Your Traitor Within

Jessica Anne Pressler, LCSW
  • 5.0 (12)
  • SELF-IMPROVEMENT

Jessica Anne Pressler LCSW came up with the concept Traitor Within to give people a tangible and workable tool that help identify and overcome their repetitive self-sabotaging behavior. Her hope is that once a person gains insight into their Traitor Within, then they can begin to silence their traitor, thus empowering themselves and begin to heal. “Your Traitor Within” will feature conversations and stories about toxicity, healing, empowerment, and more. Www.jessicaannepressler.com @jessicaannepressler

  1. 12/15/2025

    Your Traitor Within: Margaret Josephs on Choosing Herself

    In this deeply personal episode of Your Traitor Within, Jessica Anne Pressler sits down with her longtime friend Margaret Josephs for an honest conversation about how childhood conditioning quietly shapes adult relationships — and how learning to recognize that internal “traitor” voice can change everything. Margaret reflects on growing up parentified, learning early to normalize chaos, over-responsibility, and emotional self-silencing. She shares how those early survival patterns followed her into adulthood, influencing the red flags she excused, the control she tolerated, and the guilt that kept her staying longer than she should have. What looks like strength from the outside often felt like quiet self-betrayal on the inside. Together, Jessica and Margaret unpack how the Traitor Within isn’t a villain — it’s a coping mechanism that once helped her survive. But when left unexamined, that same voice can keep us stuck in relationships that require us to shrink, justify, or “put up and shut up.” Margaret speaks candidly about therapy, boundaries, safety, motherhood, and the moment she realized she could no longer live a life that denied who she truly was. This episode is a powerful exploration of parentification, trauma bonding, emotional control, and the long road from survival to self-trust — told with honesty, humor, and compassion. Margaret Josephs is an entrepreneur, author, fashion designer, and television personality best known for The Real Housewives of New Jersey. She is the founder of Macbeth Collection, co-founder of the mocktail brand Soirée, and the author of Caviar Dreams, Tuna Fish Budget. Beyond television and business, Margaret is a devoted mother and wife, and a long-standing advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, children battling cancer, and causes centered on women’s empowerment, independence, and self-worth. Known for her candor, compassion, and resilience, she consistently uses her platform to support community, philanthropy, and conversations around growth, healing, and reinvention at every stage of life. Follow Margaret Josephs:  @therealmargaretjosephs Follow Soirée:  @drinksoiree

    46 min

  2. 12/09/2025

    Your Traitor Within: Happiest Hour & Sobriety with Paula Devine

    In this episode of Your Traitor Within, Jessica Anne Pressler, LCSW, talks with certified recovery coach Paula Devine, founder of Happiest Hour Concierge Sobriety. For over 30 years, alcohol was woven into Paula’s life — from high school and college partying to a career in the liquor industry and then into the “mommy wine culture” of early motherhood. On the outside she was high-functioning, involved, and “doing it all.” On the inside she was living with anxiety, hangovers, shame, and the quiet realization that alcohol was slowly dulling who she really was. Paula shares how her Traitor Within showed up through alcohol: the voice that told her she “deserved” a drink, that she needed it to relax, to connect, to cope, even as her kids began to mirror back the impact. She describes the moment she finally said, “I’m done,” what it was like to stop in a marriage and social world built around drinking, and how her husband’s support and new shared rituals (like pickleball instead of cocktails) helped her hold that line. Now over three years sober, Paula talks about the surprising happiness and clarity that came with sobriety, how she handles romanticizing the past like a “toxic ex,” and how she gently supports women who slip without shame, focusing instead on triggers, self-awareness, and what the lapse can teach them. Paula also shares how Happiest Hour was born out of her own path — a small group of friends meeting regularly to support each other — and how it evolved into a women’s sobriety coaching practice and community in Lighthouse Point, Florida. Her approach is holistic and personalized: therapy, meetings, coaching, movement, community, and whatever else helps a woman step into an alcohol-free life that actually feels like hers. You can find Paula at:  Website: www.happiesthouraf.com Instagram: @happiest_hour_af

    26 min

  3. 12/01/2025

    Your Traitor Within: Rebuilding with Tim Kassouf

    Your Traitor Within — (@timstagramcpt)In this episode, Jessica welcomes transformation coach and personal trainer Tim Kassouf, whose story is a striking example of what can happen when insecurity, perfectionism, and pain go unspoken for too long — and what becomes possible when someone finally turns toward the truth of their life. Tim talks openly about the body-image wounds he carried since childhood, the pressure to perform his way into worth, and how those early messages eventually shaped a devastating addiction to Adderall and heroin. He describes the collapse of his first marriage, the moment he no longer wanted to live, and the second chance that came only because he stayed one more day. What follows is the slow rebuild: sobriety, AA, faith, community, and the discipline of fitness — not as aesthetics, but as structure, identity, and self-respect. Tim shares how purpose returned through helping others, how accountability became a lifeline, and why effort—not outcomes—is now the foundation of his life. He speaks candidly about men’s silent struggles with body image, the exhaustion of living as a chameleon, the peace that comes from authenticity, and the grounded, mutual love he eventually found in his second marriage. This conversation is about recovery, discipline, self-forgiveness, and the ongoing work of recognizing the Traitor Within when it speaks — and choosing differently, again and again.

    1h 20m

  4. 11/25/2025

    Your Traitor Within: Modern Dating

    In this episode of Your Traitor Within, Jessica Anne Pressler, LCSW, sits down with dating and confidence coach Terri Boucher (@terri_boucher) to explore how the Traitor Within shows up in modern dating. Terri shares her story of growing up in chaos, emotional neglect, poverty, and hyper independence, and how those early wounds pushed her into survival mode, masculine energy, and relationships with emotionally unavailable men. Jessica and Terri discuss how trauma and protective parts shape our dating choices, why so many women end up chasing, settling, or abandoning themselves, and what it actually takes to step into authenticity, feminine energy, boundaries, self-worth, and healthy relationship patterns. Terri explains how she guides women through nervous system regulation, mindset work, deeper awareness, and aligned action so they can stop repeating old cycles, stop dating from their wounds, and start attracting relationships that feel safe, connected, and aligned with who they truly are.

    39 min

  5. 11/18/2025

    Your Traitor Within: Somatic Trauma with Emily Colligan

    Emily Colligan is a somatic trauma and narcissistic abuse recovery coach who helps women break trauma-bond cycles, regulate their nervous system, and rebuild a secure sense of self after toxic relationships. Through body-based healing, attachment work, and deep pattern rewiring, Emily guides clients out of survival mode and into the grounded, empowered version of themselves they've never been allowed to be. Connect with Emily:  Instagram: @emilycolligantherapy  Website: emilycolligantherapy.com

    55 min

  6. 11/10/2025

    Your Traitor Within: National Adoption Month

    In honor of National Adoption Month, Jessica Anne Pressler, LCSW, sits down with her longtime friend and fellow adoptee, Barbara Eckert of All The Feels Healing Space, to share the parts of their adoption stories that shaped their “Traitor Within” — the protective inner voice that helped them survive but later drove people-pleasing, over-trusting, secrecy, and self-silencing. They discuss late disclosures, abandoned fantasies about birth families, the “primal wound,” somatic fallout, and practical tools for repair, including breathwork, therapy, and community. This candid conversation offers language, validation, and next steps for adult adoptees and adoptive parents alike.  Jessica Anne Pressler, LCSW: @jessicaannepressler | yourtraitorwithin.com Barbara Eckert: @allthefeelshealingspace | allthefeelshealingspace.com

    55 min

  7. 11/04/2025

    Your Traitor Within: My Brother Who Bragged About Being a Master Manipulator

    "My brother used to openly call himself a master manipulator — he was proud of it. And honestly, he did have a lot of people manipulated, including my parents. The painful irony is that when he died at forty from an overdose, my father — the one who had been so controlled by him — was the most devastated. He died six months later. My mother was already gone. And while I can’t prove it, I’ve always believed the stress my brother caused helped take her, too. The point isn’t the tragedy, though. The point is that narcissists destroy — not always on purpose, but through the chaos they create. So when someone tells you who they are, believe them. My brother told us exactly who he was. " - Jessica Anne Pressler, LCSW

    42 min

  8. 10/28/2025

    Your Traitor Within: David J. Weeks on Surviving Childhood PART 2

    In Part 2, Jessica and David J. Weeks (@djweeks_) move from the facts of David’s childhood into the adult fallout—and the work of repair. David traces how early chaos trained his body to confuse intensity with intimacy, how disorganized attachment and the survival role of “the chameleon” kept him safe then but costly now, and how narcissistic partners can exploit abandonment wounds through tactics like love-bombing, power imbalance, and data mining (“gaining information to use later against you”). He also reframes trafficking: it isn’t only the cinematic scenario—grooming and relational exploitation of minors belong in that definition, too. Together they highlight practical next steps: naming the pattern, regulating first, moving logistics to one written lane, and building a steady support map so safer connection becomes possible. We cover: Why perceived abandonment can trigger the same alarm as the real thingThe difference between intensity and intimacy (and how sex can cement a trauma bond)Narcissistic tactics in adult relationships: love-bombing → power imbalance → data mining → leverageReframing trafficking for minors: grooming and relational exploitation behind closed doorsRepair in practice: body-first resets, written-only logistics, simple boundaries you can repeat, community careAbout David: Trauma & Recovery Coach, complex-trauma survivor, and author of the forthcoming memoir Surviving Childhood. He coaches survivors to reclaim safety, language, boundaries, and voice. IG: @djweeks_. Resources (U.S.): 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) • RAINN 800-656-HOPE • National DV Hotline 1-800-799-7233 (text START to 88788)

    1h 14m
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About

Jessica Anne Pressler LCSW came up with the concept Traitor Within to give people a tangible and workable tool that help identify and overcome their repetitive self-sabotaging behavior. Her hope is that once a person gains insight into their Traitor Within, then they can begin to silence their traitor, thus empowering themselves and begin to heal. “Your Traitor Within” will feature conversations and stories about toxicity, healing, empowerment, and more. Www.jessicaannepressler.com @jessicaannepressler

Information

  • Creator
    Jessica Anne Pressler, LCSW
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    40
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Your Traitor Within: The Podcast
  • Show Website
    Your Traitor Within