Conversations from the Heart
A weekly, soul-nourishing podcast offering psychologically grounded, heart-centered reflections on human relationships, inner healing, and compassion-based communication.
Focused on live mini-coaching moments to help callers shift from reactive, domination-based communication to collaborative, heart-centered connection. Listen for new scripts for stuck situations, new ways of responding to old relationship dynamics and guidance on how to approach these situations with empathy, self-awareness, and effective communication strategies. Here, we emphasize understanding both one's own needs and the needs of others, creating safe spaces for vulnerable conversations, and finding ways to express ourselves authentically while respecting others' boundaries.
Conversations from the Heart
#110 - When Your Adult Child Pulls Away (and You’re Left in the Dark)
What do you do when you’ve poured your heart into being a better parent, and your adult child still keeps you at arm’s length?
In today’s heartfelt (and heart-heavy) coaching conversation, we sit with Josie: a mother navigating the complex grief of feeling used, dismissed, and emotionally exiled by her daughter.
Despite years of inner work and a deep desire to connect, Josie finds herself hurt and unsure: Should she take space? Should she block her daughter’s messages? Is silence a form of self-care, or a veiled cry to be rescued?
Together, we untangle the knot between boundaries and punishment, help her find clarity around her deeper intentions, and explore how unmet childhood needs can hijack our adult relationships. Whether you’re a parent, a child, or both, this episode will speak to the ache of misalignment and the courage it takes to stay rooted in love while protecting your own heart.
In this episode:
•How to discern the difference between setting a boundary and delivering a covert ultimatum
•Why “taking space” sometimes carries unspoken hopes for change, and how to separate them
•The ache of being the family scapegoat, even after decades of healing
•Navigating the painful realization: Nobody else sees me the way my children do.
•A metaphor for overexposure to painful dynamics: The emotional sunburn
•Why it’s essential to tend to your inner child before asking others to meet your unmet needs
•Sample scripts for taking space with clarity, not punishment
•The real purpose of pausing contact: and how to do it with integrity
If you're looking for a high caliber small group where you can deepen your practice and really live into the principles of compassion, non-violence and relational presence, apply for The Mentorship Circle, which will begin November 2nd. It will be three hours every month of advanced teaching, deep discussion, and practical integration. Learn more here.
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