Real Talk with Lisa Sonni: Relationships Uncensored
This is the podcast your abuser doesn’t want you to hear.
Hosted by relationship coach and abuse recovery educator Lisa Sonni, Real Talk pulls back the curtain on toxic and abusive dynamics, romantic relationships, familial, and friendships. This is the raw truth no one else is saying out loud. No sugarcoating. No “just leave” advice.
Just real stories, real insight, and real talk—so you can finally feel seen, not silenced.
Episodes
27 episodes
Can Narcissists Really Change? w/ Dr. Elinor Greenberg | S2E13
You can’t love a narcissist hard enough to make them change.And loyalty isn’t the cure — it’s the trap.In this powerful conversation, Lisa sits down with psychologist and narcissism expert Dr. Elinor Greenberg to dismantle the fanta...
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Season 2
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Episode 13
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36:02
The Secret Weapon Every Abusive Man Uses w/ Dr. Christine Cocchiola | S2E12
Control doesn’t always look like control. Sometimes it looks like care, protection, or “respect.” That’s what makes coercive control the most dangerous form of abuse because it hides in plain sight.Dr. Christine Cocchiola, clinician, su...
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Season 2
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Episode 12
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42:01
What Divorce Lawyers Know That Therapists Don’t w/ Justin Lee | S2E11
Therapists hear what people say in marriage. Divorce lawyers see what people do when it ends. And what they see tells the truth about power, control, and the quiet games that keep women stuck in “high-conflict” divorces. Lisa sits d...
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Season 2
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Episode 11
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52:02
Why Gender Does Matter in Abuse Conversations w/ Rebecca Pacheco | S2E10
“Abuse isn’t gendered.”That phrase gets thrown around every time women speak up. Yet, it’s not true and it’s not harmless.Lisa sits down with Rebecca Pacheco, Education and Development Manager at Embrave: Agency to End Vio...
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Season 2
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Episode 10
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42:08
When “You Owe Him Sex” Is Abuse w/ Dr. Danielle Kramer | S2E9
If you’ve ever said yes to sex when every part of you wanted to say no, that’s not “being a good partner,” It’s coercion. Coercion is abuse.Lisa sits down with certified sex therapist and clinical sexologist Dr. Danielle Kr...
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Season 2
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Episode 9
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42:02
Why You Didn’t Know It Was Abuse with Chelli Pumphrey | S2E8
“If it was really abuse, you would’ve left.” That lie has silenced survivors for decades. The truth? Most women in abusive relationships don’t know it’s abuse, because abusers work hard to make sure they don’t. Lisa sits down with trau...
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Season 2
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Episode 8
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39:27
The World Doesn’t Need Softer Men…It Needs Evolved Ones w/ Nick Matiash | S2E7
We keep telling men to “open up” and “be more emotional,” but that’s not the problem — and it’s definitely not the solution. Real strength isn’t found in suppressing feelings or turning men into girlfriends; it’s found in presence, purpose, and...
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Season 2
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Episode 7
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50:36
Narcissistic Abuse Is a Cult: Trauma Bonds, Brainwashing, and Breaking Free with Vanessa Reiser | S2E6
When a relationship feels like oxygen at first and a chokehold later, you’re not “being dramatic”—you’re being indoctrinated. Narcissistic abuse doesn’t look like a one-off bad boyfriend; it mirrors a cult: love-bombing as recruitment, rules th...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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40:19
The Mid-Loser Fear: Why I'm More Scared for My Daughter Than My Son | S2E05
Staying up at night over your daughter’s safety is expected. Losing sleep over your son becoming the guy who drains a woman’s light? That’s the fear most moms whisper about. In a culture that platforms the manosphere and calls misogyny “self-im...
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Season 2
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Episode 5
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40:50
Stalking and Narcissistic Abuse: Why It’s a Red Flag for Lethal Violence with Lt. Mark Wynn | S2E04
Stalking isn’t love, and it's certainly not devotion. It’s control, entitlement, and fear dressed up as “concern.” Survivors know that sickening feeling of being watched, followed, or “checked on,” only to be told they’re imagining it. But as r...
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Season 2
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Episode 4
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50:16
Blended Family Chaos: Stepmoms, Biomoms, and the Truth About High-Conflict Co-Parenting | S2E03
Somewhere along the way, society convinced us that the battle lines in blended families are always drawn between “evil stepmom” and “bitter baby mama.” But what if the real chaos is coming from the man in the middle—or from a system that thrive...
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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52:51
The Most Addictive Relationship Pattern In The World | S2E02
Dr. Nadine Macaluso, formerly Belfort is a British-born American psychotherapist, author, internet personality, and former model. She was the second wife of the stockbroker and financial criminal Jordan Belfort, to whom she was married from 199...
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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38:29
Finding Real Love After an Abusive Relationship | S2E01
After abuse, so many of us wonder if love is even possible again. We tell ourselves we’re too broken, too much, or too “used up". I used to believe that too—until I met Jamie.Together we share what it’s really like to build a relationsh...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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38:29
Twisting Scripture The Abuser Who Pretends to Be Godly | Ep. 014
If you've ever been in a relationship with a man who tells you that God hates divorce or weaponizes religion of any kind against you, this episode is for you. And this episode is one that he will not want you to listen to.This week, I si...
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Season 1
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Episode 14
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40:01
Serial Cheating Isn’t a Struggle. It’s a Strategy. | Ep. 013
Cheating doesn't always happen in spite of how much it hurts you. Sometimes it happens because it hurts you - because that's the exact reason they want you to feel that pain, to feel less than. But the psychology behind serial cheating is more ...
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Season 1
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Episode 13
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42:43
The Best Selling Relationship Book That Taught Him To Abuse Me | Episode 012
The Five Love Languages seems like such a helpful relationship tool - until it's weaponized by an abusive partner. I brought this popular book into my own abusive relationship hoping it would help us communicate better, only to watch it become ...
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Season 1
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Episode 12
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40:38
It’s Not That He Doesn’t Know It’s That He Doesn’t Care.. | Ep. 011
There's a kind of abuse happening in relationships that doesn't involve broken dishes or broken bones, but it's just as damaging. It's the slow destruction of your sense of self through weaponized incompetence, emotional labor dumping, and the ...
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Season 1
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Episode 11
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39:45
Why You Believed His Lies: The Psychology of Manipulation and Abuse | Ep 010
Somebody can look you dead in the eye, say everything that you've been dying to hear, and they can still be lying to you. The science behind deception in abusive relationships reveals how manipulators weaponize psychology to systematically brea...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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49:39
If My Own Children Can't Forgive Me, How Dare I Forgive Myself? | Episode 009
The hardest truth about parental accountability isn't admitting you were wrong- it's living with the consequences when your own children can't trust you enough to let you back in. This is the podcast your toxic Mom doesn't want you to lis...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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36:12
His Voice Sounded Familiar — Because It Was | Ep. 008
The voice of your abuser doesn't just sound familiar—it echoes the voices that shaped you long before you ever met them.This week, I sit down with Trauma Therapist, Logan Cooper, to explore the 7 most common childhood environments that u...
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37:12
Male Fragility: Why Accountability Feels Like an Attack | Ep. 007
Male fragility isn't weakness - it's emotional inflexibility that becomes a weapon to avoid accountability. When men explode over basic feedback, it's not about your tone or timing.This week, I'm joined by anti-misogyny educator Brent Ma...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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40:41
You Can't Love Him Into Healing | Why Women Stay With Abusive Men | Ep. 006
This episode is going to hit different. I'm joined by therapist and domestic violence survivor Aishia Grevenberg to destroy the most dangerous myth keeping women trapped: that your love can heal an abusive man.What You'll Learn...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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39:35
Why Therapy Can't Fix Abusive Men | The Truth About Misogyny vs Mental Health | Ep. 005
This episode is going to challenge everything you've been told about abusive men and why they do what they do. We're ditching the "he's just hurt" narrative and getting real about what's actually happening here.What You'll Lear...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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24:26
You're Not Confused — You're Being Manipulated | Ep. 004
In this explosive episode, Lisa and Dr. Peter Salerno drop a truth bomb that will change how you see manipulation forever. They dive deep into the uncomfortable reality that abusers manipulate on purpose, exploring whether manipulators need to ...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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34:15
Why Trauma Bonds Feel Like Love But Destroy You | Ep. 003
In this raw and vulnerable episode, Lisa opens up about the confusing reality of trauma bonds - why they feel so much like love when they're actually destroying us from the inside out.What You'll Learn:• The brain chemistry...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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24:43