Most of us think relationship problems are about communication.

But what if the real issue is what’s happening beneath the surface?

In this episode of The Nona Jones Show, I’m joined by Dr. Gino Collura; behavioral scientist, executive advisor, and neuroanthropology expert, to unpack the hidden language of trauma and why it shows up in how we relate, react, attach, and interpret people.

Trauma doesn’t always show up as a memory.
More often, it shows up as overreaction, withdrawal, control, or shutdown, and we don’t even realize we’re doing it.

We talk about:

How early experiences shape the “cost of love” we believe in

Why so many high-achievers chase success as a proxy for love

The patterns trauma produces (people-pleasing, conflict avoidance, emotional withdrawal)

Boundaries, self-respect, and why loving people doesn’t mean protecting everyone

Why healing is possible: the brain can rewire and the heart can heal

This conversation is faith-forward, emotionally honest, and deeply practical, especially if you’re a high-capacity woman who leads well outwardly but feels tired, reactive, or stuck internally.

Most of us enter relationships trying to pass; pass as healed, pass as confident, pass as ready. But love was never a test to ace.

This conversation shifts the posture from trying to master love to becoming a student of it. Drawing from Student of Love, we explore how relationships are meant to teach us, through rejection, boundaries, identity, commitment, and even discomfort.

Too often, we chase connection without clarity and search for soulmates without doing the soul work. When we stop trying to control love and instead listen to what it’s teaching us, something changes.

Love doesn’t fail us; we fail to listen.
And when we do, we don’t just experience love, we reflect it.

Laterras R. Whitfield's new book, Student of Love, is available now, wherever books are sold.

Your “yes” to God may cost you comfort, but it will lead you to purpose.

Saying “yes” sounds simple, until it stretches your faith, disrupts your plans, or challenges your comfort zone.
The truth is, many of us pray for clarity, but what we really want is control. And when obedience feels risky, fear will always try to talk us out of faith.

But what if the blessing you’ve been praying for is waiting on the other side of that trembling, uncertain, but willing “yes”?
What if the detours and disruptions aren’t distractions, but divine direction?

This week, I’m joined by Brenda Palmer author of The Journey to Yes, for a powerful conversation about what it really means to surrender to God when the path doesn’t make sense.

Because every “yes” to God may feel like loss in the moment, but it always leads to more than you could imagine.