Communication Compass

About Communication Compass

Communication Compass is a dynamic podcast by Compassionate Navigation, LLC, dedicated to uncovering the most common communication missteps that complicate our relationships. Whether you're navigating conversations with partners, friends, family, medical providers, or colleagues, each episode dives deep into real-life scenarios where things often go wrong—and, more importantly, how to fix them. Using relatable examples and proven communication strategies, I break down why misunderstandings happen and provide actionable advice grounded in communication theory and research. If you want to enhan

Publisher

Malynnda Stewart, PhD, BCPA

Category

education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

1 Jan 2025

Latest episode

21 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

98 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   21 Oct 2026

   EP 43: Manipulation Across Contexts

   The patterns you’ve learned to name don’t stay in one relationship. They show up at the dinner table, in the conference room, in your closest friendships, and in your social media feed. In this episode, Dr. Malynnda Stewart maps manipulation across four contexts: family systems, workplace politics, friendships, and social media, drawing on Bowen’s Family Systems Theory, organizational psychology, and communication ethics. The insight that connects all four: manipulation doesn’t change. It simply wears different costumes. Part of the When Words Are Weapons series.

2. 

   21 Oct 2026

   EPISODE 42: Your Empathy Is Being Used Against You

   You were taught that being a good person means being sensitive, showing up, and putting others first. But what happens when those very qualities become the mechanism of your manipulation? In this episode, Dr. Malynnda Stewart breaks down four tactics that work specifically through your empathy: emotional blackmail, toxic positivity, victim narratives, and performative vulnerability. Drawing on Susan Forward’s landmark research, Brené Brown’s work on vulnerability, and trauma-informed communication frameworks, this episode shows that compassion isn't the problem; it's the target. The takeaway you’ll carry with you: empathy should never require self-abandonment.

3. 

   14 Oct 2026

   Ep. 41: The Greatest Hits of Manipulation

   Manipulation doesn’t always look like cruelty. Sometimes it looks like someone who just can’t seem to do anything right. Sometimes it looks like overwhelming affection. Sometimes it looks like you somehow becoming the villain in a story where you were the one who got hurt. In this episode of Communication Compass, Malynnda Stewart unpacks six tactics — gaslighting, DARVO, guilt trips, love bombing, weaponized incompetence, and triangulation — with clarity, compassion, and the research to back it up. Because understanding these dynamics isn’t about becoming suspicious of everyone. It’s about finally having language for something you’ve already lived.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 45 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

90

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

0

Contact Communication Compass

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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