In this episode of The Stepmom Side Podcast, Alicia teaches stepmoms how to create a personal Trigger Protocol to handle emotionally charged moments without spiraling or snapping.

If you often react in the heat of the moment and then regret what you said or did, this episode gives you a simple, practical plan you can use when your nervous system is activated. You’ll learn how to choose a pause phrase, an exit strategy, and one nervous system regulation tool so you can respond more calmly in blended family situations.

This episode is perfect for stepmoms who feel overwhelmed by emotional triggers with their stepkids, partner, or co-parenting dynamics and want real tools that work in the moment.

Join The Stepmom Side Community to practice emotional regulation tools, get support from other stepmoms, and stop handling triggers alone.

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If you’ve ever said, “I understand why this happened, so I shouldn’t still feel upset,” this episode is for you.

Alicia explores why so many stepmoms intellectualize their emotions instead of processing them — and how that pattern quietly leads to resentment, burnout, and emotional shutdown.

Stepmoms are often praised for being mature, understanding, and “handling things well,” but that praise can come at a cost. When feelings are constantly explained away instead of felt, they don’t disappear — they get stored.

This episode breaks down the difference between intellectualizing emotions and actually processing them, and why skipping the emotional “ouch” is one of the fastest ways resentment builds in blended families.

In this episode, Alicia covers:

• The difference between understanding emotions and processing them
• Why explaining feelings too quickly blocks emotional release
• How resentment is created from unacknowledged pain
• Why stepmoms feel pressure to be “the mature one”
• What to do instead of reframing your feelings out of existence

This episode offers stepmoms permission to feel first — without justification, explanation, or self-criticism.

✨ Resentment to Relief builds directly on this work, teaching stepmoms how to safely feel emotions without spiraling, self-abandoning, or stuffing them down until they explode later. Join the waitlist here.

Support the show

Want a specific topic covered? Let me know here.
After you listen to this, tag me on Instagram @aliciakrasko and let me know what you think!
Get all the FREE RESOURCES here.
Want to learn more about The Stepmom Side community? Here's where you get all the info. Looking forward to connecting with you on the inside.
All things Alicia visit www.aliciakrasko.com
Get on the list, get behind the scene info on Stepmom life, and tips delivered to your inbox.

Have you ever handled a stepfamily moment calmly, maturely, and with impressive emotional intelligence — only to completely unravel hours later?

Alicia breaks down the difference between your thinking self and your nervous system, and why logic isn’t enough to regulate emotional reactions in blended family life.

This episode is especially for high-functioning, Type A stepmoms who pride themselves on being self-aware but feel confused (and frustrated) when that awareness doesn’t stop the emotional spirals.

Alicia explains why stepmom triggers hit so deeply, why feelings often show up after the situation is over, and how nervous system responses are rooted in safety, belonging, and attachment — not immaturity or weakness.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The difference between your thinking brain and your nervous system
• Why stepmom triggers go straight to feelings of rejection and belonging
• Why you “handle it well” in the moment but fall apart later
• Why logic doesn’t calm a body-based response
• What emotional regulation actually looks like in real life

This episode helps stepmoms stop judging themselves for emotional reactions and start understanding what their body is trying to communicate.

This conversation is a key foundation for Resentment to Relief, Alicia’s framework for helping stepmoms stop managing resentment and start releasing it by working with — not against — their nervous system.

Get on the waitlist for Resentment to Relief here.

Support the show

Want a specific topic covered? Let me know here.
After you listen to this, tag me on Instagram @aliciakrasko and let me know what you think!
Get all the FREE RESOURCES here.
Want to learn more about The Stepmom Side community? Here's where you get all the info. Looking forward to connecting with you on the inside.
All things Alicia visit www.aliciakrasko.com
Get on the list, get behind the scene info on Stepmom life, and tips delivered to your inbox.