Stop Saying "I Feel Bad"

Join Relationship Academy today for a complementary 1:1 with one of the hosts! Right now, buy one pair of glasses and get 20% off any additional pairs at WarbyParker.com/RELATIONSHIP Dr. Gillian's Book! We often repeat the same relationship pattern with different people because familiar pain can feel safer than uncertainty. Noticing the pattern is the beginning of change—but lasting growth requires identifying the unmet need behind it. The “erotic emotional map” helps reveal recurring dynamics by describing the qualities of past relationships. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Free 10 Day Couples Challenge Try Relationship Academy When your partner walks through the door in a bad mood, do you immediately wonder what you did wrong or rush to fix it? Taking your partner's emotions personally turns their everyday stress into relational friction, forcing them to manage your reaction on top of their own feelings. In this episode, we unpack the shift from carrying emotional responsibility to offering true empathy, giving both of you permission to feel. Main Talking Points: Personalizing Versus Empathy Unpacking Emotional Responsibility Breaking Fixing Cycles Tolerating Partner Discomfort Reducing Emotion Layers Frameworks Over Scripts Secure relationships aren't built on avoiding uncomfortable feelings, but on cultivating the capacity to tolerate and hold space for them together. Real connection happens when you allow feelings to be felt without making them about you. Give Me Discounts! Kiwi Fodzyme - Get 30% off your first order!  Tanasi - Use code “relationship" for 25% off your first order. *If you love this episode (and our podcast!), would you mind giving us a⁠ review in iTunes⁠? It would mean the world to us and we promise it only takes a minute. Many thanks in advance! – Colter, Cayla, & Lauren Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Free 10 Day Couples Challenge Try Relationship Academy Why do we so often find ourselves repeating the same painful relational patterns even after promising to choose differently? In this episode, therapist and author Jessica Anne Pressler joins us to unpack how early protective survival strategies can evolve into adult self-sabotage. By shifting our attention from dissecting a partner's flaws to understanding our own internal boundaries, we move away from reflexive self-abandonment and step toward deep self-compassion and relational security. Main Talking Points: Unpacking Internal Self-Sabotage Reframing Childhood Coping Mechanisms Navigating Narcissistic Relationship Dynamics Overcoming Relational Self-Abandonment Cultivating Deep Self-Awareness Integrating Protective Inner Parts Healing begins not by fighting the parts of us that try to keep us safe, but by offering them the self-compassion and internal leadership they were always looking for. Connect with Jessica Anne Pressler: Jessica Anne Pressler's Website: https://www.jessicaannepressler.com Jessica Anne Pressler's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicaannepressler Give Me Discounts! Kiwi Fodzyme - Get 30% off your first order!  Tanasi - Use code “relationship" for 25% off your first order. *If you love this episode (and our podcast!), would you mind giving us a⁠ review in iTunes⁠? It would mean the world to us and we promise it only takes a minute. Many thanks in advance! – Colter, Cayla, & Lauren Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us in Relationship Academy to continue the conversation! ⁠ 7 day free trial and then get the founders rate of $25/month Take Dr. Heller's Free Attachment Quiz Clean out your closet by downloading VINTED for free! In this episode of Relationship Advice, Colter talks with Dr. Diane Heller about anxious, avoidant, ambivalent, and disorganized attachment patterns. They explore why these patterns are often intelligent survival strategies—not character flaws or relationship “red flags”—and how early relational wounds can shape the way people experience closeness, conflict, and love. Dr. Heller explains that everyone has an innate capacity for secure attachment and that understanding these patterns can help partners respond with more compassion instead of blame. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Free 10 Day Couples Challenge Try Relationship Academy When everyday friction is automatically read as a lack of effort or affection, couples often get trapped in painful, defensive loops. How do we move away from assigning negative intent and toward honoring the literal differences in how our brains process the world? In this episode, we unpack how neurodivergent traits—like executive dysfunction and sensory processing differences—can show up in relationships, and how framing these realities through the lens of individuation creates a path toward genuine safety and collaborative connection. Main Talking Points: Executive Functioning Differences Cognitive Processing Variances Sensory Profile Mismatches Interoceptive Sensation Nuances Mono Tropism Rigidity Unmasking Relational Safety The goal isn't to force a single, shared reality onto two different minds, but to build enough safety and curiosity to accommodate the unique ways you both navigate the world. Give Me Discounts! Kiwi Fodzyme - Get 30% off your first order!  Tanasi - Use code “relationship" for 25% off your first order. *If you love this episode (and our podcast!), would you mind giving us a⁠ review in iTunes⁠? It would mean the world to us and we promise it only takes a minute. Many thanks in advance! – Colter, Cayla, & Lauren Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us in Relationship Academy to continue the conversation! 7 day free trial and then get the founders rate of $25/month In this episode of Quick Advice, Colter and Cayla jump into why one partner might just say "I feel bad" rather than tapping into the emotion they are actually feeling. It can be frustrating for both partner! Let's discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Free 10 Day Couples Challenge Try Relationship Academy How often do we stay trapped in repetitive relational friction, assuming the answers lie entirely within our overthinking minds? In this episode, author and intuitive consultant Laura Day joins the show to demystify intuition as a grounded, practical tool for human connection. We explore how moving away from protective internal loops toward actionable, embodied behavior can rewire our relational dynamics and build deep, mutual clarity. Main Talking Points: Demystifying Everyday Intuitive Data Rewiring Relational Trauma Patterns Goal-Driven Non-Local Communication Embodied Action Over Overthinking Cultivating Mutual Relational Value Redirecting Unproductive Internal Dialogue True connection does not require managing another person's reactions; it unfolds when we ground ourselves in actionable clarity and let concrete experience reshape how we relate. Laura Day's Website: https://lauraday.com Laura Day's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauradayintuit Laura Day's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/LauraDayCircle Give Me Discounts! Kiwi Fodzyme - Get 30% off your first order!  Tanasi - Use code “relationship" for 25% off your first order. *If you love this episode (and our podcast!), would you mind giving us a⁠ review in iTunes⁠? It would mean the world to us and we promise it only takes a minute. Many thanks in advance! – Colter, Cayla, & Lauren Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TRY RELATIONSHIP ACADEMY FOR FREE Dr. Sue's Website Let's discuss why energy feels off and why saying the right thing doesn't always lead to the outcomes we want. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Free 10 Day Couples Challenge Try Relationship Academy Why do couples so often fall into standoffs where one partner needs emotional closeness to feel physical desire, while the other needs physical touch to feel emotionally open? In this episode, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) trainer and author George Faller joins us to unpack how stress, polyvagal state shifts, and distinct attachment cycles govern relational dynamics. By learning to slow down protective reactions, partners can reframe relational friction into a doorway for true emotional and physical intimacy. Main Talking Points: Navigating High-Stress Trauma Polyvagal Brain States Intersecting Attachment Cycles Decoupling Relational Brakes The Crisscross Pattern Externalizing Negative Cycles Intimacy is not about eliminating relational friction, but about creating enough safety to reveal the deeper longings hidden beneath protective defenses. When partners slow down and face these cycles together, the body and heart naturally return to connection. George Faller's Website: https://www.georgefaller.com George Faller's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fallergeorge Give Me Discounts! Kiwi Fodzyme - Get 30% off your first order!  Tanasi - Use code “relationship" for 25% off your first order. *If you love this episode (and our podcast!), would you mind giving us a⁠ review in iTunes⁠? It would mean the world to us and we promise it only takes a minute. Many thanks in advance! – Colter, Cayla, & Lauren Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices