207 If you’ve ever walked away from a conversation with your partner feeling more overwhelmed, more disconnected, or more upset than when you started — this episode is for you.

In this conversation, we explore why so many well-intentioned attempts to “talk things through” actually escalate conflict instead of resolving it — especially for highly sensitive people.

You’ll learn what’s really happening in your nervous system during moments of emotional intensity, why communication breaks down when safety drops, and the difference between processing an emotion and unintentionally ruminating in it.

We’ll also talk about:

• Why your “survival brain” hijacks conversations when you’re flooded
• How trying to communicate while dysregulated can create a fight–fight loop
• Why timing matters more than technique when it comes to hard conversations
• What it means to regulate first — and communicate second.

This episode isn’t about blaming yourself or your partner. It’s about understanding the physiology underneath communication struggles — so you can stop trying to solve emotional problems at the wrong level.

If you’re a sensitive person who wants calmer, more honest, more connecting communication — without forcing or over-explaining — this episode will help you see your patterns with more compassion and clarity.

SHOW NOTES:

Learn all about and join Hannah in Foundations of Emotional Well-Being For HSPs; The Root Of a Safer Marriage and Heart here. Doors close Feb 4th, 2026. After that, price goes up forever.

Find Hannah at her website: hspmarriagecoaching.com

206 If you’ve ever read a marriage book, heard some relationship advice that seemed logical, or sat in a therapy session and thought, "Why is this so much harder for me than it seems to be for everyone else?"—there is a biological reason for that.

Today we dive into what that is, and why a lot of traditional marriage advice just doesn't work for us as highly sensitive people.

The truth is, most marriage advice does not take into account the HSP reality – our highly sensitive nervous systems and brains. So of course it’s going to flop for us if we are not first respecting and honoring our physiological differences and needs.

To expect traditional marriage advice to work for us is like expecting an orchid to bloom in a desert. It’s not going to happen.

So tune in to hear the top 5 popular pieces of advice that fail us sensitives, and what actually works instead – all illustrated with HSP-resonant nature analogies (sometimes some good old garden metaphors can really clear things up!)

By the end of this episode, you’re going to understand why, to thrive in your relationship, you don’t need to try harder at traditional marriage advice’s top down approach – like communicating with specific phrases– and that nourishing your sensitive system at the root level is what will make the biggest difference–and make the rest come quite naturally.

What does that mean? Tune in to find out.

SHOW NOTES:

Learn all about and join Hannah in Foundations of Emotional Well-Being For HSPs; The Root Of a Safer Marriage and Heart here. Doors close Feb 4th, 2026. After that, price goes up forever.

Take the Dysregulation quiz in the episode 190, or here in written format.

205 Why does unhappiness and irritation so often sneak into even the most loving marriages? Usually, it’s through the silent killer of connection: non-acceptance.

In this episode, we’re diving deep into the "Acceptance Switch"—that internal shift that moves us from judging our partner’s flaws to making peace with their full, messy, human selves.

I share the raw truth about my two marriages: how a lack of acceptance created a cycle of shame and distance in my first, and how consciously choosing to perceive my second husband’s "shortcomings" through the lens of acceptance has unlocked a level of joy and playfulness I never thought possible.

We also explore:

• The Cultural Root of Intolerance: Why society has conditioned us to reject our partners full selves, including moods and behaviors.
• The "Human Inheritance": Understanding that your partner’s frustrating patterns aren't personal—they are often a genetic and cultural "ball and chain" they didn't choose.
• The Growth Paradox: Why true growth and change in a relationship only happen after you’ve established a foundation of radical safety through acceptance.
• Acceptance vs. Tolerance: Why accepting someone’s humanity is the opposite of being a "pushover."

To help you kick off the year with a heart-centered reset, I’m walking you through a New Year Acceptance Process. We’ll unpack the "stories" we tell ourselves about our partners and learn how to see through the fog of expectations to find the sweetness that’s been there all along.

Stop fighting your partner’s humanness and start reaping the gifts of making peace with who your partner really is.

SHOW NOTES:

• Join Hannah for private 1:1 Marriage Coaching, and get her deep, super individualized support to make your marriage more full of security, connection, love, and mutual support than ever. Get started here.
• See her on-demand relationship courses for HSPs here.
• FREE QUIZ: How Much is High Sensitivity Impacting Your Relationship (and are you even highly sensitive)? You want to know. Because, high sensitivity has a major impact on intimate relationships – for better or worse. Take this 3 minute quiz to discover if you're highly sensitive and how deeply it’s affecting you, and your happiness in your relationship. You will also get your next steps to making sure sensitivity works for your relationship, instead of against it.