Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Alison Answers, Alison sits down with Cheryl Donaldson, a therapist, leadership expert, global lecturer, and author of the guided journal Lead From the Soul, for a powerful conversation about what it means to reconnect with your soul and lead your life from that deeper place. Cheryl explains the soul as the truest part of ourselves. The place where we connect to meaning, hope, compassion, courage, clarity, calm, and something bigger than us. Together, Alison and Cheryl talk about the wounds, experiences, conditioning, shame, grief, fear, and protective parts that can cover that place inside of us and make us feel like we have lost ourselves. This conversation is deeply personal for Alison, as she shares what it felt like after losing her husband and realizing there were moments when she could not “get back to Alison.” You’ll hear: What it really means to lead from the soulHow pain, grief, and life experiences can disconnect us from ourselvesWhy healing often begins with compassion, not criticismHow Internal Family Systems can help us understand the parts of us that are trying to protect usWhy some behaviors that look unhealthy may have started as protectionHow therapists, parents, and leaders can hold hope for someone until they can hold it for themselvesWhy connection is essential in parenting, leadership, and healingHow to help children build identity and self-worth from the inside outWhat it means to stop letting outside evidence define who you areHow to begin finding your way back to your truest selfIf you have ever felt buried under grief, shame, anxiety, expectations, or the weight of what life has done to you, this conversation is a reminder that you are still in there. You are not gone. There is a deeper place within you that can still be reached, strengthened, and led from. In this episode: 00:00 What does it mean to lead from the soul? 00:50 Meet Cheryl Donaldson 03:00 Raising emotionally intelligent children 04:48 Getting to the heart of what activates us 07:06 Cheryl’s path into soul work 09:36 When someone needs you to sit with their soul 12:52 What is the soul? 15:04 Alison opens up about losing herself after grief 16:18 How to strengthen the soul 17:58 Holding hope for someone who has lost it 21:38 Leaving your burdens in the room 23:35 Internal Family Systems and soul work 27:34 Understanding the parts that protect us 31:08 Compassion, forgiveness, and self-understanding 34:07 The deeper place beyond yourself 36:19 Living from a surrendered and purposeful state 37:07 Why some people become deeper after pain 39:22 Alison’s viral conversation about suicide 46:04 Finding peace by connecting with the soul 47:46 How leaders can lead from the soul 50:16 Why connection comes before correction 52:21 How childhood labels shape identity 53:31 Choosing how you see your own value 56:05 Breaking the evidence that says you are not enough 01:00:06 A simple way to reconnect with your soul 01:01:43 Alison’s experience meeting her higher self Connect with Alison: Instagram: @alisonanswers | @lagercounselingWebsite: LagerCounseling.comYouTube: Alison AnswersFacebook: Alison Lager Lcsw CasacPurchase Alison’s book: “The Wake Up Call”Alison Answers Facebook Group: Join HEREWomen of Excellence FB group: Join HERE⚠️ Crisis Resources: Lager Counseling Services Call: 516-221-2123 Text: (914) 363-0381 Wantagh: 3408 Park Ave. Wantagh, NY 11793 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (24/7, free, confidential) Call or text 988 | Visit 988lifeline.org
