Fragmented to Whole: Life Lessons from 12 Step Recovery
Tired of feeling fragmented and overwhelmed? Fragmented to Whole: Life Lessons from 12-Step Recovery is your guide to creating a life of wholeness, authenticity, and healthy boundaries. Join Barb Nangle, a boundaries coach and speaker, as she shares raw and honest insights from her own journey and the principles of 12-step recovery. Discover how to set boundaries without guilt or shame, overcome people-pleasing tendencies, manage your emotions effectively, cultivate a stronger sense of self, and build healthier relationships. Barb's approach is raw, honest, and sometimes a little bit (okay, a lot) sweary.
Barb doesn't speak for or endorse any particular 12 step program of recovery. Though she's a huge fan of 12 step recovery, and a member of two 12 step fellowships, she cannot speak for them. If you're ready for real talk and practical tools for transformation, tune in! To learn more about Barb, go to https://higherpowercc.com/
Fragmented to Whole: Life Lessons from 12 Step Recovery
How to Change Your Love Life by Becoming Emotionally Available | Episode 334
In this week’s episode of the Fragmented to Whole Podcast, I’m sharing a powerful realization from my own recovery journey: the pattern of emotionally unavailable partners wasn’t just about who I was choosing, it was about my own emotional availability.
For years, I believed I was unlucky in love. Through ACA recovery and a deep relationship inventory, I discovered how my nervous system, conditioning, and avoidance of emotions were shaping my relationships far more than I realized.
Some of the talking points I go over in this episode include:
- Why attracting emotionally unavailable partners is often a sign of emotional unavailability within yourself.
- How ACA Step Four and the concept of causes and conditions revealed my relationship patterns.
- The role of emotional avoidance, numbing, and codependence in romantic dynamics.
- How emotions like resentment are signals, not verdicts, and what they’re really telling you.
- Why boundaries are about clarity and self-responsibility, not control.
If you want healthier, more secure relationships, the work doesn’t start with finding better partners. It starts with becoming emotionally available to yourself. Learning to feel, listen, speak honestly, and set boundaries is where real change happens.
Relationship inventory categories:
- Person
- What I expected
- What I got
- My dependent behavior
- How relationship ended
Additional categories I tracked:
- Who was I in love with?
- Who was I in relationship wth where we both knew “we’re boyfriend and girlfriend?”
- Which relationships included massive substance use?
- Which relationships included infidelity with either of us?
- Which ones were friends with benefits?
- Who did I break up with and who broke up with me?
Be sure to tune in to all the episodes for practical tools, recovery insights, and real-life examples of what it means to live a more whole life.
Thank you for listening! If this episode resonated, take a screenshot, share it in your stories, and tag me. And don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast and share your biggest takeaway.
Learn more about Fragmented to Whole at
https://higherpowercc.com/podcast/
Feeling drained? Take my free Boundaries Drain Quiz to see where your energy is leaking and how to reclaim it:
https://higherpowercc.com/drain/
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