This is the most personal episode I've shared yet.

At eight months pregnant, I made the hardest decision of my life: I left my narcissistic, abusive, alcoholic partner. Looking back, I can clearly see that this moment was my **Dive**—the second stage of the five-stage framework I created after rebuilding my life from the ground up.In this episode, I walk through the **Five Stages of Reclaiming Yourself**—Survive, Dive, Revive, Thrive, and Archive—and explain how they transformed not only my healing journey but the way I understand every major life change.

If you've ever found yourself thinking, *"This can't be my life,"* this episode is for you. I hope it helps you see that the fear you're feeling might not be a stop sign—it might be the doorway to everything you've been looking for.

If this resonates, subscribe, leave a comment, and share it with someone who needs to hear they're capable of more than they think.

In this episode, Sandra shares two very challenging workplace conflicts she went through as a school counsellor. She walks us through the dynamics, the way she chose to handle it with authenticity and courage, and how it led to a more peaceful workplace today. Kim also shares her perspective by highlighting one work experience where she was overqualified, underpaid, and overworked. Kim also makes the connections between putting up with toxicity in the workplace, childhood experiences, and low self worth. Sandra and Kim both weave in some advice and tools to navigate these situations.

In this episode, Morgan, who lost over 80 lbs, talks about how she used her shame and frustration from starting a quitting her weight loss journey for 8 years into an online empire simply by sharing her story. Kim, who lost 45 lbs with Morgan's mentorship, talks about breaking the shackles of being bound by her therapist ethical guidelines and wanting to use and share her story, including her past challenges with bipolar disorder, to help and reach more people online than she ever could one on one.

In this part 2 episode, Kim, who has successfully managed her bipolar disorder for 6 years now and recovered from burnout recently, talks to us about her clinical perspective on narcissistic abuse and burnout recovery. Ryan, a certified personal trainer, as well as a nutrition and life coach, jumps in to talk about his physical burnout story and perspective on resilience the positive impact of physical exercise on mental health.

Self diagnosed narcissist I refer to: Lee Hammock https://www.instagram.com/mentalhealnesss/?hl=en

Man Box TED Talk I refer to: A Call To Men by Tony Porterhttps://youtu.be/td1PbsV6B80?si=l_SNMAxNs8B8Er-y

In this episode, Ryan, who has successfully lost 120 pounds (and kept it off for over 20 years) talks to us about why he is so passionate about advocating for men to get access to mental health support. Ryan is a certified personal trainer, as well as a nutrition and life coach. Kim jumps in to talk about her personal story, as well as give her clinical perspective on men's mental health.

In this episode, I introduce the podcast and give a little background about myself, my story, and how I finally ended up in alignment in my career as a therapist.