Relationships That Work with Michelle Farris

Why do so many men struggle to stay present during an emotional conversation?

6 hours ago | [YT] | 2

Relationships That Work with Michelle Farris

Tight chest. Clenched jaw. Muscle tension. Your body has been trying to tell you something for a long time. And most of us have spent years learning to ignore it.

We were taught to push through. Stay strong. Don't make a big deal out of it. So we learned to override every physical signal our body was sending us and just keep going. And for a while, that works. Until it doesn't.

Here's what I've come to understand deeply after more than twenty years of doing this work. Your body is not dramatic. It is not overreacting. Every single physical symptom it gives you, the tight chest before a hard conversation, the clenched jaw after a difficult day, the muscle tension that shows up every Sunday night before the week begins, is a message. It is your nervous system trying to get your attention about something that hasn't been addressed yet.

And when we keep ignoring those messages long enough, they get louder. The tension becomes chronic pain. The tight chest becomes anxiety. The muscle tension becomes exhaustion that no amount of sleep seems to fix. Because the body keeps the score, even when we're pretending everything is fine.

Learning to listen to your body is not a luxury. It is one of the most powerful things you can do for your emotional health and your relationships.

So today I want you to check in. Right now. Where are you holding tension in your body? What might it be trying to tell you?

If resentment is part of what your body has been carrying, join me on July 26 for my LIVE Healing Resentments Workshop. I'll walk you through my proven five-step process to finally release it.
counselingrecovery.thrivecart.com/live-resentment-…

#angermanagement #bodyawareness #emotionalhealth #stressmanagement #mentalhealthmatters #healingjourney #therapytools #selfawareness #relationshipcoach

10 hours ago | [YT] | 2

Relationships That Work with Michelle Farris

Have you ever apologized... even when someone else was the one who hurt you?

If you've ever walked away from a conversation feeling confused, guilty, or questioning your own reality, you may be experiencing more than just a difficult relationship.

Covert narcissism is often subtle, making it much harder to recognize than most people realize.

In my newest video, I share 7 hidden signs of a covert narcissist, how codependency can keep you stuck, and what you can do to start trusting yourself again.

💬 Have you ever experienced any of these signs? Share your thoughts in the comments. Your story may help someone else feel less alone.

❤️ If this resonates with you, please share it with someone who might need it today.

1 day ago | [YT] | 0

Relationships That Work with Michelle Farris

Why do so many women struggle to acknowledge their anger at all?

1 day ago | [YT] | 5

Relationships That Work with Michelle Farris

Sometimes managing anger isn't about the moment at all. And this is the piece most people completely miss when they're trying to work on their anger.

Here's what I see constantly in my work. Someone explodes over something small, something that on any other day they would have handled just fine, and they have absolutely no idea why it hit so hard this time. They feel blindsided by their own reaction. And the reason is almost always the same. Their stress level had been quietly building for days, sometimes weeks, and nobody, including them, was paying attention to it.

This is what I call the M in my CALM method. Managing your anger long term. And it has very little to do with what happens in the heated moment itself. It has everything to do with how you're taking care of yourself in the twenty-three hours before that moment arrives.

Are you saying no when you need to? Are you getting enough sleep? Are you carrying responsibilities that are genuinely too heavy for one person? Are you running on empty and expecting yourself to show up patiently and calmly in your relationships anyway?

Because here's the truth. You cannot pour from an empty cup. And when your stress level is already at a 7 before the day even gets difficult, it doesn't take much to push you over the edge completely.

Recognizing your stress level before it gets the best of you is a skill. And like any skill, it can be learned and practiced.

If you want to start building this into your daily life, my Calming Anger Masterclass covers exactly this as part of the full process.
www.counselingrecovery.com/online-courses/calming-…

#angermanagement #stressmanagement #emotionalregulation #selfcare #mentalhealthmatters #healthyanger #therapytools #copingskills #relationshipcoach

1 day ago | [YT] | 6

Relationships That Work with Michelle Farris

You don't need one perfect way to calm down. I want to take the pressure off completely right here, because I think a lot of people give up on anger management because they're looking for that one magic tool that fixes everything every single time. It doesn't exist. And honestly, that's okay.

What actually works is having a small handful of things you can reach for depending on the situation, the time of day, who you're with, and what kind of anger you're dealing with. Because every situation is different. What works when you're alone at home might not work when you're in the middle of a disagreement with your partner. What helps you decompress after a stressful day at work might be completely different from what you need when a family member says something that hits a really old wound.

For some people it's putting on music and letting themselves feel it. For others it's stepping outside for ten minutes, calling a friend, doing some journaling, or even just taking a few slow deep breaths before responding. None of these are fancy. None of them require years of therapy to learn. They just require you to actually use them before things get out of hand.

The key is building your own personal toolkit ahead of time, before you need it, so that when you're already at a 6 or 7 on the anger scale, you're not trying to figure out what to do. You already know.

So tell me in the comments. What is one thing that actually helps you calm down when you're feeling angry or overwhelmed? I'd genuinely love to hear what works for you.

If you want help building your full toolkit, my Calming Anger Masterclass walks you through the whole process.
www.counselingrecovery.com/online-courses/calming-…

#angermanagement #copingskills #emotionalregulation #healthyanger #stressmanagement #mentalhealthmatters #therapytools #selfcare #relationshipcoach

2 days ago | [YT] | 9

Relationships That Work with Michelle Farris

Why do so many codependents constantly need reassurance from others before making a decision?

2 days ago | [YT] | 3

Relationships That Work with Michelle Farris

Telling yourself it's not a big deal doesn't make the feeling smaller. I know because I've done this more times than I can count. And I've watched hundreds of clients do the same thing, convincing themselves out of their own feelings before they even have a chance to process them.

Here's what actually happens when we do this. The feeling doesn't disappear just because we decide it shouldn't be there. It just goes underground. And every time we dismiss our own feelings with "I'm probably overreacting" or "it's not worth making a big deal out of" or "I should just let this go," we're not just dismissing the feeling. We're dismissing ourselves.

Over time, that pattern of self-dismissal creates a real disconnect from your own inner experience. You stop trusting your reactions. You stop knowing what you actually feel versus what you think you're supposed to feel. You start looking to other people to tell you whether something was a big deal or not, because you've lost the ability to trust your own judgment about it.

This is one of the core wounds I see in codependency recovery, this deep disconnection from your own feelings that started as a coping strategy and became a way of life.

The antidote isn't dramatic. It starts with something very simple. The next time you catch yourself saying it's not a big deal, pause and ask yourself, but what if it is? What if this feeling is trying to tell me something important?

Because it probably is. Your feelings are not the problem. Dismissing them is.

If this resonates with you, my free resource library is a great place to start reconnecting with yourself.
www.counselingrecovery.com/resource-library-access

#codependency #emotionalhealth #selfawareness #healingjourney #mentalhealthmatters #therapytools #selftrust #emotionalregulation #relationshipcoach #counselingrecovery

3 days ago | [YT] | 12

Relationships That Work with Michelle Farris

What is the one thing that makes a difficult conversation go better before you even open your mouth?

3 days ago | [YT] | 4

Relationships That Work with Michelle Farris

You don't have to react the second you feel angry. I know it can feel that way in the moment, like the feeling is so urgent that you have to do something with it right now. But that urgency is actually part of what gets us into trouble.

Here's what I want you to really hear today. There is a window between feeling angry and reacting to it. A small but incredibly important gap where you still have a choice. The goal isn't to suppress what you're feeling or pretend it isn't there. The goal is simply to notice it before it takes the wheel completely.

Most people miss that window entirely because they were never taught to look for it. Nobody told them that anger doesn't have to be acted on immediately. That you can feel it fully and still choose how you respond to it. That pausing for even thirty seconds can be the difference between a conversation that connects and one that causes real damage.

This is one of the most powerful skills I teach, and it sounds almost too simple when I describe it. Just notice it. Just pause. But for someone who has spent years reacting on autopilot, that pause can feel enormous at first.

The good news is that it gets easier every single time you practice it. And the more you practice it, the more control you actually feel, not over the other person, but over yourself. And that's the only control that ever really matters.

If this is something you struggle with, say me too in the comments. My free anger management course is a great place to start building this skill.
counselingrecovery.lpages.co/free-email-anger-mana…

#angermanagement #emotionalregulation #healthyanger #copingskills #mentalhealthmatters #selfawareness #therapytools #stressmanagement #relationshipcoach

4 days ago | [YT] | 17