If you've listened to my episode on relationships, you already know part of my story: that for a long time, I believed I was only loved when I was sick. What I get into here is the deeper pattern underneath that belief — the way children instinctively scan their caretakers for cues on how to be safe, loved, and accepted, and how, when a parent can't fully meet that need, we start adjusting who we are to close the gap. That's where people-pleasing and appeasing actually come from. It's not a personality trait. It's a survival strategy.

I also share something more recent: a moment where I set a boundary with my family, and it sent me straight back to feeling like I was 14 years old again, terrified of disappointing everyone. Even with everything I've healed and everything I know, that inner child still shows up. I walk through the first steps I use to catch it in real time: awareness, then a pause, then a reframe, so appeasing someone doesn't come at the cost of abandoning yourself.

This one's for anyone who's ever mistaken their own bending and appeasing for kindness. It's not kindness. It's a wound. And it's one you can start to heal.

Connect with me and my brand Vital Treasures here:

Website: https://www.vital-treasures.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vitaltreasures/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@vitaltreasures?_t=8gDfEpgQbTX&_r=1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vitaltreasures/

Substack: https://carriemek.substack.com/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@vitaltreasures5723

I talk about the difference between the external tools we use to try to regulate and heal, and the internal, unseen resources most of us never learn to call on: our spirit guides, our ancestors, angels, and whatever you understand God or the divine to be. I share what it's meant for me to feel my own spirit team in the hardest moments of my life, including the losses I've carried, and why I believe none of us are meant to do this alone.

I walk through how to actually call on that support: getting still, connecting to your breath, and speaking out loud to whoever you trust most, whether that's God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, your ancestors, or the people you've lost who are still with you in spirit. This isn't about religion or getting it "right." It's about remembering you have more resources available to you than you think.

If you're struggling right now, in a big way or in a hundred small ways at once, this one's for you.

Connect with me and my brand Vital Treasures here:

Website: https://www.vital-treasures.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vitaltreasures/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@vitaltreasures?_t=8gDfEpgQbTX&_r=1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vitaltreasures/

Substack: https://carriemek.substack.com/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@vitaltreasures5723

I talk about how I eventually came to understand that period differently, not as proof that I was meant to die, but as something I needed to sit with honestly in order to transmute it. I get into how our hardest moments often mirror beliefs and wounds formed in childhood, why radical honesty with yourself is the starting point of healing, and how I've worked to turn what felt like pure threat into purpose.

This one is heavy. I share it because I know I'm not the only person who has lived through a period like this, and I don't want anyone to feel alone in it.

Connect with me and my brand Vital Treasures here:

Website: https://www.vital-treasures.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vitaltreasures/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@vitaltreasures?_t=8gDfEpgQbTX&_r=1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vitaltreasures/

Substack: https://carriemek.substack.com/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@vitaltreasures5723

I go back to where it all started: growing up as one of four sisters, the middle child, and the abuse I endured from a sibling that my parents didn't believe when I finally spoke up. I talk about the assault that happened at ten years old, the years of bullying and physical harm that followed, and how those experiences shaped the beliefs I carried into adolescence, addiction, and eventually a health crisis that led to emergency brain surgery.

I also open up, for the first time, about the periods in my life where I didn't want to be here anymore, starting far younger than anyone should carry that weight. This isn't easy to say out loud, but I believe it's necessary; if any part of this resonates, I want you to know you're not alone, and you're not broken.

This episode is heavier than what's come before it, but it's also where the healing really starts to make sense.

⚠️ Content note: This episode includes detailed disclosures of childhood SA, physical and emotional abuse, and suicidal ideation. Please take care while listening, and don't hesitate to step away if you need to.

💛 If you're struggling: You don't have to go through it alone. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7 — call or text 988 (US), or chat at 988lifeline.org. If you're outside the US, please look up your local crisis line.

Connect with me and my brand Vital Treasures here:

Website: https://www.vital-treasures.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vitaltreasures/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@vitaltreasures?_t=8gDfEpgQbTX&_r=1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vitaltreasures/

Substack: https://carriemek.substack.com/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@vitaltreasures5723

I share my belief that every relationship you have is either predestined or here for a purpose: partners, children, parents, friends, even the ones that are hard. I walk through the story of how I met my husband, and why our connection felt like something my soul already recognized before I consciously understood it. I get into why we often choose partners who reflect the modeling we got from our caretakers, and why our closest relationships tend to be our biggest mirrors and our biggest triggers.

I also open up about a belief I carried for years without realizing it: that I was only loved when I was sick. I trace where that belief came from, how it shaped my relationships and my health for nearly a decade, and what it took to start unraveling it.

This one might reframe how you look at the people closest to you, especially the ones who challenge you the most.

Connect with me and my brand Vital Treasures here:

Website: https://www.vital-treasures.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vitaltreasures/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@vitaltreasures?_t=8gDfEpgQbTX&_r=1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vitaltreasures/

Substack: https://carriemek.substack.com/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@vitaltreasures5723

I walk through why highly sensitive people and empaths in particular tend to absorb other people's energy, whether at the gym, at a gathering, or just being around someone who is activated. I share the practices I personally use to shield myself before I even leave the house, including visualization, crystals, and calling in protection.

I also share some of my favorite everyday protective practices, from crystals and herbs to sea salt at the front door, and yes, why I think you should get rid of your welcome mat.

This is one of my more "woo" episodes, and I know it's not going to resonate with everyone. That's okay. Take what's useful and leave the rest.

Connect with me and my brand Vital Treasures here:

Website: https://www.vital-treasures.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vitaltreasures/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@vitaltreasures?_t=8gDfEpgQbTX&_r=1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vitaltreasures/

Substack: https://carriemek.substack.com/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@vitaltreasures5723

I share a little about my own background with anger, growing up in a house where being heard meant getting louder, and how that shaped my relationship with the emotion. Then I get into the heart of it: anger is almost always a secondary emotion. Underneath it is usually shame, fear, powerlessness, or a sense of being threatened in some way, and learning to name what's actually underneath your anger is the first step to working with it instead of being run by it.

I also walk through a few tools I use myself and with clients, including how to track the wound an angry trigger is pinging, and a vagus nerve breathing technique that has genuinely helped me through some of the hardest seasons of my life.

Anger is okay to feel. It's just important to understand it so that the next time it comes through, you're ready to meet it.

⚠️ Content note: This episode references parenting challenges and family dynamics growing up. No graphic content.

Connect with me and my brand Vital Treasures here:

Website: https://www.vital-treasures.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vitaltreasures/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@vitaltreasures?_t=8gDfEpgQbTX&_r=1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vitaltreasures/

Substack: https://carriemek.substack.com/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@vitaltreasures5723

In this first episode, I introduce myself and the heart behind this show: a place where I can talk about the real, hard stuff, including trauma, nervous system regulation, mother and father wounds, relationships, astrology, energy work, and more, through both my own lived experience and my professional training as a holistic health practitioner and trauma-informed coach.

I share why I'm stepping away from the confines of social media to create a longer form space for this work, where trauma isn't defined by what happened to you. It's defined by the experiencer. And I explain where the name of the show came from: Bird on a Branch, born from a plant medicine ceremony, and a metaphor for trusting yourself completely, even when the branch you're standing on shakes.

This isn't going to be a polished, produced show. It's real, unfiltered, and made to help you feel a little less alone.

⚠️ Content note: This episode includes references to assault, abuse, and other traumatic experiences without graphic detail.

Connect with me and my brand Vital Treasures here:

Website: https://www.vital-treasures.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vitaltreasures/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@vitaltreasures?_t=8gDfEpgQbTX&_r=1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vitaltreasures/

Substack: https://carriemek.substack.com/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@vitaltreasures5723