ERP 482: Naming What Matters: How Couples Can Align On Priorities — An Interview with Nick Brancato
Empowered Relationship Podcast: Your Relationship Resource And Guide
Release Date: 06/24/2025
ERP 502: Beyond Fear and Control: Building Emotional Flexibility in Relationships — An Interview with Dr. Patricia Zurita Ona
Empowered Relationship Podcast: Your Relationship Resource And Guide
Are you letting anxiety and the need to play it safe hold you hostage in your relationships and personal growth? Too often, fear—of rejection, failure, or the unknown—becomes the invisible fence shaping our actions. Perfectionism, procrastination, overthinking, and the constant urge to avoid discomfort can shrink our lives, leaving us disconnected from our true selves and the people we care about most. In this episode, we explore how fear influences perfectionism, anxiety, and avoidance in our relationships and daily lives. Discover compassionate approaches to working with...
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ERP 501: From Projection to Presence: The Art of Seeing and Being Seen — An Interview With David Mars
Empowered Relationship Podcast: Your Relationship Resource And Guide
Feeling unseen and misunderstood in your closest relationship can be one of the loneliest experiences, even when surrounded by family and friends. It's not uncommon for couples to fall into patterns of projection, reactivity, and defensiveness, leaving genuine intimacy and deep connection feeling just out of reach. How do we move from these cycles of blame and distance towards the kind of secure, transformative partnership that brings true accompaniment, dignity, and joy? In this episode, you are invited to slow down and explore new pathways to presence and connection. Through practical tools,...
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ERP 500: The Practice of Us: Living the Skills That Keep Love Alive
Empowered Relationship Podcast: Your Relationship Resource And Guide
This episode marks an incredible milestone—the 500th episode of the Empowered Relationship Podcast. To celebrate, Dr. Jessica Higgins and her husband, Reid Peterson, sit down for a heartfelt and revealing conversation about what it really takes to cultivate a truly empowered partnership. If you’ve ever wondered why, despite your best intentions, emotional honesty and vulnerability can feel so risky—or why differences and conflict so often create distance instead of closeness—you’re not alone. The path to authentic connection is filled with challenges that test even the strongest...
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ERP 499: Regulate to Relate: Building Embodied Safety in Love — An Interview with Aubrey Aust
Empowered Relationship Podcast: Your Relationship Resource And Guide
Ever feel like you know all the “right” things to do in a relationship, but when the moment comes, your body is flooded with stress, your voice tightens, or you just shut down? Many of us long for deep connection and trust, but when life gets real, our nervous system can hijack our best intentions. The invisible forces of old wounds, protective patterns, and the lightning-fast reactions of our bodies can make true safety in love feel just out of reach. In this episode, you’ll discover practical ways to bridge the gap between knowing and feeling safe and connected with your partner....
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ERP 498: Turn Toward, Turn On: How Couples Grow Desire (Not Just Talk About It) — An Interview with Dr. Diane Mueller
Empowered Relationship Podcast: Your Relationship Resource And Guide
Why is it that talking about desire and intimacy with your partner can feel more intimidating than any other conversation in a relationship, even when you’ve shared years—or decades—together? So many couples silently struggle with mismatched libido, lost spark, or simply the discomfort of broaching sensitive topics about sex and pleasure. When left unspoken, these issues have the power to erode connection and joy in long-term relationships. If you’ve ever wondered why desire seems to fade, or why candid discussions about passion feel off-limits, you’re not alone. In this episode,...
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ERP 497: Become the Family CEO: Build a ‘Family Bank’ and Lasting Wealth — An Interview with Lavaisha Davis
Empowered Relationship Podcast: Your Relationship Resource And Guide
Have you ever faced a family crisis only to realize that financial instability adds an overwhelming weight to an already heavy moment? Or maybe you’ve felt isolated as the “first” in your family to reach new professional heights, only to discover no one handed you a playbook for building true generational wealth. Financial challenges don’t just shake our wallets—they can ripple through our relationships, legacies, and even our sense of security and belonging. In this episode, listeners are invited to think beyond individual wealth and step into a bold new perspective: managing your...
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ERP 496: From Old Patterns to Strong Partnership—Using Tiny External Shifts — An Interview with Laura Day
Empowered Relationship Podcast: Your Relationship Resource And Guide
Ever felt like you’re stuck in old relationship patterns, no matter how hard you try to break free? Or perhaps you find yourself repeating the same old arguments, feeling misunderstood, or cycling through self-doubt and disconnection from your partner. The truth is, long-term intimacy often brings hidden challenges to the surface, and many of us wrestle with how to unravel deeply ingrained habits that hold us back from experiencing truly authentic, safe, and thriving partnerships. In this episode, listeners discover how making tiny, targeted external shifts—rather than endlessly searching...
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ERP 495: Play the Right Money Game Together: How Couples Balance Today’s Joy with Tomorrow’s Security - An Interview With Kali & Eric Roberge
Empowered Relationship Podcast: Your Relationship Resource And Guide
Money may not buy happiness, but the tension between enjoying life today and securing a stable future can leave many couples feeling stuck, anxious, or even at odds with each other. Are you and your partner finding it difficult to strike a balance between living for the moment and building a financially secure tomorrow? Navigating finances together can bring up deep-seated fears, old money stories, and conflicting priorities—making it a journey that’s as emotional as it is practical. In this episode, you’ll discover how couples can open up the conversation about money in a way that’s...
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ERP 494: Designing Love That Lasts: 6 Principles for Lasting Connection — An Interview with Dr. Sara Nasserzadeh
Empowered Relationship Podcast: Your Relationship Resource And Guide
About this Episode What if everything you know about love is a myth—built on luck, chance, and hope? The truth is, many of us walk into relationships with big dreams of “happily ever after,” only to find that real connection can feel overwhelming, elusive, or even impossible to sustain. We use words like “respect,” “trust,” and “compassion,” but rarely stop to define what they truly mean for ourselves and our partners. Without a roadmap, couples often end up lost in confusion, miscommunication, and heartbreak. In this episode, you’ll discover a fresh, research-backed...
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ERP 493: What Happened to Our Sex Life? Understanding What’s Going On with Me—and Us—in the Bedroom — An Interview with Dr. Kate Balestrieri
Empowered Relationship Podcast: Your Relationship Resource And Guide
About this Episode What happened to our sex life? It’s a question that so many couples and individuals ask themselves in silence, often with a mix of confusion, frustration, and vulnerability. Desire seems to disappear overnight. Intimacy becomes awkward or routine. Shame and self-doubt creep in, making it all the harder to talk about what’s really going on—let alone figure out how to reconnect. The problem isn't just about mismatched libido or busy schedules. It's about navigating the invisible scripts, societal expectations, stress, and even past wounds that shape our most intimate...
info_outlineAbout this Episode
Ever feel like you and your partner are speaking different languages when it comes to what truly matters? Maybe that seemingly minor argument about weekend plans or household chores is actually a sign of deeper, hidden misalignments. In many relationships, conflicts arise not just because of surface-level disagreements, but also because we haven’t taken the time—or found the right language—to name and share our genuine priorities.
In this episode, you’ll discover practical tools and insightful strategies to help couples identify, understand, and communicate their individual and shared priorities. By exploring the difference between values and priorities, introducing a simple method to measure alignment, and breaking down actionable steps for regular check-ins, this conversation is packed with guidance for strengthening your partnership. Whether you’re seeking more harmony in daily life or aiming for lasting intimacy, this episode provides a roadmap for aligning on what matters most, together.
Nick Brancato is a seasoned personal development coach and educator with over 25 years of experience helping individuals and couples connect, communicate, and thrive. With a master’s degree in education and a background as a Microsoft systems engineer, Nick blends practical tools with data-driven frameworks to guide clients through life’s challenges, including career shifts, financial pressures, and personal growth.
Nick’s holistic process incorporates meditation, guided visualization, and hypnotherapy, emphasizing both emotional insight and actionable steps. By fostering deeper connections and mental clarity, Nick empowers couples to transform tension into trust and misalignment into mutual success, creating lasting, meaningful change in their relationships.
Check out the transcript of this episode on Dr. Jessica Higgin's website.
Episode Highlights
03:09 Nick Brancato’s journey to relationship coaching and the origins of "Prioritize Us".
06:50 The power of priority alignment and differentiating priorities from values.
10:35 Navigating conflict by understanding differences and looking beyond surface issues.
13:52 Practical tools for identifying, ranking, and comparing priorities in relationships.
17:14 How to use the Total Difference Score (TDS) and the ten core life priorities.
21:01 The importance of individual assessment before sharing priorities with your partner.
27:45 Shifting priorities together and supporting each other’s growth and change.
35:57 Fostering positive daily connection through small, medium, and large relationship check-ins.
39:01 Overcoming overwhelm with decision-making, clarity, and relationship scorekeeping.
43:08 The Swiss Cheese principle.
47:47 Key takeaways and available resources for couples.
Mentioned
Prioritize Us (*Amazon Affiliate link) (book)
Relationship Map To Happy, Lasting Love
Connect with Nick Brancato
Websites: nickbrancato.com
Instagram: instagram.com/personaldevcoach
Connect with Dr. Jessica Higgins
Facebook: facebook.com/EmpoweredRelationship
Instagram: instagram.com/drjessicahiggins
Podcast: drjessicahiggins.com/podcasts/
Pinterest: pinterest.com/EmpowerRelation
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/drjessicahiggins
Twitter: @DrJessHiggins
Website: drjessicahiggins.com
Email: jessica@drjessicahiggins.com
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*With Amazon Affiliate Links, I may earn a few cents from Amazon, if you purchase the book from this link.