Healthy relationships depend on healthy communication—and that starts with radical ownership. In this episode, Stephanie Rivard shares six simple but powerful communication skills that can transform how you connect with others. From dropping absolutes and judgment to separating emotions from thoughts, Stephanie explains how small shifts in language and tone can lead to more clarity, authenticity, and connection.

If you’ve ever been told “you’re too sensitive,” wondered why your conversations go in circles, or caught yourself hiding requests behind sarcasm or jokes, this episode will give you the tools to break those patterns. These six skills aren’t about controlling others—they’re about taking responsibility for your part of the conversation so you can build healthier, more genuine relationships.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why “always” and “never” sabotage conversations

• How sarcasm and disguised requests erode trust

• The difference between thoughts and true emotions (and why it matters)

• How to replace “you/we/us” statements with clear “I” statements

• Why judgment creates defensiveness and what to do instead

• The hidden power of tone in every conversation

Healthy communication doesn’t happen by accident—it’s a skill you can practice. By owning your words, tone, and responses, you’ll create space for connection and growth in every relationship.

✨ For new listeners: Worthy of Work is the podcast where we unpack the relationship skills no one taught us. Subscribe to learn how to break unhealthy cycles and practice healthier ways of connecting.

Check out my website for more resources: www.TheClarityAdvantage.com

What does “marriage is hard—it takes work” really mean? In this heartfelt conversation, Stephanie welcomes her very first guest—her husband Roland—to unpack one of the most common (and misunderstood) relationship clichés. Both having experienced painful first marriages and divorce, they share how that phrase once kept them trapped in dysfunction, tolerating behaviors that were actually incompatible with a healthy relationship.

Together, they explore:

• The difference between toxic “hard” (gaslighting, constant conflict, abuse, emotional immaturity) vs. healthy hard (self-awareness, growth, and honest conversations).

• Why endurance is not the same as doing the right work, and how misplaced effort fuels dysfunction.

• What healthy work looks like: emotional regulation, empathy, validation, accountability, setting boundaries, and owning your part without trying to “fix” someone else.

• Examples from their own marriage of safe conflict, grace, and how they keep their relationship “clean” so there’s space for joy, playfulness, and deep love.

If you’ve ever wondered:

• “Is my marriage supposed to feel this way?”

• “Are these struggles normal or red flags?”

• “What does healthy conflict even look like?”

…this candid episode offers clarity, hope, and practical insight. Stephanie and Roland talk about the work that does lead to healing, connection, and a “flipping awesome” marriage—versus the work that will leave you exhausted and unsafe.

Whether you’re single, dating, divorced, or currently married, you’ll walk away with a better understanding of what “hard” is worth leaning into—and what “hard” means it’s time to set boundaries or leave. Marriage should be safe, loving, and full of growth, not constant chaos. There’s a better way forward.

#HealthyRelationships #MarriageAdvice #DivorceRecovery #RelationshipTips #CodependencyRecovery #MarriageIsHard #HealthyConflict #Boundaries #SelfAwareness #LoveAndGrowth#WorthyofWorkPodcast #StephanieRivard

The full episode will be released tonight. I thought I'd share this little clip that made me laugh.

I hope you enjoy a behind-the-scenes clip of my husband and me prepping for our first podcast.

#WorthyofWorkPodcast

#StephanieRivard

#HerHandsomeHusband

Do you keep attracting partners with "potential”?

Maybe they’re struggling, broken, or in need of rescuing—and you feel like it’s your job to help, fix, or carry them. It might feel noble, but what if that very instinct is what’s keeping you from the healthy, balanced relationship you actually want?

In this episode of Worthy of Work, Stephanie Rivard dives deep into the Savior Complex—a common but destructive pattern that convinces us we can earn love by rescuing someone else. We’ll explore:

• What the Savior Complex is and how it shows up in dating and relationships

• The root causes—low self-worth, insecurity, and identity struggles

• Why being someone’s “hero” doesn’t lead to a healthy partnership

• The difference between saving someone and supporting someone

• Red flags that you’re picking projects instead of partners

• Practical steps to break free from this cycle and start attracting emotionally healthy people

• What real partnership looks like: two grounded people climbing life’s mountain together, encouraging but not carrying each other

You’ll also learn why relationships are more like multiplication than addition—and why “half a person + half a person” doesn’t equal a whole. If you’ve wondered why your relationships keep ending in disappointment, or if you’ve questioned whether healthy love even exists, this episode will give you clarity, hope, and tools to change your patterns.

You deserve a relationship built on mutual respect, emotional health, and equality—not one where you’re the rescuer and your partner is the project. This conversation will help you spot unhealthy dynamics, rebuild your sense of worth, and shift your focus toward partners who are capable of building a strong, lasting relationship with you.

✨ Worthy of Work exists because you are worthy of doing the work that leads to healing, growth, and love that lasts.

www.TheClarityAdvantage.com

This phrase was a trap: “Marriage is hard and it takes work.”
You’ve heard the phrase a hundred times — maybe you’ve even said it yourself. But what if the “hard” you’re living through isn’t the kind of hard a healthy marriage should have? What if well-meaning friends are unintentionally endorsing dysfunction or even abuse because this phrase is left vague and unexplained?

In this episode of Worthy of Work, I unpack what this phrase should mean, what it shouldn’t mean, and why understanding the difference can save you years of pain, confusion, and self-doubt.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• What “hard” is not: verbal, physical, emotional, financial, or sexual abuse; addiction; repeated toxic cycles without change; all the emotional labor falling on one person.

• What “hard” can mean in healthy relationships: navigating stress from illness, job loss, parenting, finances, miscommunication, personality differences, and the growth that comes from honest conversations and mutual accountability.

• What “work” is not: tolerating abuse and calling it sacrifice, having the same argument on repeat, avoiding hard conversations, shrinking yourself to “keep the peace,” or covering for harmful behavior.

• What “work” is: both partners learning communication skills, taking personal responsibility, going to therapy, apologizing and making real changes, and challenging each other to grow.

We also talk about:

• Why protecting the image of your marriage isn’t the same as protecting its integrity

• Why mutual effort — not one-sided sacrifice — is the foundation of lasting change

• How clear boundaries can sometimes create the very space needed for restoration

• A new way to say the phrase: “Marriage is hard at times, but not harmful — and it takes mutual, ongoing work to grow together.”

If you’ve been secretly wondering if what happens in your home is “normal,” this conversation is for you. You are not crazy. You are not alone. And you are not failing your marriage by seeking clarity — you’re honoring it.

💬 Key takeaway: Healthy marriages may have struggles, but they are free of harm. The “work” it takes is mutual growth, not enduring mistreatment.

📌 Helpful for you if you’re navigating:

• Confusion about whether your marriage is “normal”

• Over-responsibility or codependency in relationships

• The difference between healthy compromise and harmful self-erasure

• Recovery from dysfunctional relationship patterns

🎧 Listen in and let’s bring clarity, health, and stability into your home.

#HealthyRelationships #MarriageHelp #RelationshipAdvice #Boundaries #CodependencyRecovery #RelationshipGrowth #ToxicMarriage #MarriageTips #RelationshipPodcast #SelfWorth #MutualRespect #RelationshipBoundaries #HealthyCommunication #MarriageSupport #RelationshipHealing #WorthyOfWorkPodcast #StephanieRivard #MarriageTruth #BreakTheCycle

Have you ever felt responsible for fixing someone else's emotions just so you could feel okay? Maybe you’ve called it empathy—but what if it’s something else?

In this episode, we unpack the differences between empathy, enmeshment, and codependency—three behaviors that often look similar on the surface but come from very different places inside of us.

Using a puppet show analogy, Stephanie explains:

• Codependency is like being a puppet on a string—you start to dance when someone else flails because your well-being is tied to theirs.

• Enmeshment is the sock puppet—your identity and emotions are fused to theirs, and it’s hard to tell where you end and they begin.

• Empathy is sitting in the audience—fully present, deeply caring, but still separate.

These patterns often stem from early life dynamics where we learned to survive by attuning to others instead of developing a strong sense of self. But just because these habits were learned doesn't mean we're stuck with them. Stephanie offers practices to help you:

• Name your own emotions and separate them from others’.

• Practice detachment (not indifference) to stay grounded and present without losing yourself.

• Stay emotionally “seated” instead of leaping onstage to fix or rescue.

If you've ever wondered why peace feels impossible when someone around you is struggling—or if your caring feels compulsive instead of compassionate—this episode offers clarity and hope.

You’re not broken. These behaviors are survival strategies, not permanent identities. And the better news? You can unlearn them.

Reflection prompts included:

• Am I feeling for someone instead of with them?

• Am I doing things for others that they should be doing for themselves, and calling it love?

• What’s one small step I can take toward healthy empathy today?

Listen in. Let’s learn the better way.

Are you saying yes when you really want to say no? In this episode of Worthy of Work, we unpack one of the most common character defects: people pleasing. It's often mistaken for kindness but it's actually fear, control, and dishonesty in disguise.

Stephanie breaks down how people pleasing develops (especially for those raised in disrupted homes), how it shows up in adult relationships, and why it's so damaging—even when it looks like generosity. She offers a clear contrast between people pleasing vs kindness, and practical ways to start showing up more honestly in your relationships.

If you’ve ever felt guilty for setting a boundary, unsure whether you were being mean or just real, this episode is for you. You’ll learn how to spot when fear is running the show, how to respond with truth and love, and how healthy connection can’t grow when we’re wearing a mask.

Key Takeaways:

• People pleasing is dishonest, compulsive, and rooted in fear, not love.

• Kindness is not the same as self-abandonment.

• Healthy relationships don’t require pretending, silence, or performance.

• How to speak up with courage, clarity, and care.

• Sample phrases you can use to say no with love.

• What becomes possible when you stop people pleasing.

Recovery Principle Highlighted: Honesty and self-responsibility. Spotting a character defect.
Transformation Focus: From pretending to being real.
Best For: Women in recovery, former people pleasers, helpers and fixers, anyone learning to build healthy s

✨ "You are allowed to be honest. You are allowed to say no. You are allowed to disappoint someone without being wrong."

If this resonates, pause and ask:
Where am I saying yes when I mean no?
Where could I show up more honestly?
What would change if I told the truth with love?

🔔 Subscribe for more episodes on how to break unhealthy patterns and build connection with clarity, courage, and care.

🎧 Share this episode with a friend who’s ready to stop performing and start showing up.

#worthyofwork #peoplepleasing #boundaries #healthyrelationships #selfabandonment #authenticity #recoveryprinciples #personalgrowth #emotionalhealth #knowyourtruth #codependency #healingjourney #kindnessnotpeoplepleasing #saynotosayyes

If someone handed you a moldy sandwich and insisted it was fine, would you eat it?

Sounds ridiculous, right? But we do this all the time in relationships. We take in dismissive comments, gaslighting, and rejection as if they define our worth or rewrite what we know to be true.

In today’s episode, we’re talking about discernment — the vital (and often forgotten) relationship skill of trusting your gut over someone else’s version of reality.

Because if your worth or truth is placed in someone else’s hands, you’ll forever be chasing peace you can’t hold onto. You’ll be stuck second-guessing, defending, people-pleasing, and shrinking yourself to stay accepted.

Let’s change that.

In this episode, we’ll explore:

• A few examples of misplaced worth and the danger of believing what others say more than what your gut says

• The “moldy sandwich test” — a hilariously helpful way to assess what others are offering you

• How to stop needing others to agree with you in order to feel at peace

Whether you’ve been gaslit, passed over, or made to feel small — you are not crazy, and you are not alone. This episode will help you come back to yourself and rebuild your inner compass.

Worthy of Work is the podcast where we unpack the relationship skills no one taught us. Hosted by Stephanie Rivard, each episode offers clear, compassionate guidance to help you heal unhealthy patterns and build a stronger relationship with yourself and others.

🔗 If this helped you, please like, subscribe, or share it with someone who needs to hear it. That moldy sandwich might be going around.

#worthyofworkpodcast #selfworth #trustyourgut #gaslightingrecovery #discernment #healthyrelationships #boundaries #emotionalhealth #peoplepleasing #innerhealing

Going through a divorce or separation? You’re not alone — and you’re not broken. In this episode, I walk you through the 7 smartest things to do after a divorce so you can protect your peace, avoid painful patterns, and rebuild a healthier, stronger life.

Whether your relationship ended peacefully or was long and toxic, these steps will help you process what happened and prepare for what’s next — without rushing into rebound relationships, revenge, or regret.

This episode is for those who:
✔️ Feel confused or overwhelmed after divorce
✔️ Want to heal and grow (not repeat the same patterns)
✔️ Might be recovering from codependency or toxic relationships
✔️ Crave clarity, peace, and emotional maturity
✔️ Want to build healthier relationships in the future

You’re not broken. But you may need better tools for the kind of relationship you really want to have.

🎓 Want help learning boundaries that actually work?
Watch the free masterclass: Boundaries That Work

Subscribe to Worthy of Work for weekly relationship recovery tools:
✅ Character defect breakdowns
✅ Emotional intelligence skills
✅ Red and yellow flags explained
✅ Clear, compassionate truth (the kind I wish I had when I was stuck)

🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favorite platform

🔔 Don’t forget to like, follow, and share if this helped you!

#DivorceRecovery #HealingAfterDivorce #HealthyRelationships #CodependencyRecovery #EmotionalMaturity #RebuildingAfterDivorce #BoundariesThatWork #WorthyOfWorkPodcast #StephanieRivard #ToxicMarriage #GriefAndGrowth #PostDivorceHealing

The key to healthy conflict isn’t staying calm or keeping your cool — it’s taking responsibility for your part.

In this episode of Worthy of Work, Stephanie Rivard explores the transformative power of self-ownership in conflict. When we drop the defensiveness, stop justifying, and take accountability for our own actions, tone, or inactions — we change the dynamic. Conflict becomes an opportunity for repair, not just reaction.

This isn’t about self-blame or shame — and it’s definitely not manipulation. Stephanie breaks down what true accountability looks like (and what it doesn’t), and how it strengthens relationships over time.

Whether you’re navigating recurring arguments, working on communication skills, or just want to grow into a more grounded and mature version of yourself, this conversation offers powerful clarity and real-life examples to practice.

🎧 Topics covered:

• The difference between owning your part vs. blaming yourself

• Why “I was just being honest” isn’t ownership

• How mature self-responsibility invites connection

• Why repair is more important than perfection

✨ Healthy relationships are built on ownership and repair — not control or perfection. You can grow this skill, no matter where you’re starting from.

Check out my free masterclass to grow in healthy relationship skills - www.theclarityadvantage.com

#HealthyConflict #ConflictResolution #SelfOwnership #EmotionalMaturity #CommunicationSkills #Accountability #HealthyRelationships #PersonalResponsibility #WorthyOfWork #StephanieRivard