What if the way you’ve been trying to communicate is actually preventing the connection you long for, even when your intentions are loving?

In this episode, I introduce the Imago Intentional Dialogue process, a structured communication tool that helped transform my own marriage from separation to recommitment. Rather than focusing on winning arguments or fixing problems, this model creates safety, understanding, and genuine connection, even during difficult conversations.

Through an attachment and nervous system informed lens, I walk you step-by-step through the core components of the Dialogue: mirroring, validation, and empathy, along with the opening step, known as the appointment. Together, these tools help partners slow down, reduce dysregulation, and replace defensive communication patterns with conscious connection.

I also explore why conflict often feels so urgent, how nervous system dysregulation shapes communication, and why many arguments are actually about deeper unmet needs rather than surface issues. You’ll hear how even simple shifts, like asking for consent before a difficult conversation, can dramatically change relational dynamics.

This episode serves as preparation for Part 2 of this series, where my husband and I will demonstrate the Dialogue live in an unscripted real-life conversation, followed by Part 3, where I share the moment I first used these tools to transform my own relationship.

If you’ve ever felt stuck in repeating arguments, unheard, misunderstood, or unsure how to repair disconnection, this episode offers a practical starting point for communicating in a way that builds safety rather than eroding it.

In this episode, we explore:

• What the Imago Intentional Dialogue process is and why it works
• The three core steps: mirroring, validation, and empathy
• The power of the “appointment” in creating conversational safety
• Why urgency in conflict can trigger defensive reactions
• How nervous system states shape communication patterns
• The concept of “simultaneous monologuing” and why it blocks connection
• How validation differs from agreement
• Why empathy is about imagination, not mind-reading
• The role of consent and timing in productive conversations
• How structured dialogue can heal attachment wounds
• Why many conflicts reflect deeper unmet needs
• How communication can shift from self-protection to connection

This episode is Part 1 of a three-part series:

➡️ Part 2 (next week): A real, unscripted demonstration of the Imago Dialogue between Trish and her husband Ben
➡️ Part 3 (March 4): The personal story of the moment this process transformed Trish’s own relationship and how you can apply these tools even if your partner isn’t quite ready

If you and your partner are ready to co-create the roadmap to the relationship of your dreams, join us for the next in-person "Getting the Love You Want" Weekend Couples Retreat!

For support in how to have deeper connections and better communication in the relationships that matter most in your life, follow the host, Trish Sanders on Instagram , Bluesky or LinkedIn.

What does it really mean to know that you matter — and how does that shape the impact you have on your relationships and the world?

In this episode, I explore how reclaiming a sense of worth can be a powerful source of energy, agency, and relational influence — especially when we’re feeling shut down, disconnected, or powerless. Through my own experience, I reflect on how depression often shows up as disconnection from self, others, and the world, and how that disconnection can quietly erode our sense that we matter.

Drawing on an Imago and nervous system informed lens, I share a working theory: people who don’t know they matter often don’t know their impact. When worth is unclear, power can feel distorted, either expressed through collapse and withdrawal, or through attempts to assert dominance. Both are understandable nervous system responses to deep relational injury.

This conversation focuses primarily on dorsal shutdown, the immobilized nervous system state where self-care, connection, and engagement with the world feel out of reach. I reflect on how beginning with the assumption that I mattered, rather than waiting for proof, helped restore energy, curiosity, and capacity for connection in my own life.

I also share how being accurately seen and mirrored within the Imago community became a healing experience, allowing growth to layer on top of safety. As my sense of worth strengthened, I became more able to notice my impact on others and to influence the quality of connection without collapsing or exerting control.

This episode is an invitation to consider how small, intentional shifts in the quality of our connections — first with ourselves, then with those closest to us, and eventually with the wider world — can become a meaningful source of personal and collective change.

In this episode, we explore:

• Depression as disconnection from self, others, and the world
• How not knowing you matter impacts nervous system regulation and energy
• The link between worth, impact, and our relationship to power
• Dorsal shutdown and why lack of energy isn’t a personal failure
• Beginning with worth as a foundation for healing and agency
• “I matter because I am here” as a way of interrupting old narratives
• How accurate mirroring supports relational repair and growth
• Why reclaiming worth restores capacity for connection and contribution
• How small relational shifts can ripple outward into larger systems

This episode is an invitation to slow down, question old narratives of worthlessness, and remember that when we know we matter, we’re better able to stay present, relational, and engaged — and that’s how small connections begin to shape the world.

If you and your partner are ready to co-create the roadmap to the relationship of your dreams, join us for the next in-person "Getting the Love You Want" Weekend Couples Retreat!

For support in how to have deeper connections and better communication in the relationships that matter most in your life, follow the host, Trish Sanders on Instagram , Bluesky or LinkedIn.

What does it really mean to be relational — beyond simply having relationships?

In this episode, I explore what it means to value connection, belonging, and collective safety in a world that often prioritizes hierarchy, control, and individual success. Through an Imago- and nervous-system-informed lens, we look at how relationship itself can be a pathway toward healing — not only in our personal lives, but in our communities and the broader world we share.

This conversation invites a shift from “power over” to “power with,” from certainty to curiosity, and from dysregulation to dialogue. Drawing on polyvagal theory, I reflect on how we are not isolated nervous systems, but interconnected ones — constantly shaping and being shaped by one another. When safety breaks down for one or many, the impact ripples through the whole system.

Rather than focusing on blame or ideology, this episode centers our shared humanity. It asks what becomes possible when we understand violence, polarization, and disconnection not only as moral or political failures, but also as signs of collective nervous system wounding — and when we respond by creating safety, not more threat.

This is an episode about relationship as a foundation for real and lasting change.

In this episode, we explore:

• What it means to be relational, not just relationally skilled
• The shift from hierarchy to mutual, relational connection, as supported by Imago theory
• How polyvagal theory helps us understand interconnected nervous systems
• The idea of a collective nervous system — and what happens when it’s wounded
• Why fear and unsafety fuel disconnection and dehumanization
• How violence can be understood as a nervous system response at scale
• Why peace doesn’t require agreement, but does require safety
• How relational presence and dialogue create conditions for healing

This episode is an invitation to slow down, soften certainty, and remember that every moment of connection — however small — contributes to the world we are shaping together.

If you and your partner are ready to co-create the roadmap to the relationship of your dreams, join us for the next in-person "Getting the Love You Want" Weekend Couples Retreat!

For support in how to have deeper connections and better communication in the relationships that matter most in your life, follow the host, Trish Sanders on Instagram , Bluesky or LinkedIn.