What if anger didn’t have to be a threat to love, and vulnerability didn’t mean weakness?

This week we begin with a moment many of us recognize: a flash of road rage, a surge of intensity, a body flooded with energy. Beneath moments like these, something deeper is often asking for care and understanding.

Colleen joins me to explore her concern for her husband, whose driving behavior has become frightening amid health stress and unspoken emotional strain. Together, we slow the moment down and look beneath the surface. We explore how many men are socialized to equate strength with control, leaving anger as the only emotion that feels permissible, while fear, grief, and vulnerability go underground.

Rather than treating anger as something to suppress or control, we reimagine it as a powerful messenger pointing toward values, care, and aliveness. This conversation offers a compassionate redefinition of strength: not as emotional armor, but as the inner resilience that allows us to stay connected in moments of intensity.

A thoughtful exploration of anger, vulnerability, and what it takes to build relationships that can hold the full spectrum of our emotional lives.

For ongoing practice and deeper learning, I warmly invite you to become a member of The School of Human Connection.

Twice a month, I host live calls where members bring real relationship dilemmas. We slow things down and I'll help you see what's actually happening and how to respond with more integrity, strength and care.

You will find a safe space for live discussions and a supportive community of like-minded, open-hearted humans.

Stay updated on new episodes and resources by subscribing wherever you listen to podcasts or visiting yvetteerasmus.com.

Here are more ways to connect with me:

• Join the School of Human Connection
• Hop on my free Wednesday live call
• Follow me on YouTube

We all carry invisible stories about what it means to be a “good person,” a “hard worker,” or someone who has truly earned what they have.

But what happens when we meet someone who doesn’t fit those stories? Someone living on disability income, or needing more support than we think they should?

This week, we explore the quiet judgments and discomfort that can arise when we encounter difference. We look at how domination culture trains us to equate worth with productivity, independence with virtue, and need with failure, and how shame and stigma keep us disconnected from our shared humanity.

This conversation invites a gentler, more honest inquiry into what judgment is protecting, and how we can stay connected without defensiveness, superiority, or pity. As we widen the lens, we also question the systems themselves: What if the problem isn’t the individual who needs help, but the structures that withhold care?

A reflective exploration of judgment, dignity, and interdependence and an invitation to imagine human-centered systems rooted in empathy, cooperation, and the meeting of real human needs.

Want to read more? Understanding Stigma: How Judgment Replaces Empathy in Modern Culture

For ongoing practice and deeper learning, I warmly invite you to become a member of The School of Human Connection.

Twice a month, I host live calls where members bring real relationship dilemmas. We slow things down and I'll help you see what's actually happening and how to respond with more integrity, strength and care.

You will find a safe space for live discussions and a supportive community of like-minded, open-hearted humans.

Stay updated on new episodes and resources by subscribing wherever you listen to podcasts or visiting yvetteerasmus.com.

Here are more ways to connect with me:

• Join the School of Human Connection
• Hop on my free Wednesday live call
• Follow me on YouTube

What happens in you when someone comes at you with intensity?

Do you freeze, go blank, lose your words, or start doubting yourself?

We explore what it means to stay grounded when another person’s energy feels too hot to handle by talking with Kate, who finds herself going into freeze mode when someone else’s intensity rises and tone sharpens. Together, we explore how to meet our shutdown responses with awareness instead of judgment, seeing them as wisdom, not weakness.

Afterwards, Josie brings up a nuanced distinction: What’s the difference between asking for what we need and demanding someone change? Where’s the line between honest self-expression and control?

We’ll tease apart how to speak truthfully without blame, how to hold boundaries without closing your heart, and how to stay in integrity even when things get intense.

If you’ve ever longed to stay calm, clear, and connected when someone else is coming in hot, this one’s for you.

Want to read more? How to Stay Grounded When Someone's Coming in Hot

For ongoing practice and deeper learning, I warmly invite you to become a member of The School of Human Connection.

Twice a month, I host live calls where members bring real relationship dilemmas. We slow things down and I'll help you see what's actually happening and how to respond with more integrity, strength and care.

You will find a safe space for live discussions and a supportive community of like-minded, open-hearted humans.

Stay updated on new episodes and resources by subscribing wherever you listen to podcasts or visiting yvetteerasmus.com.

Here are more ways to connect with me:

• Join the School of Human Connection
• Hop on my free Wednesday live call
• Follow me on YouTube