Message In The Middle Podcast Por Marianne DeMello-Smith arte de portada

Message In The Middle

Message In The Middle

De: Marianne DeMello-Smith
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This podcast is a safe and supportive space for listeners to explore life's challenging lessons and gain inspiration for their personal development journey. Through a variety of engaging formats, including interviews, book clubs, master classes, and discussions, the podcast delves into topics related to perseverance, self-empowerment, and self-discovery. With a focus on sharing expertise, inspiring stories and insights from a diverse range of voices, the podcast aims to help listeners navigate difficult experiences, provide hope and inspiration, and develop the resilience and strength needed to overcome obstacles and achieve their goals.

At its core, this podcast is a platform for personal growth and development. It provides a welcoming space for listeners to explore life's toughest lessons and learn from others who have overcome similar challenges. Through a variety of formats, including interviews with experts and everyday people, book clubs featuring thought-provoking works, and discussions focused on specific topics, listeners are exposed to a range of perspectives and ideas that can help them on their own personal journeys.


One of the key themes of this podcast is perseverance. Many of the stories shared on the show highlight the importance of pushing through difficult times and not giving up, even when the odds seem insurmountable. Whether it's overcoming eating disorders, grief, addiction, navigating a health crisis, or dealing with the aftermath of a traumatic experience, the podcast emphasizes the resilience and strength of the human spirit.

Another important theme of the podcast is self-empowerment. Listeners are encouraged to take control of their own lives and pursue their goals with confidence and determination. By sharing stories of individuals who have transformed their lives through hard work and self-discovery, the podcast inspires listeners to believe in their own potential and take steps to create the life they want and to recognize that we are all capable of rewiring our thoughts and behaviors.

Finally, the podcast is focused on self-discovery. Through discussions and interviews, listeners are encouraged to explore their own values, beliefs, and desires, and to gain a deeper understanding of themselves. By reflecting on their own experiences and learning from the stories of others, listeners can gain valuable insights that can help them navigate life's challenges and live more fulfilling lives.


Overall, this podcast is a powerful resource for anyone seeking inspiration, guidance, and support on their personal development journey. By exploring life's difficult lessons through inspiring stories, interviews, book clubs, and discussions, listeners can gain the tools they need to persevere through tough times, empower themselves to achieve their goals, and discover their true selves.

© 2026 Message In The Middle Biografías y Memorias Ciencias Sociales Higiene y Vida Saludable Psicología Psicología y Salud Mental
Episodios
  • You Don’t Have to Earn Your Worth: Ruth Hirshberg on Burnout, Boundaries, and Believing You’re Enough

    You Don’t Have to Earn Your Worth: Ruth Hirshberg on Burnout, Boundaries, and Believing You’re Enough
    Feb 14 2026

    So many women in midlife are quietly carrying an exhausting belief: that their worth is something they have to earn—through productivity, perfection, and putting everyone else first.

    In this episode of Message in the Middle, Marianne is joined by registered social worker, meditation and breathwork teacher, and founder of The Self-Worth Solution, Ruth Hirshberg, for a deeply honest conversation about burnout, boundaries, and the hidden beliefs keeping so many high-achieving women stuck.

    Ruth shares why boundaries don’t work when you don’t believe you’re allowed to have them, how survival mode becomes a “normal” way of living, and why trying to fix behaviors without addressing the beliefs underneath rarely leads to lasting change. Together, they explore what it really takes to separate your worth from your productivity—and why you don’t need to become a different person to finally feel enough.

    Key Takeaways:

    • Why so many women intellectually know they’re worthy, but don’t feel it
    • How early beliefs around “not enoughness” quietly shape our adult lives
    • The difference between treating symptoms and addressing root causes
    • Why boundaries collapse without a foundation of self-worth
    • How productivity became a stand-in for worth, and how to untangle it
    • The role breathwork and nervous system regulation play in healing
    • Why you don’t need fixing, you need permission to stop proving yourself

    If you’re tired of chasing validation, running on empty, or feeling like you’re always falling short, this conversation offers permission to stop performing your worth and start owning it.

    Check out the Mini Meditation Marianne posted before the holidays: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1938384/episodes/18207054

    Connect with Ruth:

    • Face Book https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61579052467890
    • Website: https://www.groundingwithruth.com
    • Instagram: @groundingwithruth
    • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruth-hirshberg

    Connect with Marianne:

    • Website: Message In The Middle with Marianne
    • Message In the Middle Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/422430469323847/
    • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MessageInTheMiddle/playlists
    • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-demello-smith-678b9966
    • Email: Contact | Message In The Middle with Marianne


    Subscribe to Message In the Middle:

    • Apple Podcasts
    • Spotify
    • YouTube

    Leave Us a Review: If you enjoyed today’s episode, please leave a review and share your favorite takeaway. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and bring you even more valuable content.

    Keep the conversation going - Join us for more insightful conversations in the Message in the Middle Private Facebook Community & subscribe to Message in th...
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    45 m
  • Thriving Through Chronic Illness: Relationships, Resilience & Staying Connected with Lisa Gray, LMFT

    Thriving Through Chronic Illness: Relationships, Resilience & Staying Connected with Lisa Gray, LMFT
    Feb 7 2026

    What happens to a relationship when chronic illness enters the picture?

    For many women in midlife, a diagnosis doesn’t just affect the body, it reshapes roles, routines, identity, intimacy, and the emotional fabric of our closest relationships. And without the right support, even the strongest partnerships can quietly shift from connection to survival mode.

    In this episode of Message in the Middle, I’m joined by Lisa Gray, LMFT, a licensed marriage and family therapist who specializes in high-conflict couples and couples navigating chronic illness and pain. After spending a decade as an air traffic controller and peer debriefing counselor, Lisa transitioned into the mental health field and in 2009, her own diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome deepened and transformed her work in a powerful way.

    Lisa brings both professional expertise and lived experience to this conversation, along with a hopeful, grounded belief that relationships can grow stronger even in the middle of uncertainty and change. We talk about how chronic illness impacts partnership dynamics, communication, intimacy, identity, and how couples can move beyond survival toward true connection.

    We explore:

    • How a chronic illness diagnosis reshapes relationship dynamics
    • Communicating needs without guilt or fear of being a burden
    • Avoiding the caregiver–patient trap while staying supportive
    • Navigating changing roles and identities without resentment
    • Rebuilding intimacy and emotional closeness
    • Relationship Negotiations
    • What it really means to thrive, not just survive, as a couple

    Lisa is the author of Thriving in a Relationship When You Have Chronic Illness: Navigate Challenges and Keep Your Relationship Strong Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and shares practical insight, compassion, and hope throughout this conversation.

    If you’re in a season of rediscovery, wanting to feel more rooted, more connected, and more like yourself again, this episode is for you.

    Connect with Lisa:

    • Instagram - @lisagraymft and @therapybooknook
    • Practice website - www.lisagraymft.com
    • Author website - https://www.lisagrayauthor.com

    Connect with Marianne:

    • Website: Message In The Middle with Marianne
    • Message In the Middle Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/422430469323847/
    • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MessageInTheMiddle/playlists
    • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-demello-smith-678b9966
    • Email: Contact | Message In The Middle with Marianne


    Subscribe to Message In the Middle:

    • Apple Podcasts
    • Spotify
    • YouTube

    Leave Us a Review: If you enjoyed today’s episode, please leave a review and share your favorite takeaway. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and bring you even more valuable content.

    Keep the conversation going - Join us for more insightful conversations in the Message in the Middle Private Facebook Community & subscribe to Message in th...
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    37 m
  • Turning Heartbreak Into Art: Nikki Allen on Healing, Identity & Reinvention

    Turning Heartbreak Into Art: Nikki Allen on Healing, Identity & Reinvention
    Jan 31 2026

    In this powerful conversation, Marianne sits down with author and creative visionary Nikki Allen, whose novel Loved You, Hated You began as a song, became a screenplay, and ultimately transformed into a raw, emotionally charged exploration of heartbreak, identity loss, and choosing yourself again.

    Nikki opens up about surviving an emotionally abusive relationship, the kind that doesn’t leave physical bruises but quietly erodes your voice, your clarity, and your sense of self. Through creativity, spirituality, and storytelling, she rebuilt her identity piece by piece and today she’s sharing how midlife women can do the same.

    Together, they explore:
    • Healing after emotional betrayal
    • Reclaiming identity when you’ve lost yourself in love
    • How creativity helps us process pain
    • Turning trauma into transformation
    • The power of midlife reinvention
    • Using storytelling as a path back to your voice
    • Nikki’s advocacy around homelessness and resilience

    If you’ve ever loved too hard, stayed too long, or struggled to find yourself again after heartbreak, this is an episode that will stay with you.

    Connect with Nikki:
    • Website: https://officialnikkiallen.com/

    Connect with Marianne:

    • Website: Message In The Middle with Marianne
    • Message In the Middle Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/422430469323847/
    • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MessageInTheMiddle/playlists
    • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-demello-smith-678b9966
    • Email: Contact | Message In The Middle with Marianne


    Subscribe to Message In the Middle:

    • Apple Podcasts
    • Spotify
    • YouTube

    Leave Us a Review: If you enjoyed today’s episode, please leave a review and share your favorite takeaway. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and bring you even more valuable content.

    Keep the conversation going - Join us for more insightful conversations in the Message in the Middle Private Facebook Community & subscribe to Message in th...
    Más Menos
    39 m
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