25: Releasing What Could've Been | An Open Letter to the Woman Who Needs to Mourn | Real with Melanie
Christian Women Healing from Shame, Fear & Codependency: Real with Melanie
Release Date: 06/29/2026
31: Healing From Shame, Codependency & Alcohol | Why I Went Silent for 6 Years
Christian Women Healing from Shame, Fear & Codependency: Real with Melanie
Why did I go silent on this podcast for six years? This full-length episode is the honest answer, covering a toxic on-and-off relationship, codependency, alcohol, and the shame that silenced a faith-based coach from telling her own story. This is the most personal episode I have ever recorded. For six years I told you "life happened." That was true, but it wasn't the whole truth. In this episode, I'm sharing the whole truth: a relationship I was too ashamed to post publicly, alcohol that quietly became something I had to manage, and the shame that kept me from telling my own story while...
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30: Rejection and Self-Worth | An Open Letter to the Woman Who's Tired of Rejection and Shame
Christian Women Healing from Shame, Fear & Codependency: Real with Melanie
Why does rejection still make you feel like you're not enough, even when nothing about you has changed? This is the final letter in the Open Letter series, written for the woman who's spent a lifetime bracing for the door to close, in friendships, in family, in love, in every room she's ever walked into. This episode weaves in Lesson 8 of Kingdom Happily Ever After: How the Gospel Redefines Good Enough. A little about this show: Real with Melanie is a faith-based podcast for Christian women navigating mental health, emotional healing, and the journey to wholeness in Christ. Every episode...
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29: Ignoring the Confirmation You Already Had | An Open Letter to the Woman Who Got Her Confirmation and Still Stayed
Christian Women Healing from Shame, Fear & Codependency: Real with Melanie
Why do I stay after I already know the truth? This episode is for the woman who got her confirmation, the proof, the pattern, the plain truth, and stayed anyway. Melanie Reyes, Certified Faith-Based Coach and your Focus Bestie, reads an open letter addressing emotional sobriety, trauma bonds, and identity in Christ for women carrying the shame of staying after they already knew. This episode explores what it means to guard your heart after confirmed harm, how shame shows up differently once denial isn't an option anymore, and why walking away from proof you already have is still grief work,...
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28: Breaking the Cycle of Going Back | An Open Letter to the Woman Who Keeps Going Back | Real with Melanie
Christian Women Healing from Shame, Fear & Codependency: Real with Melanie
Why do I keep going back to what I know isn't good for me? This is an open letter for the Christian woman stuck in a cycle, whether it's a relationship, an ex, or a family dynamic she keeps returning to even though she knows it's breaking her. In this episode: Why familiar chaos can feel safer than real peace The difference between the relief that follows an apology and the peace God actually offers Why healing means choosing the decision to not go back, not another promise it'll be different Mentioned in this episode: Kingdom Happily Ever After by Melanie Reyes, Lesson 1: When Love...
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27: Shame and Guilt | An Open Letter to the Woman Who Believes Her Past Is Her Prison | Real with Melanie
Christian Women Healing from Shame, Fear & Codependency: Real with Melanie
Why do I still feel guilty when God has already forgiven me? If you're a Christian woman asking that question, this open letter is for you. We talk about shame, guilt, and the difference between conviction and condemnation, and why your past was never meant to be a prison. In this episode I speak directly to the woman carrying condemnation for things God already redeemed, the one who has disqualified herself before anyone else could. I share how I could not tell the difference between the voice of conviction and the voice of condemnation for years, and what finally set me free. I also read...
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26: Comparison and God's Timing | An Open Letter to the Woman Who Feels Behind
Christian Women Healing from Shame, Fear & Codependency: Real with Melanie
Why do I feel behind in life? If you're a Christian woman asking that question, this open letter is for you. We talk about comparison, God's timing, and why your worth was never measured by a man-made timeline. In this episode I share the therapy question that exposed where I had built my identity, and how anchoring my identity in Christ, not milestones, changed my emotional healing. I also read from Kingdom Happily Ever After, my 20-lesson guide to emotional sobriety, specifically Lesson 18: Living From Identity, Not Insecurity. If you've been stuck in comparison, watching everyone else move...
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25: Releasing What Could've Been | An Open Letter to the Woman Who Needs to Mourn | Real with Melanie
Christian Women Healing from Shame, Fear & Codependency: Real with Melanie
Are you grieving a version of your life that never happened? This is an open letter for the woman mourning what could've been, not the person, but the dream. The version of your life you built in your heart that God never showed up for the way you planned. If you've ever stayed loyal to a fantasy longer than was good for you, this letter was written for you. Faith, healing, and emotional sobriety. After a six-year hiatus, Real with Melanie Podcast is back with the Open Letter series, six letters for Christian women navigating grief, codependency, toxic relationships, and the journey to...
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24: Faith & Healing Podcast Returns | Real with Melanie Is Back After 6 Years
Christian Women Healing from Shame, Fear & Codependency: Real with Melanie
A faith-based podcast for Christian women navigating mental health, emotional healing, and codependency recovery is officially back. After a six-year hiatus, Melanie Reyes returns to Real with Melanie with raw honesty about why she stepped away and what's different this time. This short episode is your invitation back in. New episodes start soon, diving into shame, fear, codependency, and identity in Christ through Scripture-rooted Open Letters and real conversation. Want healing content delivered straight to your inbox every week? Join the FIT Focus newsletter at mypathtowholeness.com. And if...
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23: How To Raise Children Who Are Grateful, Grounded and Prayerful
Christian Women Healing from Shame, Fear & Codependency: Real with Melanie
Gratitude is so important but particularly in times like we are currently facing in this world. Listen in as I talk with entrepreneur, mama, wife and author of The Gratitude Journal Jessica Lewis.
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22: Got Enemies? Get Back At Your True Enemy
Christian Women Healing from Shame, Fear & Codependency: Real with Melanie
Got Enemies? Get Back At Your True Enemy:
info_outlineAre you grieving a version of your life that never happened? This is an open letter for the woman mourning what could've been, not the person, but the dream. The version of your life you built in your heart that God never showed up for the way you planned. If you've ever stayed loyal to a fantasy longer than was good for you, this letter was written for you.
Faith, healing, and emotional sobriety. After a six-year hiatus, Real with Melanie Podcast is back with the Open Letter series, six letters for Christian women navigating grief, codependency, toxic relationships, and the journey to emotional freedom and wholeness in Christ.
In this episode:
- Why letting go of a dream is harder than letting go of a person
- What faith, fear, and control actually look like from the inside
- Permission to grieve what never happened and start over without calling it failure
Mentioned in this episode:
Kingdom Happily Ever After by Melanie Reyes, Lesson 17: Surrendering the Fantasy
kingdomhappilyeverafter.com
Want a personal letter in your inbox every Monday? The FIT Focus Newsletter is where I share journal-led reflections, biblical truth, and practical steps for women walking their own path to healing and wholeness. It's not a marketing email. It's a letter from me to you. Join at mypathtowholeness.com.
A little about this show: Real with Melanie is a faith-based podcast for Christian women navigating mental health, emotional healing, and the journey to wholeness in Christ. Every episode speaks into codependency recovery, shame and guilt, boundaries, people pleasing, and identity in Christ, the real stuff so many of us carry quietly. This episode speaks to grief and faith, and to letting go and releasing control, part of the larger journey toward emotional freedom and focus. If you searched for a faith based podcast for women healing from codependency, or a Christian podcast for emotional healing and mental health, you are exactly who this show was made for.
Connect with Melanie:
Instagram: @msmelaniereyes
Email: hello@mypathtowholeness.com
Website: mypathtowholeness.com
New episodes every Monday.
Real with Melanie Podcast | Faith, Mental Health and Focus for Women