Compassionate Navigation, LLC

Call Directions Website Contact the business

Compassionate Navigation, LLC I am a board-certified patient advocate and health communication professor. This is YOUR body, YOUR health.

Through personalized consulting services and comprehensive organizational-level training, I strive to equip clients with the tools, strategies, and skills necessary to navigate sensitive topics, resolve conflicts, and cultivate meaningful relationships. I received my PhD in 2012, and since then, I have been dedicated to researching and teaching various areas of health communication. My teaching areas include Interpersonal Communication, Culture, Health, and Media Representation. Besides teaching, I am deeply committed to helping neurodiverse people and those of the LBGTQIA+ communities get the care they need. My passion is helping people navigate difficult conversations so they feel heard and seen, especially when it comes to their health. YOU have a voice, and I am here to help you amplify that voice.

Nobody is complaining anymore.” For many leaders I work with, this sounds like good news. Sure, the issue may be resolve...
10/15/2026

Nobody is complaining anymore.” For many leaders I work with, this sounds like good news. Sure, the issue may be resolved. Maybe things really are better.

But there’s another possibility leaders need to consider. People may have stopped believing that speaking up is worth the effort.

When employees repeatedly raise concerns and experience little change, or when speaking up feels uncomfortable, risky, or exhausting, they may stop.

The complaint disappears. The problem may not.

That's why silence deserves curiosity, not assumptions.

For HR professionals and healthcare leaders, a useful communication triage question is:
Are problems actually decreasing, or has reporting decreased?

Look beyond the absence of complaints.

Are people still raising small concerns early?
Are they asking questions?
Are they disagreeing openly?
Do problems surface in the room, or later in side conversations?
When someone raises a concern, can they see what happened because they spoke up?

Silence isn't automatically evidence that something is wrong. But it isn't automatically evidence that everything is fine, either.
Silence is data, too.

Have you ever walked away from a conversation feeling like you were somehow the problem, but couldn’t quite explain why?...
10/14/2026

Have you ever walked away from a conversation feeling like you were somehow the problem, but couldn’t quite explain why?

There’s a good chance you weren’t the problem. There’s a good chance you encountered a tactic.

This week on Communication Compass, I’m breaking down six of the most common manipulation tactics, the ones that show up in relationships, families, and workplaces every single day:

🔹 Gaslighting — eroding your trust in your own perception
🔹 DARVO — Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender
🔹 Guilt trips — using your empathy as a control mechanism
🔹 Love bombing — manufacturing attachment before trust is earned
🔹 Weaponized incompetence — performing helplessness to avoid responsibility
🔹 Triangulation — routing conflict through third parties to create pressure

You don’t have to become paranoid. You just have to get fluent.

Because you cannot respond effectively to what you cannot name.

🎧 Episode 41: The Greatest Hits of Manipulation link in the Bio.

Not every communication problem needs a confrontation. Not every recurring problem needs mediation. And not every seriou...
10/13/2026

Not every communication problem needs a confrontation. Not every recurring problem needs mediation. And not every serious concern should be handled with “let's just talk it out.”

Sometimes we need a better way to decide what this situation actually needs. I call that communication triage.

Pay attention to whether anything actually changes. Because sometimes the same issue keeps coming back, and that's information, too.

The goal isn't to make every communication problem bigger. It's to choose a response that fits the problem in front of you.

By the time a communication problem becomes obvious, it may have been developing for quite a while.For HR professionals ...
10/08/2026

By the time a communication problem becomes obvious, it may have been developing for quite a while.

For HR professionals and healthcare leaders, some of the most useful warning signs aren't dramatic conflicts. They're patterns.

People start avoiding certain conversations.
Issues that used to be handled directly keep moving up the chain.

The real concerns surface after the meeting.
One person quietly becomes responsible for keeping everyone else communicating. None of these automatically means you have a serious conflict.

But they are information. They tell us something may be changing in the team's ability to communicate, address concerns, give feedback, or resolve problems together.

That's an important distinction. Not every red flag requires escalation. Every red flag deserves attention.

The earlier we recognize a pattern, the more choices we have about what happens next.

Do we address it directly?
Does someone need support?
Or has it reached the point where it needs to be escalated?

10/07/2026

Have you ever looked back at a relationship, a friendship, a work dynamic, a family pattern, and asked yourself: why didn't I see it sooner?

That question carries so much shame. And it's the wrong question.

In this week's episode of Communication Compass, I'm unpacking a myth that keeps people stuck in that shame: the idea that gaslighting is just lying, and that if we'd been smarter or more aware, we would have caught it.

The truth is more complicated. And more compassionate.

Manipulation works not because we're naive. It works because we're human. Because we need safety. Because we need belonging. Because our nervous system will do almost anything to protect the connections we depend on.

You cannot protect yourself from something you haven't correctly named. This episode is about naming it, clearly, accurately, and without blame.

🎧 Episode 40: What We Think We Know — Gaslighting Is Just Lying. Link in comments.

Sometimes the most important communication red flags are the quiet ones.Not an argument. Not a blowup. Resignation. Avoi...
10/05/2026

Sometimes the most important communication red flags are the quiet ones.
Not an argument. Not a blowup.

Resignation. Avoidance. Silence.

When someone stops bringing something up because they don't believe anything will change, that's information.

It doesn't necessarily mean the relationship is in crisis. But it may mean something needs attention.

What quiet communication red flags have you learned to notice?

Have you ever walked away from a conversation thinking:*Did that really just happen?* *Am I overreacting?* *Maybe I mi...
10/05/2026

Have you ever walked away from a conversation thinking:
*Did that really just happen?*
*Am I overreacting?*
*Maybe I misunderstood.*
*Was that actually manipulative, or am I imagining it?*

That uncertainty is part of what makes navigating manipulative communication so difficult.

Sometimes we know a conversation felt wrong, but we can't quite explain why. We replay it. We question our interpretation. We wonder whether we're being unfair. And without language for what we're experiencing, it can be incredibly difficult to decide how to respond.

That's why October's Communication Compass mini-series is: When Words Are Weapons: Understanding Communication Manipulation

Over five episodes, we're going to unpack why manipulation works, what common tactics actually look and sound like, how emotion can be used as leverage, how these patterns show up differently in families, workplaces, healthcare, friendships, and online, and, most importantly, what you can do when you recognize them.

We'll talk about gaslighting, DARVO, guilt trips, triangulation, emotional blackmail, weaponized incompetence, love bombing, boundaries, regulation, disengagement, and more.

But this series isn't about labeling every difficult interaction as manipulation. It's about developing enough communication literacy to recognize patterns, trust what you're observing, and make a more intentional choice about what comes next.

Because manipulation thrives in confusion. And sometimes simply being able to say, There is a name for what I'm experiencing,” changes everything.

🎧 When Words Are Weapons begins this October on Communication Compass.

In case you missed it… September on Communication Compass focused on one idea: Communication is a health behavior.The wa...
10/01/2026

In case you missed it… September on Communication Compass focused on one idea: Communication is a health behavior.

The way we communicate affects more than whether we understand one another. It can shape stress, trust, relationships, emotional well-being, and our sense of belonging.

Throughout September, I explored communication through a health and wellness lens:

🌱 The Signs of Communication Wellness
What does healthy communication actually feel like?

🧼 Communication Hygiene
The everyday habits that help us maintain healthier communication before problems grow.

🛡️ Your Communication Immune System
Recognize red flags and protect your emotional well-being when communication becomes unhealthy.

🔋 Communication Burnout
What happens when the emotional and cognitive demands of communicating become too much, and why recovery matters.

If you missed an episode, this is a great time to catch up.

Above all, remember, healthy communication isn't about getting every conversation right. It's about developing the habits, awareness, and skills that help us navigate the difficult ones.

🎧 Listen to the September series on Communication Compass wherever you get your podcasts.

There's a specific kind of tired that doesn't come from working too hard; it comes from talking too much, managing too m...
10/01/2026

There's a specific kind of tired that doesn't come from working too hard; it comes from talking too much, managing too much, and feeling too little heard.

Communication burnout is real. And it's different from general fatigue.

It's what happens when the emotional labor of showing up in conversation, navigating conflict, and performing connection outpaces your capacity to sustain it.

In this week's episode of Communication Compass, I'm talking about:

→ What communication burnout actually looks like (and why it's so easy to miss)
→ Why going quiet, dreading your inbox, or checking out in meetings might be signs, not character flaws
→ The difference between rest and repair, and why recovery requires both

If the conversations in your life have started to feel like obligations instead of connections, this one is for you.

🎧 Episode 39: The Quiet Collapse link in bio

09/30/2026

What if the reason you've been pulling back from conversations, dreading your inbox, and going quiet in meetings isn't avoidance, it's depletion? Communication burnout is the collapse that happens when the emotional and cognitive demands of connection outpace your capacity to sustain them. In this episode, I name what most people are experiencing, but few have language for, and offer a framework for understanding your communication patterns, recognizing your limits, and building your way back.

Grounded in burnout research and my own Regulated Conversation Framework, this episode is both a diagnosis and an invitation to recover with intention.

Listen and share with those who need a bit of support.



Address

Terre Haute, IN

Telephone

+14144676316

Website

,

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Compassionate Navigation, LLC posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Compassionate Navigation, LLC:

Shortcuts

Share

Category