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
58 episodes
The Most Effective Way To Lie | Dr. Abbie Maroño | S4E12
The Most Effective Way To Lie | Dr. Abby Minaro If you’ve ever felt like something was off but couldn’t quite put your finger on the lie, this episode reveals exactly how abusers craft believable deception. Lisa Sonni sits down with beha...
The Science Behind Why He Won’t Change | Dr. Justin Nussbaum | S4E11
The Science Behind Why He Won’t Change | Dr. Justin Nussbaum If you’ve ever wondered why some people seem incapable of real change no matter how much therapy, pleading, or effort goes in, this episode delivers the science that explains i...
Breaking the Cycle: Understanding and Changing Abusive Behavior | Stephen Ing S4E10
If you’ve ever wondered why abusers do what they do, whether therapy actually works for them, or how we can truly break the generational cycle of domestic violence — this episode gives you clear, compassionate, and unflinching answers.L...
Why Letting Go Feels Worse Than Staying with Chelli Pumphrey | S4E09
If you’ve ever recognized the abuse but felt completely paralyzed and unable to leave, this episode explains exactly why that happens and how to break free. Lisa Sonni speaks with Chelli Pumphrey, a trauma-informed therapist speci...
He Cheated, Blamed You, and Still Expected You to Stay | Dr. Kathy Nickerson | S4E08
If you’ve ever been cheated on, then blamed for it while he expected you to just move on and stay, this episode will validate your experience and cut through the confusion. Lisa Sonni sits down with Dr. Kathy Nickelson to explore...
I Survived a Con Artist. Here's How Abuse Works | S4E7
In this episode, Dr. Nadine Macaluso — trauma bond expert and survivor of narcissistic abuse — reveals the sophisticated con tactics narcissists use to manipulate, trap, and control their partners. Drawing from her personal journey as the real-...
Why Women Get More Backlash for Naming Harm Than Men Get for Causing It | Reagan, Host of Buckle Up Babes S4E6
If you’ve ever heard “women just lie for attention,” “false accusations are ruining men’s lives,” or wondered why so many survivors wait years to speak up—this episode cuts through the noise with honesty and evidence. Lisa Sonni ...
Character Isn’t Chemistry: How to Stop Falling for Sparks and Start Seeing Who He Really Is | Chantel Hyde S4E5
If you've ever felt terrified to date again after abuse, wondered why your "radar" keeps failing you, or questioned how to trust yourself (and others) moving forward—this episode is going to validate everything you've sensed and give you clear,...
He Doesn’t Want A Partner. He Wants A Mother | Aishia Grevenberg S4E4
If you've ever been told your standards are too high, that you're trying to change him, or that real love means accepting everything he does - this episode is going to name something you've been feeling for a long time but maybe couldn't say ou...
5 Covert Gaslighting Tactics That Make You Question Your Own Reality | Dr. Robin Stern | S4E3
You know what gaslighting is.”You're too sensitive.” ”I was just joking.” ”That never happened.”But there is a version of gaslighting that is much harder to name. It does not announce itself. It works slowly, through tone and fram...
How Abusive Men Make You Think You're the Abuser | Emma Davey | S4E2
If you have ever wondered whether you are the toxic one, the narcissist, the problem…that question is not a coincidence, it was put there on purpose.Lisa sits down with Emma Davey, trauma-informed counsellor and master's candidate in the...
Why Narcissists Explode When You Set Boundaries | Bill Eddy on High Conflict Escalation | S4E1
You knew it was coming. Maybe not the exact moment, but you felt it building.The tension in the room. The stillness before it broke. Your nervous system clocked it before your brain caught up.That's pattern recognition, and there'...
“It’s Not Confusion” Why Abusive Behavior Feels Unclear (But Isn’t) | S3EP16
You keep trying to make sense of it. Maybe he didn’t mean it. Maybe you misunderstood. Maybe you’re overthinking.The reality? Confusion is not the problem. It’s the outcome. When someone can hurt you and comfort you in the sa...
If He Acts Like This About Sex, It's Abuse | Best Of Relationships Uncensored | S3E16
"Physical touch is his love language." "If you loved him, you'd just do it." "If you were having more sex with him, maybe he wouldn't cheat." You've heard these. Maybe you've even believed them. These aren't relationship truths. The...
How Abusive Men Turn Strong Women Into Women Who Stay with Dr. Peter Salerno | S3EP15
You didn’t become someone else overnight. You were shaped into someone who could survive him.It starts quietly. The confidence he once admired becomes “too much.” Your opinions become “dramatic.” Slowly, almost imperceptibly, you begin ...
“These Are Not Facts”: The Lies That Keep Abuse Normalized | S3E14
You were never “too sensitive.” You were surrounded by lies repeated so often they started to feel like truth. Abuse is rare. Women lie. Men and women do it equally. None of these are facts, and belie...
When Sex Becomes Obligation: Sexual Entitlement in Relationships | S3E13
Sexual entitlement isn’t “a relationship issue.” It’s a belief system. It’s the mindset that your body comes with the marriage, the title, the ring, the label, the contract, the “needs.” It’s the idea that your availability lives on standby, no...
Divorcing a Narcissistic or Toxic Partner: What You Need to Know | S3EP12
In this episode of Real Talk with Lisa Sonni: Relationships Uncensored, Lisa speaks with Angela Van, CEO of Family Court Corner, about the realities of divorcing and co-parenting with an abusive or highly destructive partner. Angela shares less...
Toxic vs Abusive Relationships: The Difference Most People Miss with Dr. Marina Rosenthal | S3EP11
Couples therapy is not the place to sort out coercive control. Full stop. But I also get why women end up there anyway, because when your relationship is messy, you’re trying to name what’s happening. Is it stress. Is it trauma. Is it aggressio...
Why Women End Up Doing Everything in Relationships with Terri Cole | S3E10
For years, women have been told they’re codependent. Too attached, too emotional, too responsible for everyone else’s feelings. And a lot of you have worn that label like proof that something is wrong with you. So I brought on Terri...
How The Manosphere Is Teaching Men to Abuse with Rafael Gomez | S3EP9
The Manosphere isn’t “just podcasts.” It’s a curriculum teaching men how to destabilize, dominate, and call it leadership.If you’ve ever sat across from a man who suddenly started talking about “alpha” energy, final decision-making powe...
He’s Not Immature, He’s Abusive: Why Narcissists Don’t “Grow Out of It” with Dr. Les Carter | S3E08
Most women don’t stay because they’re naïve.They stay because they believe he’s just immature.He’s still growing. He’ll change. He just needs insight.But what if he understands exactly what he’s doing?Lisa sits down ...
How Stay-at-Home Wives Get Trapped in Financial & Emotional Abuse with Lisa Carr | S3E7
“Everybody’s a feminist… until a woman chooses to be a tradwife.”That line gets thrown around like it ends the conversation. It doesn’t. It starts it.Not all stay-at-home moms are oppressed. Not all traditional marriages are abu...
Weaponized Incompetence Isn’t an Accident | w/ Laura Danger S3E6
You’re not “bad at asking for help.” You’re exhausted from carrying everything and being told it’s your fault.In this conversation, Lisa sits down with author and creator Laura Danger to name what so many women are living with but strug...