The Inner Compass Podcast with Vanessa Bennett

Gamut Podcast Network
  • 4.8 (271)
  • MENTAL HEALTH
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

NEW PODCAST SERIES HOSTED BY VANESSA BENNETT Vanessa Bennett, LMFT, is a licensed depth psychotherapist, author, and facilitator known for her no-nonsense yet compassionate approach to healing. She’s the author of The Motherhood Myth and coauthor of It’s Not Me, It’s You, and the founder of Inner Compass Academy. She hosts the Inner Compass Podcast, where she explores the intersection of depth psychology, relationships, and cultural conditioning to support personal and collective liberation.

Episodes

  1. 2D AGO

    The Trinity Wounds: Witch Wound, Sister Wound, Mother Wound

    So much of women’s pain gets individualized as “personal failure,” when so many of our struggles are intelligent adaptations to patriarchal and capitalist systems. In this episode, Vanessa Bennett, LMFT introduces the Trinity Wounds—the witch wound, sister wound, and mother wound—and how they shape women’s relationship to visibility, trust with other women, and the complicated grief we carry toward our mothers. We start with the loss of the village (the severing of communal support and interdependence), then walk through how each wound shows up in modern life: self-minimization, competition, suspicion, compliance, and disconnection from instinct. You’ll leave with a map for healing that includes context, grief, shadow work, relational repair, and embodiment—choosing what’s truer instead of what’s safer. For educational purposes only. This isn’t therapy. If you want to go deeper, check out the written companion on Substack and explore community + training at https://www.vanessaBennett.com. Additional Resources Explore: VanessaBennett.com Book: The Motherhood Myth Community: Inner Compass Collective Training: Inner Compass Academy Connect with Inner Compass Follow on Instagram Connect with Vanessa Bennett: Follow on Instagram Follow on TikTok Learn more on Substack Connect with Vanessa Bennett on LinkedIn See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    44 min

  2. MAR 23

    Assumptions in Relationships: The Codependency Loop That Keeps You Stuck

    Assumptions are one of the most common ways we manage anxiety in relationships, but they also keep us stuck in the very patterns we’re trying to heal. In this episode, Vanessa Bennett, LMFT is joined by Madeleine Downey, RCC to unpack how mind-reading, overfunctioning, and “being the bad guy in someone’s story” often come from early beliefs rooted in shame. They walk through a practical loop you can use in real time—belief → assumption → behavior → confirmation—and why bringing “the story I’m telling myself is…” into the light can diffuse conflict and deepen intimacy. This is a relational invitation to stop living inside imagined certainty and start choosing clarity, vulnerability, and responsibility. Additional Resources Explore: VanessaBennett.com Book: The Motherhood Myth Community: Inner Compass Collective Training: Inner Compass Academy Connect with Inner Compass Follow on Instagram Connect with Vanessa Bennett: Follow on Instagram Follow on TikTok Learn more on Substack Connect with Vanessa Bennett on LinkedIn See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    36 min

  3. MAR 15

    The Friendships That Hold Us When Life Falls Apart: What Support Looks Like

    Friendship gets tested in crisis, and sometimes the hardest grief isn’t just what happened, it’s what gets revealed about who can actually stay with you. In this episode, Vanessa Bennett, LMFT sits down with her friend Lena to talk about friendship through trauma after both of them lost their homes in the LA fires, and what real support looks like when your life falls apart. We unpack the difference between being witnessed and being fixed, why small practical help matters more than perfect words, and how adult friendships change when roles, distance, and capacity shift. If you’ve been grieving friendships, struggling to receive, or trying to rebuild community after a rupture, this conversation is for you. Additional Resources Explore: VanessaBennett.com Book: The Motherhood Myth Community: Inner Compass Collective Training: Inner Compass Academy Connect with Inner Compass Follow on Instagram Connect with Vanessa Bennett: Follow on Instagram Follow on TikTok Learn more on Substack Connect with Vanessa Bennett on LinkedIn See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    42 min

  4. MAR 8

    Not Surprised Anymore: Collective Trauma, Recognition, and the Body

    We’re carrying a lot of emotion right now, but not much surprise, and that matters because surprise is what you feel when your system expects safety, predictability, and repair. In this episode, Vanessa Bennett, LMFT explores the difference between shock and recognition, how collective and generational trauma live in the body, and why so many women experience harm as familiarity rather than disbelief. We also name why “not all men” is so activating, how the “good guy” archetype can turn defensiveness into avoidance, and why allyship isn’t enough anymore. The invitation now is intervention: choosing repair over exemption, and being willing to risk comfort and privilege to protect women and children. Additional Resources Explore: VanessaBennett.com Book: The Motherhood Myth Community: Inner Compass Collective Training: Inner Compass Academy Connect with Inner Compass Follow on Instagram Connect with Vanessa Bennett: Follow on Instagram Follow on TikTok Learn more on Substack Connect with Vanessa Bennett on LinkedIn See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    26 min

  5. MAR 1

    The Infantilized Adult: Why We Keep Handing Our Power to Partners, Groups, and Gurus

    We’re in a radical shift in how we understand relationships, and it’s bigger than romance: the same reflex lives everywhere we attach, the hope that if you do it right, someone will keep you safe, approve of you, choose you, or tell you who to be. In this episode, Vanessa explores how we outsource our center to partners, groups, institutions, and algorithms, and why certainty becomes addictive when the world feels chaotic. This new model of intimacy isn’t rescue, it’s witness, and it asks for personal responsibility, self-regulation, and the capacity to stay in truth even when you’re afraid. Take this question with you: What do you want someone else to provide for you right now that you’re avoiding providing for yourself? Additional Resources Explore: VanessaBennett.com Book: The Motherhood Myth Community: Inner Compass Collective Training: Inner Compass Academy Connect with Inner Compass Follow on Instagram Connect with Vanessa Bennett: Follow on Instagram Follow on TikTok Learn more on Substack Connect with Vanessa Bennett on LinkedIn See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    26 min

  6. FEB 23

    Codependency in Chaotic Times: How to Hold Yourself in the Storm

    When the world feels like it’s on fire, codependency can look like “staying informed,” “staying useful,” and carrying everyone else’s feelings, but it’s often just overfunctioning in the face of chaos. And collapsing doesn’t make you more compassionate. In Episode 3, Vanessa Bennett, LMFT offers a grounding reset for anxious times: you are not required to carry the whole world to prove your goodness, your compassion, or your worth. You’re allowed to pause, breathe, hydrate, sleep, laugh, and step away from doomscrolling long enough to come back intact. Recovery isn’t disengagement. It’s learning how to hold yourself in the storm so you can act from integrity instead of urgency, and show up for others from a rooted place. If this landed, follow the show, share it, and leave a rating or review. Additional Resources Explore: VanessaBennett.com Book: The Motherhood Myth Community: Inner Compass Collective Training: Inner Compass Academy Connect with Inner Compass Follow on Instagram Connect with Vanessa Bennett: Follow on Instagram Follow on TikTok Learn more on Substack Connect with Vanessa Bennett on LinkedIn See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    16 min

  7. FEB 16

    Shame and the Performance of Love: When Belonging Becomes Conditional

    There’s a version of love many of us were trained into: the kind you earn. Be agreeable, be impressive, don’t need too much, don’t make waves. When belonging becomes conditional, love becomes performance, and shame becomes the inner enforcer that keeps you “good,” useful, and exhausted. In Episode 2, Vanessa Bennett, LMFT explores how conditional belonging turns intimacy into obedience and management, why being “low maintenance” is often a survival strategy, and how over-attunement (often mislabeled as being an “empath”) can be a trauma response rooted in vigilance. You’ll learn the difference between healthy empathy vs trauma empathy, how to spot the somatic signs you’re performing safety, and two experiments to move from performance to presence: the pause and one honest sentence. If this landed, follow the show, share it, and leave a rating or review. Additional Resources Explore: VanessaBennett.com Book: The Motherhood Myth Community: Inner Compass Collective Training: Inner Compass Academy Connect with Inner Compass Follow on Instagram Connect with Vanessa Bennett: Follow on Instagram Follow on TikTok Learn more on Substack Connect with Vanessa Bennett on LinkedIn See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    25 min

  8. FEB 10

    The Invisible Contract: When Working on Yourself Becomes Self-Abandonment

    Most of us were raised inside an invisible contract: if you try hard enough, improve yourself enough, and play your role well enough, you’ll be loved, safe, and chosen. So we become diligent students of “better.” Better habits. Better productivity. Better mindset. Better communication. But when that contract stops working, it’s not a personal failure. It’s often the psyche refusing to keep participating. In Episode 1, Vanessa Bennett, LMFT explores the difference between growth and self-optimization as a survival strategy, how people-pleasing and overfunctioning once kept you attached, and why your anxiety, burnout, or identity unraveling may be a threshold into something more honest. You’ll leave with prompts and one “micro-moment” practice to start rebuilding an inner compass you can trust. If this landed, follow the show, share it, and leave a rating or review. Additional Resources Explore: VanessaBennett.com Book: The Motherhood Myth Community: Inner Compass Collective Training: Inner Compass Academy Connect with Inner Compass Follow on Instagram Connect with Vanessa Bennett: Follow on Instagram Follow on TikTok See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    13 min

  9. FEB 10

    Welcome to the Inner Compass Podcast

    Inner Compass is a depth psychology and relationships podcast with Vanessa Bennett, LMFT, for people who are tired of self-improvement that leaves their lives unchanged. Each episode explores codependency, attachment, boundaries, intimacy, shame, desire, resentment, and nervous system patterns - alongside the cultural myths shaping love, worth, womanhood, and power. Grounded, direct, and reflective, Inner Compass bridges depth psychology, lived experience, and cultural analysis without reducing healing to “tools and tips.” This is a space for honest inquiry, not performance - and for rebuilding an inner compass you can actually trust. Follow the show to receive new episodes weekly. For educational purposes only. This podcast is not therapy. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    3 min

Trailer

4.8
out of 5
271 Ratings

About

NEW PODCAST SERIES HOSTED BY VANESSA BENNETT Vanessa Bennett, LMFT, is a licensed depth psychotherapist, author, and facilitator known for her no-nonsense yet compassionate approach to healing. She’s the author of The Motherhood Myth and coauthor of It’s Not Me, It’s You, and the founder of Inner Compass Academy. She hosts the Inner Compass Podcast, where she explores the intersection of depth psychology, relationships, and cultural conditioning to support personal and collective liberation.

Information

You Might Also Like