Triggered and True
If you feel emotionally overwhelmed, stuck in cycles of shame, blame, and judgment, or just exhausted from trying to fix yourself, this is a place to breathe.
Triggered & True® is a podcast about emotional healing, grief, and self-compassion with Laura Duncan, creator of the Compassion Method™, and co-host Brian Freise. Each episode Laura and Brian get honest about shame, anger, anxiety, and the triggers that run our lives — and walk through healing that begins with compassion instead of self-improvement.
For over 14 years, Laura has helped people through trauma, loss, and grief. The grief that doesn't follow a timeline and comes in waves. Brian is living proof it works: after years of debilitating panic attacks, he found actual relief through the Compassion Method.
The method is three words: Awareness, Comfort, Discovery. Or put simply: Feel your pain. Get comfort. Go play. Because healing isn't becoming someone new — it's returning to who you've always been. New episodes monthly on the third Saturday.
Get your free Weekly Dose of Compassion: https://www.lauraduncan.com/pl/2148814868
Triggered and True
Get To Know Triggered & True - A Compassion Method™ Podcast
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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 through emotional triggers, shame, anxiety, and pain without becoming trapped by them.
Laura and Brian introduce the heart behind the show: healing isn't about becoming someone new—it's about returning to the true self you've always been.
They explain why emotions aren't problems to solve but invitations to discover what's happening beneath the surface, and how compassion creates lasting transformation where self-improvement alone cannot.
They also walk you through where to start in the podcast, highlight a few foundational episodes, and introduce practical resources designed to help you apply what you learn right away.
In this episode:
🔹 What "Triggered & True" means—and why emotional triggers can become invitations to healing rather than something to fear
🔹 The heart of the Compassion Method and how self-compassion helps uncover your true self instead of simply managing symptoms
🔹 Why emotional healing isn't about fixing yourself, but learning to understand and comfort the parts of you carrying pain
🔹 The best episodes for new listeners and how to begin your own healing journey through the podcast
🔹 Two practical exercises that help you move from simply learning about healing to actually experiencing it in everyday life
📩 Get your free Weekly Dose of Compassion — two short notes in your inbox every week. One to speak over yourself. One from Laura: https://www.lauraduncan.com/pl/2148814868
🔗 Learn more:
Hello and welcome to Triggered and True, the podcast that's all about diving deep into the heart of who you are. I'm Brian Friese, and I'm thrilled to be here with my co-host, the incredible Laura Duncan. Whether you're new to emotional healing or you've been on this journey for a while, you're in the right place. This is our special unnumbered episode designed to introduce you to what Triggered and True is all about. Who we are and how you can jump in.
SPEAKER_01Hi everyone, I'm Laura Duncan, and I'm here to welcome you to this space, Triggered and True. This is where we get to talk about things that really matter, like our emotions, our pain, and our true self. We're here to guide you through this process that's helped thousands of people, including myself and Brian, find peace and discover who we're always meant to be. So welcome to this space.
SPEAKER_00So what is triggered and true? Let's start with the name. It's catchy, maybe a little bit edgy, but Laura, what in the world does it mean?
SPEAKER_01So triggered and true means that we are recognizing and learning how to connect with our triggered self, which your triggered self is that those moments in life where you feel anxious, you feel angry, you feel reactions to the world around you. That's our triggered self. And then we're leading through, walking through that doorway of who our triggered self is. We're going into who our true self is. And our true self is that moment where we're truly who we are. So the podcast is centered around our triggered self and the triggers that we have in this life that leads us into our true self and being able to be who we truly are.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. I think a lot of people think that what they do is who they are.
SPEAKER_01Yes, exactly.
SPEAKER_00And in a lot of cases, what they do is just a triggered reaction and it has nothing to do with who they truly are. And this podcast is helping you see the difference and helping you comfort what's causing the triggered pain reaction and return you to who you truly are, who you were created to be.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, to take away the feeling that it feels like when we're triggered, it's the enemy and there's something wrong with us, and to actually recognize that there's something beautiful about that part of ourselves that ultimately leads us back to who we are.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. There's nothing wrong with you, and you don't need to be fixed.
SPEAKER_01Exactly.
SPEAKER_00So a little bit more about each of us. So, Laura, can you tell us a little bit more about yourself?
SPEAKER_01Yes. Um, I call myself a life consultant and I'm a compassion method consultant that helps many people walk through emotional pain in order to be able to heal and to be able to come back to who they are. Um, I'm not a traditional counselor, so I have it. So it's not so much about just venting and being able to, you know, talk through things, but it's actually being able to get to the roots of things that keep us from being able to be our true self.
SPEAKER_00Laura, I do gotta say, when I first met you, I did a bit of venting. Okay.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_00But what I really loved about your process is you always brought me back to me. And I would say if someone had to ask me the biggest difference between your approach to working with people and maybe some traditional ones, is that your goal is to train yourself out of a job.
SPEAKER_01Exactly.
SPEAKER_00Yep. You you did a very good job empowering me with this process you developed so that I could basically, you know, pick up the ball and run with it.
SPEAKER_01Yes, exactly.
SPEAKER_00So a little bit more about me, as you could probably tell. I am a student of the process that Laura has developed uh to help me go from triggered to true. I met Laura in a very, very triggered point in my life that I've come to very affectionately call my great awakening, which you can learn more about on episode 18. And I am uh entrepreneur. I ran a business for over 20 years. I've been very successful in the marketplace, which is one of the reasons why when I had my great awakening, I was uh so lost because I've always been very on top of things. And my great awakening was a period of time where I was not on top of things at all. Life was very much on top of me, and I had no idea what was going on. I was in a complete swirl. And uh thankfully I met Laura and the compassion method process that she developed, and that's helped me tremendously. So, my why for doing the podcast really is first and foremost for myself, because it helps me dig deeper into the compassion method and helps me stay focused and stay grounded. Uh, I learn so much from every single episode. It's so cool to be able to continue this journey with you in this way, Laura. So, secondarily, my second why then would be to share this with others because I think it's pretty powerful. It's very powerful in my life, and I know it'll be very powerful in yours too.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I agree with you, Brian. I feel like I'm constantly learning as well, even being the founder of this method. It's I'm always constantly learning, and I do agree that when you're actively teaching and sharing, you're always learning yourself. So just like Brian, I have a second why as well. And my second why is to be able to help others, but also it came from the fact that I was so booked. I was, I used to have a six-month wait list and I recognized there was only one person and that I wanted to be able to reach so many more people. So when Brian and I first started discussing the aspect of doing a podcast, I got really excited to be able to help so many more people. We've been able to help thousands of people that I wouldn't have been able to help if I was only meeting with people on a one-on-one basis.
SPEAKER_00All right. So now let's talk about the compassion method. We've mentioned it a few times. And Laura, this is your life's work. So can you help us break it down?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So I like to look at it very simply and the fact that we break it down into three parts. This is the process of being able to feel your pain, get comfort, and go play. And that is the process that we are walking people through in the six modules that we've broken the compassion method down into.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And one thing that I often add, kind of right at the front of that, for the feel your pain is awareness. Because I had no idea because I didn't have a very good grid for emotional pain. I had no idea when I first came to you. Well, when I came to you, I knew I was hurting. Okay. I thought it was something that had just happened. But you helped me with the awareness that actually, no, Brian, this has been going on for a long, long time.
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_00And you have developed systems that we talk about that you call protectors that have you have put in place to prevent you from feeling your pain. You've developed systems to help you ignore your pain. So, really, for me, just this whole concept of awareness was kind of my first step because I was hurting all this time for all these years and didn't even know it until it got to a point where it couldn't be bottled up anymore. All those protectors, all those systems of numbing that I had created failed me. They failed.
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_00They came down like a house of cards. And here I was feeling this gigantic glob of pain and not having any idea what was going on.
SPEAKER_01And that's one of the exciting things about the compassion method. It's based on the neuroscience of how our brain was wired even all the way back to early childhood development, like you're talking about, and how those building blocks affect how we're going to go through life for the rest of our lives, whether that be pain or joy, we're going to go through that based on our early childhood development. And so learning the neuroscience that's connected to it is also a huge game changer with the compassion method.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Yeah, this is a very scientific process. And that helped me a lot because I kind of had a thought process that some of this emotional healing stuff was kind of woo-woo. And so hearing the uh scientific aspect of that helped me a lot. And we talk about that on numerous of the podcasts. So where to start? So we have a lot of episodes out there. We have dozens of episodes. So when you come to a podcast with all these episodes, it might be difficult to know like, where do I begin? Well, I would say the first place to start is finding the podcast on your favorite podcast player, whether that be Apple, Spotify, or YouTube. You can also go to our website, triggeredandtrue.com, and listen to the podcast directly there. So all of our episodes are what I would call long words. That means that they're timeless. So an episode that we recorded a couple years ago is as relevant today as it will be a hundred years from now. We're dealing with things that are just common to all people. So, which episodes to start with? I would say that episodes one through six are very foundational because they really walk you through the compassion method process itself. Episode seven is also very special because it's Laura's story. It's how Laura came to develop the compassion method, which her triggering event in her life was a little different than mine, as you'll learn in episode seven. But that's ultimately, that triggering event is ultimately what led her to developing the compassion method. And you can learn all about that on episode seven. Episode 18 is where I share more of my story, as I mentioned, my great awakening, as I've come to call it. So episode 44 is also very good because it talks about all the ways you can engage with Laura and the compassion method, the different resources that she has available. But I would say the number one place to start today is to sign up for the email list. And when you do that, you're gonna receive two free resources that are really very foundational as you begin your compassion method journey. So, Laura, can you describe these two resources a little bit?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the two resources that you're gonna be receiving is the child picture exercise and how am I seeing exercise. And one thing I want to say really quick before I dive into what those free resources are is this podcast is set up to actually have a practical application, not just be content and things that you're learning to educate yourself. And so that's why we offer free resources, not just for you to have that benefit, but also for you to practically be able to apply what you learn in this podcast. And so the first one is a child picture exercise. And that is one that I developed unknowingly through my own journey of finding a picture of myself when I was three years old and really not liking that three-year-old. And it was so shocking to me that I put that picture on my fridge and I looked at it and I looked at it and looked at it until I could see that little girl for who she really was. And in that process, I fell in love with her. And I want to be with her and I want to help her through this journey, which is also connected to the compassion method. So highly recommend the child picture exercise. And then the how am I seen is kind of more of the adult version of who we are, being able to recognize the characteristics that aren't about what we do, but are about who we are, and letting the community around us be able to contribute and to show us how they see who we are.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think that these are very, very foundational because they serve for me as icebreakers. Yes. I had no idea how disconnected from myself I was. And like you, um, I don't know that I looked at my picture and didn't like the person, my childhood picture, but I looked at the picture and just could not even connect that that was actually me.
SPEAKER_01It's like you didn't know him.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Even if you didn't, you didn't even have the you had the indifference of not even not liking him, you just didn't know him.
SPEAKER_00I had to stare at that picture for a long, long time before I really started to connect, like, hey, wait a second. That's actually me. And that's still me. That little boy is still there inside of me. And then the how am I seen, very foundational as well. I actually have on my computer monitor the the results. We I won't go into how the how am I seen exercise works. You're gonna have to, you know, sign up for the resource and give us your email address.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But I have the results that came from the how am I seen exercise. It's all faded and tattered and torn, but it's still taped to my uh computer monitor right here next to me. So very, very powerful exercises. So before we wrap up, a quick note about how you found us. We're using social media to spread the word about triggered and true. We want to make it easy for you to share this with others. If you're listening because of an ad on social media, thank you for clicking on it. So here's how you can help us grow this community. You can share this episode with others that you feel need to hear it, and you can send them to our website, triggeredandtrue.com, or just simply share the podcast link. You can also, we highly encourage you to do this, leave a review on your favorite podcast platform because this helps others find us. All right, that's it for our intro episode. We're so glad you're here, and we can't wait to walk this journey with you. So listen to episodes one through six. Let us know how it resonates. You are worth it.
SPEAKER_01Thank you all so much for joining us on Triggered and True. This is just the beginning. We have so many episodes that you can enjoy us on and that we can continue to grow in this process together.
SPEAKER_00Oh, and don't forget to enter your email address below so that you can receive the two free resources. So, like me, you can have a wonderful icebreaker to help you begin your compassion method journey. See you in the next episode.