Triggered and True
Triggered & True is a podcast about emotional healing, grief, and self-compassion hosted by Laura Duncan, creator of the Compassion Method™, and co-host Brian Freise. Each episode explores shame, anger, anxiety, and the triggers that control our lives, offering a path to healing rooted in compassion rather than self-improvement. Drawing on over 14 years of experience helping people through trauma, loss, and grief, Laura shares the simple three-word method: Awareness, Comfort, Discovery. Brian's personal journey from debilitating panic attacks to relief through this approach adds a firsthand perspective. New episodes are released monthly on the third Saturday.
Episodes
Why Do I Do Stupid Things? (Ep. 2) – Extended Edition with Laura Duncan
Why do we react in ways we regret when we’re triggered—and why can it feel so impossible to stop in the moment?In this Extended Edition of Winning the War for Your Heart, Laura Duncan highlights what to listen for as Brian Freise, author of Above All Else, shares the brain science behind our emotional reactions and how understanding the primal brain changed the way he saw his own triggers.Then Lau
Your Anxiety Is Trying To Tell You Something (Ep. 1) — Extended Edition with Laura Duncan
What if your anxiety, panic, or depression isn't something you need to get rid of—but something you need to learn to listen to?In this Extended Edition of Winning the War for Your Heart, Laura Duncan shares what to listen for in Brian story as he recounts the night panic entered his life and the four words— “It’s as bad as it feels” —that became his first experience with real compassion.Laur
God Wants to Love You—So Why Do You Keep Pushing Him Away? | Winning The War For Your Heart (Ep. 7)
What if emotional healing isn’t about fixing your pain — but discovering who you were created to be?In this episode of Winning the War for Your Heart, Brian Freise — author of Above All Else — sits down with Laura Duncan, creator of the Compassion Method and the person who walked Brian through his own healing journey. Together, they explore what happens when we stop trying to fix, suppress, or sha
How to Be Okay When Everything Around You Isn’t | Winning The War For Your Heart (Ep. 6)
Your greatest superpower is learning to be okay when it's not okay all around you.In Episode 6 of Winning the War for Your Heart, Brian Freise — author of Above All Else — gives you the most practical tool in the Compassion Method arsenal: the Remote Control Exercise. Brian walks through the exact 5-step process he uses every time a trigger fires, the 3 tender emotions hiding underneath every
(Ep. 75) Is Any Condition Too Broken to Heal? OCD, Bipolar & Faith Questions
What if even the conditions that feel most hopeless, the ones you've been told no one can help, aren't the end of your story?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise open the mailbag for a wide-ranging round of listener questions, from mental health to matters of faith. It's an honest, compassionate conversation that meets people right where the
The Most Powerful Force In The Universe | Winning The War For Your Heart (Ep. 5)
Compassion is what love feels like in the trenches.In Episode 5 of Winning the War for Your Heart, Brian Freise — author of Above All Else — exposes the most misunderstood force in the universe. Brian breaks down the difference between pity and compassion, the brutal truth that enablement is not compassion (it's selfishness in disguise), and the Jesus story that wrecked his entire view of wha
You're Not The Horrible Person You Might Think You Are (Like I Did). | Winning The War For Your Heart (Ep. 4)
You're not the horrible person you think you are.In Episode 4 of Winning the War for Your Heart, Brian Freise — author of Above All Else — exposes the origins of shame and the prison it builds inside every human heart. Brian walks through the Genesis 3 moment when Adam and Eve's eyes were opened to a story of deficiency God never intended, the cosmic blame game that's been echoing t
You're Not Broken. You Were Never Broken. | Winning The War For Your Heart (Ep. 3)
You're not broken. You were never broken.In Episode 3 of Winning the War for Your Heart, Brian Freise — author of Above All Else — shares the first words Laura Duncan said to him when he walked into her office asking to be fixed. Brian opens up about the 8-year-old photo exercise that cracked his heart open, the four core deficiencies he discovered in his own childhood, and the orphanage anal
Why Do I Do Stupid Things? The Brain Science Behind Your Triggers | Winning The War For Your Heart (Ep. 2)
Why do we do the stupid things we do? And why, in the moment, does it feel so impossible to stop?In Episode 2 of Winning the War for Your Heart, Brian Freise shares the story of a Starbucks fight that he was afraid would end his marriage—and the surprising conversation with Laura that helped him understand what was really happening beneath his reaction.Brian explores what happens when your primal
Your Anxiety Is Trying To Tell You Something | Winning The War For Your Heart (Ep. 1)
Welcome to Winning the War for Your Heart, a special series based on Brian Freise's book, Above All Else.What if your anxiety, panic, or depression isn't something you need to get rid of—but something you actually need to learn to listen to?In Episode 1, Brian tells the story of the night pain invaded his life in a way he could no longer ignore, numb, or outrun.Brian takes us back to Nov
(Ep. 74) Feeling Stuck in Your Healing? You're Not as Stuck as You Think
What if feeling stuck, like you've slipped backward in your healing, isn't a sign the work has failed, but a sign it's finally you've grown more than you think?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Friese continue their series on how the Compassion Method brings biblical truths to life, this time turning to perseverance, and what to do when you
(Ep. 73) Does God Even Hear Me? Why Prayer Feels So Hard
What if the reason prayer feels so difficult has less to do with your faith—and more to do with the wounds you've carried since childhood?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Friese continue their series on how the Compassion Method brings biblical truths to life by exploring prayer, forgiveness, loving your enemies, and other commands that often feel imposs
(Ep. 72) Why You Can't Force Emotional Growth: Shame, Self-Control & the Performance Trap
What if the Christian life was never meant to be about trying harder, but about healing deeply enough that love becomes natural?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Friese continue their conversation about faith and emotional healing by exploring one of the biggest misunderstandings in the Christian life: the difference between producing the fruit of the Spirit a
(Ep. 71) Why You Can’t Truly Love God if You Hate Yourself
What if the healing that's transforming your heart is more biblical than you've been led to believe?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Friese continue their conversation about common objections to the Compassion Method by addressing one of the biggest questions they hear from Christians: Is this process actually biblical?Laura shares her own faith jou
(Ep. 70) These 4 Beliefs Stop Emotional Healing (Objections to The Compassion Method)
What if the emotions you've spent your whole life trying to avoid are actually trying to help you heal?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Friese tackle one of the most common objections to the Compassion Method: "Shouldn't I ignore my feelings instead of paying attention to them?" Together, they unpack why so many of us fear our emotions, wh
(Ep. 69) Why Your Pain Is a Terrible Fuel Source (And What to Use Instead)
What if the questions you keep asking are actually pointing you toward the healing you've been looking for?In this special Q&A episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Friese answer listener questions about emotional healing, the Compassion Method, trauma, learning, and what it really looks like to grow when life feels overwhelming.From navigating new challenges and
(Ep. 68) A Roadmap to True Freedom – Science, Stillness, and the Compassion Method
What if the freedom you're searching for isn't found by doing more, but by learning how to be still?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Friese explore what they call a roadmap to true freedom, weaving together neuroscience, emotional healing, the Compassion Method, and faith to show why lasting transformation begins with slowing down instead of strivin
(Ep. 67) Confidently being You: Turning Triggers into Tools for Growth and Freedom
What if the emotional trigger you're trying to avoid is actually the doorway to your healing?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Friese challenge one of the biggest misconceptions about emotional triggers: that they're something to fear or eliminate. Instead, they explain why triggers can become one of the greatest gifts in your emotional healing journ
(Ep. 66) Navigating the Emotional Minefield of the Holidays
What if the holidays don't have to be something you survive—but something you actually experience?In this special holiday episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Friese explore why Christmas and family gatherings can stir up so many emotional triggers—and how you can approach them with greater peace, awareness, and self-compassion.Rather than offering another list of h
(Ep. 65) Rebuilding Trust from the Inside Out
What if the person you trust the least... is yourself?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Friese unpack one of the deepest roots beneath anxiety, relationship struggles, and emotional triggers: self-trust. They explore why betrayal by others often awakens something much older—and why healing begins by restoring trust in yourself before trying to rebuild trust wi
Get To Know Triggered & True - A Compassion Method™ Podcast
What if the healing you've been looking for doesn't start with fixing yourself—but with finally understanding yourself?If you're new to Triggered & True, this is the perfect place to begin. In this special introduction episode, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Friese share what the podcast is all about, why emotional healing matters, and how the Compassion Method helps people move
(Ep. 64) Uncovering Shame: Reclaiming Your True Self (Part 2)
What if the shame you've spent your whole life outrunning traces back to something as simple as being a sensitive kid who felt too small?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise follow up on their last conversation ("Uncovering Shame, Reclaiming Your True Self") by getting deeply personal — Brian opens up the actual roots of his own shame, and l
(Ep. 63) Uncovering Shame: Reclaiming Your True Self
What if there's a quiet virus running underneath everything — one that keeps the emotional healing from taking hold, and you don't even know it's there?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise go deep on the one thing that may block your healing more than anything else: shame. Brian compares it to a virus running low-grade on your operating syst
(Ep. 62) Judging Yourself: The Hidden Root of Judging Others
What if the harsh way you judge other people is really a mirror of the way you quietly judge yourself?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise take on judgment — and the surprising place it comes from. Starting with Matthew 7 ("judge not, that you be not judged") and reading it with the word "condemn" in place of "judge," they dra
(Ep. 61) How These Couples and Individuals Found Healing with The Compassion Method™
What if hearing real people tell you exactly how healing changed their lives is the encouragement you needed to believe it could change yours?In this very special episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise hand the microphone to the people who've lived it: brave graduates and students of the Compassion Method who share honest testimony from their own journeys. Each
Ep. (60) The Connection Between Physical and Emotional Health
What if physical pain isn't just physical — what if it's quietly pressing on an emotional wound and making the whole thing feel a hundred times worse?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise explore a connection they'd only ever hinted at before: the deep link between physical and emotional health. The timing wasn't planned — within a singl
Ep. (59) The Remote-Control Exercise – Live Walkthrough with Myles and Lorilyn
What if the anxiety — or the shutdown — that's followed you for years isn't chasing you, but is a scared, lonely child trying to get your attention?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise continue their live walkthroughs of the remote control exercise with two brave volunteers, and the pairing is illuminating — because Laura takes two very different
Ep. (58) The Remote Control Exercise – Live Walkthrough with Mel and Brien
What if watching someone else navigate their emotional pain in real time could show you the way through your own?In this special episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise do something they've never done on the podcast before: walk real listeners through the remote control exercise live. Two brave volunteers each agreed to be a "guinea pig" — bringing a g
Ep. (57) The Art and Science of The Remote Control Exercise
What if the emotional reaction you've been fighting to control for twenty years could simply stop being a reaction at all?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise devote a full episode to the tool at the practical heart of the Compassion Method: the remote control exercise. They first introduced it back in Episode 6, but here they go deeper — into both th
Ep. (56) I Feel Like I Am Failing at This
What if the meltdown that made you feel like a failure is actually proof that the healing is working?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise get honest about a feeling every listener knows: "I feel like I'm failing at this." Whether you're brand new to the Compassion Method or 56 episodes deep, there will be moments — often right after som
Ep. (55) The Knowledge of Good and Evil: The Root of All Pain
What if the exhausting question running under everything — Am I good enough? — is the very thing keeping you from freedom?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise return to an idea they first explored back in Episode 9, prompted by a listener question: the knowledge of good and evil as the ultimate root of all pain, anxiety, and depression. It's a convers
Ep. (54) We will treat others how we treat ourselves
What if the way you treat everyone around you is just leaking out from the way you quietly treat yourself?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise put a revealing spin on the golden rule. We know "do unto others as you'd have them do unto you" — but this conversation flips it: we will treat others the way we treat ourselves, whether or not we me
(Ep. 53) Healing the Parent/Child Relationship
What if you could heal the wound between you and your parent — or your child — even if they never change, and even if they're no longer here?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise turn to a relationship almost everyone carries some pain around: parent and child. Laura shares her heart for this one — she's watched so many people, parent and grown ch
(Ep. 52) If you have never had anyone be with you in the problem, you will medicate with the solution.
What if everything you reach for to feel better — even the "good" things — is really you trying not to be alone in your pain?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise build an entire conversation around a single line from Brian's old notes: "If you have never had anyone be with you in the problem, you will medicate with the solution." I
(Ep. 51) Addressing TCM misconceptions
What if the very reasons you've decided this "won't work for you" are the misconceptions keeping you from the help you need?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise clear up the most common misconceptions about the Compassion Method — the sticking points and misunderstandings that quietly keep people stuck, or convince them not to try at al
(Ep. 50) The Keys
What if one conversation, one workshop, one moment of desperation could quietly change the entire direction of your life?For their milestone 50th episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise take a step back to look at how far the journey has come — and to bring the whole Compassion Method full circle for longtime listeners and newcomers alike. If this is your first episo
(Ep. 49) Learning To Feel Your Emotions
What if you were never actually bad at feeling your emotions — you just were never taught how, and never got to practice?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise get practical about the skill underneath all the others: learning to feel your emotions.It's personal for Brian, who spent 43 years not feeling — until, as he puts it, the volcano erupted and lan
(Ep. 48) Understanding the Connection Between Shame and Blame
What if that constant feeling of being misunderstood — or unable to trust anyone — isn't about the people around you at all?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise revisit shame and blame with fresh revelations Laura has recently uncovered. It starts with a refresher — shame is so debilitating because it whispers that what you do is who you are, which fe
(Ep. 47) Connecting the Compassion Method™ to Your Faith (Part 3)
What if the truest thing about you — underneath every reaction, every failure, every good deed — is simply that you are, love?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise bring their three-part faith series to a close. If your true self was created in the image of God, and God is love, then your true self is love — so why don't we act like it? This finale ans
(Ep. 46) Connecting the Compassion Method™ to Your Faith (Part 2)
What if the "mom and dad" work you were afraid was unspiritual is actually God's own design — the same pattern He chose for His own Son?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise continue their series connecting the Compassion Method to the Christian faith. Picking up where part one left off, they take on a question that trips up a lot of believer
(Ep. 45) Connecting the Compassion Method™ to your Faith
What if doing all the right things for God has quietly left your heart untended — and there's a way to have faith without the shame?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise go deep on something listeners have been asking for: the Compassion Method in the context of the Christian faith — how it helps you actually live your faith, and where the whole method
(Ep. 44) How you can go deeper with the Compassion Method™ today
You've been listening for a while, feeling the shift — and you're ready to ask, "Okay, so what's my next step?"In this episode of Triggered & True, the focus turns to Laura Duncan herself — her story, and the body of work that's grown up around the Compassion Method. After 43 episodes and a steady stream of listeners asking how to go deeper, Laura and co-host Bria
(Ep. 43) What relationships look like on the other side of The Compassion Method
What if getting healthier quietly changes every friendship you have — including the ones you thought were solid?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise turn from the intimate relationships they've covered before — spouse, kids — to the ones just a step removed: friends and extended family. As students in Laura's school kept noticing, life looks diff
(Ep. 42) Guiding Adult Children Using The Compassion Method Process
What if the hardest part of watching your grown child struggle is what it quietly stirs up inside you?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise take on a subject close to both their hearts — and to their own current season of life: the relationship between parents and their adult children. Requested by several listeners, it's an honest, in-the-arena conver
(Ep. 41) Discovering Your TRUE SELF
What if the person you were created to be isn't lost — just underdeveloped, waiting for you to use them again?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise pick up right where the last episode left off. Once you've learned that your triggered reactions aren't who you really are, a natural question follows: then who am I? This is the answer — a practi
(Ep. 40) What You do is NOT who you ARE.
What if the harsh way you judge other people is really just a mirror of how you've been treating yourself?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise return to the idea at the very center of the whole show — who you are is not what you do — and follow it into a place that stings a little: judgment. Most of us look at ourselves through the lens of what we do,
(Ep. 39) The Powerful Relationship between Joy and Pain
What if the reason you can't feel joy anymore is the same reason you've been avoiding your pain?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise explore a truth that reframes both halves of your emotional life: pain and joy travel the same circuits in the brain. Suppress one and you suppress the other. It's why so many adults quietly notice the wonder,
(Ep. 38) Who’s the Victim, and who’s the villain?
What if letting go of the villain in your story isn't about excusing them — but about finally taking your power back?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise take on a deliberately provocative idea — one they warn may trigger you: there are no villains in life. It's not a comfortable message, and they know it. We've been taught every story needs
(Ep. 37) Discover These 4 Ways to Love and Care for Yourself Using the Compassion Method
What if "love yourself" has always felt vague — because no one ever told you there are four different ways to do it?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise unpack a framework Brian first encountered in Laura's Compassion Method school and immediately wanted to bring to the podcast: the four ways we love ourselves.Most of us are strong in one or
(Ep. 36) Applying The Compassion Method (TCM) to children and parenting
What if the most powerful thing you could do for your struggling child isn't to fix them — but to heal something in yourself?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise take on parenting — and turn it on its head. A listener asked how to walk a triggered child through the Compassion Method: do you do the remote control exercise with them, look for gift giver
(Ep. 35) What happens when the pain is simply too BIG?!?
What if the tools that usually calm you stop working the moment you need them most — when the fear is so big you can't even think?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise answer a question every anxious heart will recognize. A listener who'd binged 24 episodes wrote in: when her husband was in a car accident and she spent three hours not knowing if h
(Ep. 34) Learning to Comfort Grief and Identify its Hidden Forms
What if you've been carrying grief for years — over things you never even let yourself call grief?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise return to a subject at the very root of the Compassion Method — grief — but this time they go looking for its hidden forms. Most of us only recognize grief in death. Laura, whose own journey began with losing her husba
(Ep. 33.) Emotions Are Not Your Enemy
What if the emotions you've spent your whole life trying to master were never your enemy — but a messenger you were taught not to hear?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise take on a belief many of us absorbed young: that emotions are messy, weak, or dangerous — something to suppress and rule over rather than feel. Brian grew up seeing emotion as a sig
(Ep.32) Answering Your Frequently Asked Questions
What if you stopped pouring your energy into fixing everyone around you, and put it toward the one world you can actually change?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise open the mailbag again, answering listener questions that all circle the same quiet, universal cry: my environment isn't okay — how do I fix it? It's an honest, practical conversatio
(Ep. 31) The Psychology of Money
What if the reason "enough" money never feels like enough has nothing to do with money at all?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise — a business owner and co-host — explore the psychology of money, borrowing the title of Morgan Housel's excellent book and then adding the one thing they feel it leaves out: the why. Housel brilliantly describes
(Ep. 30) CM in the Marketplace - Do Our Protectors Increase Our Performance?
What if the pain-driven drive that made you successful is the very thing keeping you from your next level?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise return to the marketplace — and ask a question that top performers rarely stop to consider: our protectors help us perform, so do we even want to heal them? Brian kicks it off with an observation from the business w
(Ep. 29) Navigating Manipulation, Narcissism, and Gaslighting
What if the behaviors we're quickest to label in others — manipulation, narcissism, gaslighting — are almost always coming from a place of pain and lack?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise take on three of the most charged buzzwords in our culture right now: manipulation, narcissism, and gaslighting. It's an unplanned episode, sparked by a real
(Ep. 28) Divorce and the Compassion Method Process
What if the hardest part of divorce isn't the paperwork or the custody — it's the grief no one ever gave you permission to feel?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise turn toward a subject that rarely gets the care it deserves: divorce. We have marriage counseling, but almost no one has "divorce counseling," so people pour their energy in
(Ep. 27) Revisiting Child Self
What if the "you" that got covered up years ago is still in there, and reaching them is the key to knowing who you really are?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise revisit one of the most important and, admittedly, one of the most easily misunderstood concepts in the whole method: your child self. Before shame told you to perform for love, before
(Ep. 26) With Special Guest Anthony Bulau
What if being okay inside yourself — no matter what's happening around you — could change not just your life, but the world?In this special episode of Triggered & True, the tables turn: Anthony, creative director of Laura Duncan Consulting and an overseer of Laura's school, the Conservatory of the Heart, steps in as guest host to interview Laura Duncan and Brian Freise. It's a w
(Ep. 25) The 10 Gifts (Part 2)
What if your emotional pain isn't a problem to fix, but a signal flare showing you exactly what your heart's been missing?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise return to one of their most-loved topics — the 10 Gifts — but this time the focus is application, not just understanding. Because knowing the concept is easy; actually giving your younger s
(Ep. 24) Codependency
What if the exhausting work of keeping everyone around you okay is the very thing keeping you from the connection you're aching for?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise tackle codependence — and cut through the buzzwords with a one-sentence test simple enough to change how you see every relationship. It starts with a listener's question about sta
(Ep. 23) Forgiveness and the Compassion Method
What if you've forgiven someone a hundred times — and it still hasn't set you free?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise take on forgiveness, and why the way most of us were taught to forgive doesn't actually work. We know forgiveness matters — our faith teaches it, our parents demanded it, and unforgiveness really is like drinking poison and
(Ep. 22) True Self and Faith
What if loving yourself, the way so many Christians are afraid to, is exactly what frees you to love God and others more?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise speak directly to people of faith — and especially the Christian listeners who've wondered how the Compassion Method squares with what they believe. It's an honest, scripture-engaged convers
(Ep. 21) The Trigger of Faith and Religion
What if you could walk into any room, any church, any argument, any group you can't stand, and still be at peace?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise take on one of the most charged topics there is: religion, and the triggers it stirs up in believers and non-believers alike. It's a careful, disarming conversation, explicitly not about changing an
(Ep. 20) The Compassion Method in the Marketplace
What if your boss has quietly become your parent — and every performance review is really a child asking, "Am I enough?"In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise take the Compassion Method into the place many of us spend half our waking hours: the workplace. Because your heart goes with you wherever you go, the same triggers, unmet needs, and childhoo
(Ep. 19) The Compassion Method in the Context of Marriage & Relationships Plus Some Thoughts on Being Single
What if the person you married was never supposed to fill the hole your childhood left?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise turn the Compassion Method toward marriage — and land somewhere most marriage advice never goes. Laura explains why her work with couples isn't really about the marriage at all: your spouse is the closest thing to your early chil
(Ep. 18) Brian’s Healing Journey
What if the breakdown that terrifies you is actually the beginning of waking up?In this deeply personal episode of Triggered & True, co-host Brian Freise finally tells his own story in full — the one he's only shared in pieces until now. After 43 years of numbing his emotions without even the vocabulary for emotional pain, Brian experienced what he calls his "great awakening" —
(Ep. 17) Social Media & Emotional Health
What if the app designed to know you better than you know yourself is actually handing you a map to your own unhealed pain?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise take on a topic that feels like a departure but lands right at the heart of emotional health: social media, AI, and what your feed is doing to your inner world. Brian, who's been studying this
(Ep. 16) Answering Your Questions
What if the questions you've been afraid to ask about healing are the same ones other listeners are quietly wrestling with too?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise open the mailbag and answer real questions submitted by listeners around the world.It's a wide-ranging, honest conversation that meets people exactly where they are — from those trying
(Ep. 15) Deep Dive Into Famous Quotes from Laura Duncan (Part 2)
What if the person you think is hurting you is mostly pressing on a wound that was already there?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise continue through the sayings Laura's clients carry with them — the one-liners that stay accessible even in a triggered moment, when your adult brain has gone offline and big ideas are out of reach.They open with the cod
(Ep. 14) Deep Dive Into Famous Quotes From Laura Duncan (Part 1)
What if a single sentence could tell you whether you're living from shame or from your true self?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise do something a little different: they take the sayings Laura repeats most, the ones her clients carry around for years, and unpack what's actually underneath them. It's part review, part deep-dive, and a great
(Ep. 13) The Compassion Method™ for Students: An Interview With Students Laura Taught
What if you'd learned how to understand your own emotions at nine years old instead of forty-nine?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise sit down with three teenagers — Mari, Johan, and Lexi — who learned the Compassion Method as children. Years ago, their Montessori teacher invited Laura into the classroom once a week, and from fourth grade through eig
(Ep. 12) There’s more to your story: experience a new life today as you navigate your protectors.
What if the very thing you're most praised for is actually protecting a wound nobody sees?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise dig into protectors — the coping mechanisms we picked up as children to feel safe, and quietly kept using for the rest of our lives. Some look terrible from the outside: addiction, self-sabotage. But many look wonderful, peopl
(Ep. 11) Our Privilege in Pain: What You Haven’t Heard About Our True Self
What if you've spent your whole life trying to be good, and being good was never the point?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise pick up the conversation about true self and go straight at the quote that stops people in their tracks: what you do matters, but who you are matters more. It's a phrase Laura says triggers people — especially those who&
(Ep. 10) 3 Practical Ways to Experience Joy and Heal Pain
What if there's an entire world inside you — an extraordinary person the striving covered up? A person who's simply waiting to be discovered.In this milestone 10th episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise finally arrive at what the entire series has been building toward: your true self. Everything before this — the triggers, the shame, the pain, the unmet ne
(Ep. 9) The Knowledge of Good and Evil: Why Managing Our Shame Isn’t the Solution
What if the endless pressure to be "good" is quietly doing as much damage as anything "bad" you've ever done?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise take on the idea Laura calls the root of nearly all anxiety and depression: the knowledge of good and evil. Going back to the Garden of Eden, they unpack why the problem was never just kn
(Ep. 8) What’s Your Body Telling You with Courtney Lancaster & Krystal Freise
What if your racing heart, your tight chest, your panic — weren't signs something's wrong with you, but your body trying to protect you?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise open up the studio to two guests: life coach Courtney Lancaster and trauma-sensitive yoga teacher Crystal Freise.Together they have a conversation about how triggers and traum
(Ep. 7) Laura’s Personal Journey Through Grief
What if the most painful chapter of your life became the thing that helped you heal, and helped thousands of others heal too?In this deeply personal episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan shares the story at the very heart of the Compassion Method: the illness and loss of her husband, Jeff. Over a year of caregiving through ALS, raising four young children, and grieving both before and afte
(Ep. 6) The Remote Control Exercise
What if you could put your worst trigger on pause, and finally hear what it's trying to tell you?In this episode of Triggered & True, emotional health consultant Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise walk through one of the most practical tools in the Compassion Method: the Remote Control Exercise. It's a step-by-step way to move through a trigger at the moment and not to fix yoursel
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