What’s the line between loving someone and losing yourself in the process?

This week, we explore the subtle differences between caretaking and compassion.

Khanyilanga wrestles with how to set loving boundaries with a friend struggling with addiction, while Kate faces the fear of hurting others when she speaks her truth.

Together, their stories reveal how easily our empathy can become entanglement, and how to reclaim grounded compassion rooted in honesty, respect, and self-trust.

Listen to learn:

•How to set boundaries without guilt or blame

•Why empathy doesn’t mean self-abandonment

•How to stay calm when others take your limits personally

•How to rebuild safety in your nervous system after relational trauma

If you’ve ever wondered where kindness ends and enabling begins, this episode will bring you home to a more balanced, liberated love.

Read more on the blog.

For ongoing practice and deeper learning, I warmly invite you to become a member of The School of Human Connection.

Twice a month, I host live calls where members bring real relationship dilemmas. We slow things down and I'll help you see what's actually happening and how to respond with more integrity, strength and care.

You will find a safe space for live discussions and a supportive community of like-minded, open-hearted humans.

Stay updated on new episodes and resources by subscribing wherever you listen to podcasts or visiting yvetteerasmus.com.

Here are more ways to connect with me:

• Join the School of Human Connection
• Hop on my free Wednesday live call
• Follow me on YouTube

In this episode of Conversations from the Heart, we explore one of the most bewildering dynamics in adult relationships: when we find ourselves deeply attached to someone who simply cannot meet us where we are.

Even when our minds know the relationship isn’t mutual or nourishing, parts of us keep circling back: longing, hoping, checking the “well” for water that isn’t there.

Through a heartfelt exchange with Judith, we trace how these patterns often have their roots in early attachment wounds. We talk about how our younger parts, the child that still wants to be seen, the teenager who still hopes someone will change, can unconsciously run the show, even in our most adult moments. And we explore how to bring loving awareness to those inner parts, to let them grieve, and to gently reorient toward relationships that feel reciprocal, alive, and truly safe.

This conversation is for anyone who has ever felt confused about why letting go feels so hard, even when you “know better.” It’s about learning the difference between codependence and interdependence, between trying to fix others and truly caring for ourselves, and finding peace in the knowing that healing doesn’t mean we stop needing people; it means we learn how to choose the ones who can meet us there.

Read more on the blog.

For ongoing practice and deeper learning, I warmly invite you to become a member of The School of Human Connection.

Twice a month, I host live calls where members bring real relationship dilemmas. We slow things down and I'll help you see what's actually happening and how to respond with more integrity, strength and care.

You will find a safe space for live discussions and a supportive community of like-minded, open-hearted humans.

Stay updated on new episodes and resources by subscribing wherever you listen to podcasts or visiting yvetteerasmus.com.

Here are more ways to connect with me:

• Join the School of Human Connection
• Hop on my free Wednesday live call
• Follow me on YouTube

This conversation invites us to explore one of the deepest lessons in emotional maturity: learning to be in relationship with our feelings without being ruled by them.

Through a heartfelt dialogue about parenting, school anxiety, and our own patterns of overwhelm, we discover that the path to growing up isn’t about avoiding what’s hard, but about developing a loving and steady relationship with the “vehicle” we live in: our body, our emotions, and our lived experience.

We walk through the tender terrain of a parent’s grief and a child’s avoidance, uncovering how easily love can turn into enabling, and how empathy can lose its grounding without boundaries.

Together, we explore what it means to help a child, and ourselves, build strength from discomfort, rather than collapse in its presence. This episode is a compassionate reminder that our feelings are sacred messengers, but they are not the drivers. We are.

Listen to learn:

•How to find the line between empathy and enabling

•What the Zone of Proximal Development means for emotional growth

•How to stay attuned to your child’s unique pace and capacities

•Why discomfort, not avoidance, is the soil for confidence

•How to model agency and resilience for your kids (and yourself)

Read more on the blog.

For ongoing practice and deeper learning, I warmly invite you to become a member of The School of Human Connection.

Twice a month, I host live calls where members bring real relationship dilemmas. We slow things down and I'll help you see what's actually happening and how to respond with more integrity, strength and care.

You will find a safe space for live discussions and a supportive community of like-minded, open-hearted humans.

Stay updated on new episodes and resources by subscribing wherever you listen to podcasts or visiting yvetteerasmus.com.

Here are more ways to connect with me:

• Join the School of Human Connection
• Hop on my free Wednesday live call
• Follow me on YouTube