Soft is Hard for Me

What if the version of yourself that everyone loves… isn’t the version of yourself that feels most authentic? In this episode, we explore the roles many of us learn to play in order to receive love, acceptance, validation, and belonging. Whether it's being the strong one, the fixer, the peacemaker, the achiever, or the one who never asks for help, these roles often begin as ways to protect ourselv...

What happens when you spend years feeling emotions you never learned how to name? In this episode, we explore the hidden ways unnamed feelings shape our behaviors, relationships, decisions, and sense of self. Long before we had the language for anxiety, grief, shame, fear, disappointment, or loneliness, many of us developed strategies to cope with what we couldn't explain. Some of us became people...

Healing becomes harder when you don’t have the words for what you’re carrying. In this episode, we explore the emotional language needed during a Year of Healing—the words, awareness, and honesty required to understand yourself beyond “I’m fine” or “I’m just tired.” Using attachment assessment results as the foundation for this conversation, we unpack how our attachment patterns shape the way we c...

What does it really take to ask for help… when you’ve been used to doing everything on your own? In this bonus episode of The Pruning Sessions , we explore the vulnerability required to be seen, supported, and held—especially when independence has been your survival strategy. We talk about the discomfort of needing others, the fear of being a burden, and the internal resistance that shows up when...

What happens after you recognize you’ve been in survival mode? In Part 2 of this mini-series, we move from awareness into action—exploring what it really means to set boundaries and why it can feel so difficult, especially when you’re used to overextending, overgiving, or staying silent to keep the peace. We break down what boundaries actually are (and what they’re not), how to identify where you...

What happens when survival becomes your identity… and softness starts to feel unsafe? In Part 1 of this mini-series, we begin an honest conversation about the ways we’ve learned to cope, protect, and push through—often at the expense of our emotional well-being. We explore what it really means to live in survival mode, how it shows up in our thoughts, relationships, and behaviors, and why slowing...

Soft Is Hard for Me is a podcast about healing, emotional honesty, and learning how to live beyond survival mode. Many of us were taught how to be strong, responsible, and resilient — but not how to understand our emotions, set boundaries, or care for ourselves in the process. Through real conversations and reflective insights, this podcast explores emotional language, burnout, grief, boundaries,...