Dr. Allie Taylor on How to Set Holiday Boundaries without Burning Bridges
Release Date: 12/01/2025
Rewiring the Past to Change Your Relationships with Tom DeLano
Friendship Matters
What if a problem you think you have already worked through is still quietly shaping your relationships, and you simply do not know it yet? SEASON 5: Friendship, Wellbeing and Wellness. Episode 6 In this episode of Friendship Matters, we explore a powerful and often overlooked truth. The patterns shaping your friendships may not be conscious choices. They may be rooted in how your brain and body have stored past experiences. Through a deeply personal story, Tom DeLano shares how a traumatic event involving his son led him to study how the brain processes and stores memory. What he...
info_outline
Dr. Rubin Naiman Takes Us Beyond Awaking: The Missing Third of Consciousness That Shapes Your Relationships
Friendship Matters
We tend to think of sleep as a performance metric. Hours tracked, quality scored, problems diagnosed. But what if that entire framework is flawed? SEASON 5: Friendship, Wellbeing and Wellness. Episode 5 In this episode, we explore a radically different perspective. Sleep is not just biological maintenance. It is a core dimension of consciousness that directly shapes how we connect, regulate emotions, and experience others. Dr. Rubin Naiman invites us to move beyond a narrow, wake-focused view of life and consider a deeper truth. We are not just awake beings who occasionally sleep. We are...
info_outline
Is It You… or Your Hormones? What The 'pause Is Really Doing to Your Relationships
Friendship Matters
What if the tension in your relationships is not about communication skills, but about biology? SEASON 5: Friendship, Wellbeing and Wellness. Episode 4 Menopause is often reduced to hot flashes and hormonal changes. But what if it is also quietly reshaping how you think, feel, and connect with others? In this episode, we explore a powerful and often overlooked truth: your capacity for patience, emotional regulation, and connection may be directly influenced by what is happening inside your body. If you have ever wondered why you feel more reactive, less tolerant, or simply not...
info_outline
Friendship Starts in the Nervous System, with Chris Magryta, M.D.
Friendship Matters
When you feel safe, everything changes and connection becomes easier! SEASON 5: Friendship, Wellbeing and Wellness. Episode 3 Have you considered that friendship does not begin with time on the calendar, it begins in the nervous system. Joined by pediatrician Dr. Chris Magryta, this conversation dives into Polyvagal theory, vagal tone, and the biology of safety to show how connection, conflict, and even so called difficult behavior are deeply shaped by what is happening inside the body. Dr. M helps us understand that many behaviors we judge too quickly, in children, in adults, at work,...
info_outline
You’re Not a Bad Friend, You’re Stressed
Friendship Matters
Have you ever said yes to something and instantly regretted it, or pulled away from a relationship because you felt overwhelmed? SEASON 5: Friendship, Wellbeing and Wellness. Episode 2 Join us to explore a powerful and often overlooked truth: many of our relationship struggles are not character flaws, they are physiological responses. Donna and Dr. Russ unpack the role of cortisol and chronic stress, revealing how a dysregulated nervous system quietly shapes how we listen, respond, and show up in our friendships. Understand why stress can push you into people pleasing or...
info_outline
Is Your Body Sabotaging Your Friendships?
Friendship Matters
What if some of your hardest relationship moments are not personality problems, but biology at work? SEASON 5: Friendship, Wellbeing and Wellness. Episode 1 Join us as we explore a powerful idea that reframes how we think about connection. The body sets the ceiling for friendship. When the body is exhausted, inflamed, or overwhelmed by stress, our capacity for patience, empathy, and emotional regulation shrinks. Our conversation explores how sleep, stress, nutrition, movement, and even loneliness influence the nervous system and the brain chemistry that shapes how we interpret...
info_outline
The Workplace Wellbeing Factor No One Talks About
Friendship Matters
What if the most powerful driver of workplace wellbeing is not a benefit, but a relationship? SEASON 4: Foundations of Friendship at Work & Cultures of Connection Part 2: Creating Cultures of Connection Episode 10 — Wellbeing Defined—What It Means for the Workplace Organizations spend billions on wellness initiatives, yet many employees still feel disconnected, stressed, and disengaged. In this episode of Friendship Matters, the hosts explore a powerful but often overlooked dimension of wellbeing, the role of social connection at work. Moving beyond the usual focus...
info_outline
Rethinking Return to Office: From Mandate to a Magnetic Workplace
Friendship Matters
What if the problem is not return to office, but the experience people return to? SEASON 4: Foundations of Friendship at Work & Cultures of Connection Part 2: Creating Cultures of Connection Episode 9 - Getting People Back to the Office—The Power of Connection Returning to the office is not just a logistical shift. It is a psychological and cultural transition. In this episode of Friendship Matters, we unpack why mandates often backfire, why leaders are feeling the strain as much as their teams, and why connection, not compliance, is the real driver of a successful return. The...
info_outline
Belonging Is Not a Perk, It Is a Performance Strategy
Friendship Matters
Are you surrounded by people, yet still feel alone? SEASON 4: Foundations of Friendship at Work & Cultures of Connection Part 2: Creating Cultures of Connection Episode 8 - Escaping the Loneliness Trap: From Loneliness to Belonging Loneliness is not simply being alone. It is the emotional experience of lacking meaningful connection, and research shows it carries serious mental and physical health consequences. From inflammation and cardiovascular disease to anxiety and depression, the impact is real. But belonging is not passive. It is something we actively create....
info_outline
Leadership, Belonging, and the Biology of Connection at Work
Friendship Matters
What if belonging is not a soft concept, but a strategic lever for performance, health, and culture? SEASON 4: Foundations of Friendship at Work & Cultures of Connection Part 2: Creating Cultures of Connection Episode 7 — The Leadership Impact on Workplace Connection In this episode of Friendship Matters, we explore the leadership impact on workplace connection through the lens of psychology, neuroscience, and organizational research. Drawing from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, social identity theory, Conversational Intelligence, Gallup engagement data, and emerging...
info_outlineThe holidays can be a season of connection, but they also stir up old patterns, expectations, and emotional landmines. Many adults find themselves back in their family system, feeling like a younger version of themselves even though they know they have grown.
In this conversation, Donna Brighton welcomes Dr. Allie Taylor, a business psychologist and trusted advisor who draws on her background in marriage and family therapy and internal family systems work. Together, they unpack why we get triggered around family, how to stay in our adult self instead of regressing to that inner twelve year old, and how boundaries can be an act of love rather than rejection.
From journaling before gatherings, to befriending our own inner parts, to having honest conversations about traditions and expectations, Allie offers practical tools that help you design a holiday season that actually works for you. The episode ends with a powerful invitation to define what a successful holiday would look like for you, then make choices that support that vision.
Why Listen?
If you dread certain parts of the holidays or feel yourself shrinking into an old version of you as soon as you see your family, this episode offers language and tools that make sense of that experience. Instead of white knuckling through another season out of obligation, you will learn how to prepare your inner world, set clear and kind boundaries, and define success on purpose.
This is a practical, compassionate guide to showing up as your calm, adult self, so you can protect your energy, enjoy the people you love, and create new traditions that fit who you are now.
©Friendship Institute 2025
Friendship Matters™ is intended to help improve our Friendship IQ. While this generally signals an improvement in our overall wellbeing, this podcast is not intended in any way to offer specific counseling or medical advice. Please seek help from a trained professional.