patriarchy. 

Follow on IG
Watch on YouTube

Get My Books Here

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.

Send Lisa a question for her to reply in a future episode!

You can’t love a narcissist hard enough to make them change.

And loyalty isn’t the cure — it’s the trap.
In this powerful conversation, Lisa sits down with psychologist and narcissism expert Dr. Elinor Greenberg to dismantle the fantasy that love or faith can “fix” someone who refuses to see themselves. Dr. Greenberg breaks down why narcissists don’t collaborate in therapy, how “reluctant obedience” can masquerade as progress, and why their apologies often serve performance, not repair. Together, they expose the illusion of change and the emotional cost of waiting for it.

Dr. Greenberg also introduces her concept of Narcissistic Judo — practical, reality-based strategies to help survivors protect their peace when they can’t yet leave. This episode is both validating and disarming, cutting through the noise with clarity and compassion: you didn’t fail to love them right. They failed to love you at all.

Join Lisa Sonni & Dr. Peter Salerno in Boston, MA November 13-15, 2026 here: https://lisasonni.com/unbreakable-and-irreplaceable/

Support the show

This is the podcast they don't want you listening to.

👉 Find me at lisasonni.com 

Book A Session with Lisa

Join my online survivor community called She Rises Collective where we are breaking free, rebuilding and dismantling patriarchy. 

Follow on IG
Watch on YouTube

Get My Books Here

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.

Send Lisa a question for her to reply in a future episode!

Control doesn’t always look like control. Sometimes it looks like care, protection, or “respect.” That’s what makes coercive control the most dangerous form of abuse because it hides in plain sight.

Dr. Christine Cocchiola, clinician, survivor, and one of the world’s leading experts on coercive control, joins Lisa to expose the playbook every abusive man uses. From “I just don’t like your friends” to “I’m only trying to protect you,” Christine breaks down how control starts as suggestion, grows through compliance, and ends in captivity. Together, they reveal why love was never the problem, the erosion of your liberty was.

This conversation shatters the myth that abuse only counts if it leaves a bruise. When he controls your choices, your time, your body, or your sense of self… that’s not love, that’s domination disguised as devotion.

Join Lisa Sonni & Dr. Peter Salerno in Boston, MA November 13-15, 2026 here: https://lisasonni.com/unbreakable-and-irreplaceable/

Support the show

This is the podcast they don't want you listening to.

👉 Find me at lisasonni.com 

Book A Session with Lisa

Join my online survivor community called She Rises Collective where we are breaking free, rebuilding and dismantling patriarchy. 

Follow on IG
Watch on YouTube

Get My Books Here

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.

Send Lisa a question for her to reply in a future episode!

Therapists hear what people say in marriage. Divorce lawyers see what people do when it ends. And what they see tells the truth about power, control, and the quiet games that keep women stuck in “high-conflict” divorces. 

Lisa sits down with family lawyer and content creator Justin Lee to expose the patterns behind the myth that “women ruin men in divorce.” They unpack how abusers weaponize the court system — dragging out cases, withholding money, and using children as pawns — while claiming victimhood online. 

Justin breaks down what really happens behind the scenes: why women file after years of trying, how financial control becomes legal abuse, and why the system isn’t rigged for women, but against fairness itself. This conversation is a masterclass in seeing through the “crazy ex-wife” narrative and a reminder that justice may take time, but your peace is worth fighting for.

Join Lisa Sonni & Dr. Peter Salerno in Boston, MA November 13-15, 2026 here: https://lisasonni.com/unbreakable-and-irreplaceable/

Support the show

This is the podcast they don't want you listening to.

👉 Find me at lisasonni.com 

Book A Session with Lisa

Join my online survivor community called She Rises Collective where we are breaking free, rebuilding and dismantling patriarchy. 

Follow on IG
Watch on YouTube

Get My Books Here

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.

Send Lisa a question for her to reply in a future episode!

“Abuse isn’t gendered.”

That phrase gets thrown around every time women speak up. Yet,  it’s not true and it’s not harmless.

Lisa sits down with Rebecca Pacheco, Education and Development Manager at Embrave: Agency to End Violence, to break down why gender can’t be removed from the conversation on violence. Together they unpack the difference between domestic violence and gender-based violence, the patriarchal systems that sustain abuse, and how funding cuts and systemic neglect leave survivors with nowhere to turn.

Rebecca shares what life looks like on the front lines — shelters filled beyond capacity, survivors turned away, and the impossible choices women face when “just leaving” isn’t an option. 

This isn’t about politics or blaming men; it’s about naming the truth. Abuse is rooted in inequality, entitlement, and the belief that power belongs to one gender. Naming that truth is how we change it.

Join Lisa Sonni & Dr. Peter Salerno in Boston, MA November 13-15, 2026 here: https://lisasonni.com/unbreakable-and-irreplaceable/

Support the show

This is the podcast they don't want you listening to.

👉 Find me at lisasonni.com 

Book A Session with Lisa

Join my online survivor community called She Rises Collective where we are breaking free, rebuilding and dismantling patriarchy. 

Follow on IG
Watch on YouTube

Get My Books Here

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.