The Language Alchemy Podcast

Healthy boundaries are part of any healthy relationship. And passive aggression often shows up when we are not setting clear boundaries.

Passive-aggressive communication may look small on the surface, but it creates confusion, distance, and a surprising amount of emotional fatigue. In this episode, Alejandra Siroka shows why indirect comments and hidden resentment become so draining and why many people default to these habits whe...

Passive aggression quietly unravels trust and closeness by hiding real emotions behind polite words.

Alejandra Siroka looks at how passive aggression shapes the emotional tone of a relationship long before anyone names the tension out loud. She explains how mismatched messages create doubt that settles into the space between people, especially when humor, silence, or polite phrases carry a hint of frustration, anger or disappoint...

Passive aggression hides beneath polite words and careful smiles, creating confusion and distance in relationships that crave honesty and emotional safety.

Alejandra Siroka begins a new mini-series by inviting listeners to understand passive-aggressive communication not as cruelty or manipulation but as a protective response born from fear, powerlessness, or cultural conditioning. She reveals how indirect language—sarcasm, silenc...

When someone we care about feels overwhelmed or emotionally stretched thin, their communication may shift — not because they intend harm, but because their inner resources are running low.

In this episode, Alejandra Siroka offers a new way to interpret those moments. Instead of taking sharp replies, distance, or inconsistency personally, try to notice them as signs of depletion rather than rejection. She introduces a powerful com...

When the world is shaken by war, violence, and human suffering, it can feel impossible to talk about it without creating more distance. Maybe you’ve stayed silent to avoid conflict. Maybe you’ve spoken up only to regret how the conversation unfolded. Or maybe you’ve felt pressure to take a side just to prove that you care.

Alejandra Siroka invites you to understand a different way forward. She shares how conversations anchored in...

The back-to-school season doesn’t just shift kids’ routines, it changes the rhythm of the whole family.

Alejandra Siroka invites parents and co-parents to pause and notice how these transitions impact their partnerships. She shares three simple yet powerful questions that help partners move from silent frustration to mutual support, turning hectic weeks into opportunities for connection. 

Alejandra also explores the importance ...

Back-to-school season often comes with shopping lists, new schedules, and endless logistics, but how often do we stop to think about what this transition feels like for our children? 

In this episode, Alejandra Siroka invites parents to use conscious communication to guide kids through the mix of excitement, nervousness, and even sadness that often accompanies change. She explains how small, everyday conversations, whether during...

Many of us still rely on communication habits that took root when we were children. Maybe you avoid speaking up because you’re afraid of ruffling feathers. Maybe you say yes when you really mean no. Or maybe you fall back on language that sounds dramatic when what you actually want is to feel understood. These patterns once served a purpose, but they don’t support the authentic, connected relationships we want as adults.

In this ...

Transform the way you speak to yourself, life, and others to open the door to deeper connection, stronger confidence, and real personal growth.

Alejandra Siroka invites you to see communication as more than words exchanged between people. It is the thread that shapes your relationships, your self-image, and your sense of possibility. The language you use with yourself can lift you up or hold you back. The beliefs you carry about ...

Trying to be the better person in a conflict might be the very thing keeping you stuck and silently seething.

Alejandra Siroka takes a closer look at what really happens when we avoid hard conversations in the name of maturity or keeping the peace. This episode explores the spin cycle, that mental loop we fall into when unresolved conflict plays on repeat, and offers a more meaningful way forward using values-based communication....

Long-standing conflicts have a way of taking root, not just in relationships, but in our own internal dialogue. In this episode, Alejandra Siroka unpacks three common patterns that tend to keep conflict alive for months or even years: overinflating the other person’s flaws through harsh judgment, resigning ourselves to the belief that they won’t change, and getting stuck in an exhausting mental spin cycle that loops through frustra...

Your arguments about being late or craving more structure might have less to do with behavior and more to do with how your brain relates to time. Could the tension you feel with a partner, friend, or colleague be tied to a mismatch in how you each experience it?

Alejandra Siroka joins life coach Sara L. Allen to talk about the concept of time types, how some people live in a more fluid, expansive relationship with time, while oth...

What do you do when someone you love is overwhelmed and their emotions start to overwhelm you? Alejandra Siroka takes on a familiar dynamic: one partner is in distress, and the other feels pulled into that emotional current, unsure how to stay present without getting swept away. It starts with a question from a listener named Sekani, who describes getting anxious when his girlfriend feels anxious about politics. He wants to show up...

Aggression in kids can be startling. It often signals that they are holding more fear, hurt, or disconnection than they know how to manage.

In this episode, Alejandra Siroka sits down with parenting coach and educator Caroline Griswold to talk about the deeper story behind children’s “aggressive” behavior. What looks like defiance or disruption is often a child’s way of expressing fear, overwhelm, or disconnection they don’t yet ...

Assertive and aggressive communication can feel surprisingly similar, so how do you know which one you’re using, and how it’s affecting the people around you? 

In this episode, Alejandra Siroka explains the real difference between the two, especially for those who’ve been told they’re “too much” when they were simply being clear. She talks about how gender, culture, and power shape the way assertiveness is perceived, and how easy...

Some of the most hurtful communication habits are the ones we’ve been taught to see as normal.

In this episode, Alejandra Siroka offers a reflection on four aggressive patterns that often show up in everyday conversations: stonewalling, gaslighting, passive aggression, and name-calling. These aren’t always loud or obvious. Sometimes they sound like silence. Sometimes they come wrapped in sarcasm, or disguised as concern.

How do...

Most of us don’t mean to hurt the people we care about. So why do certain conversations leave others feeling unseen, dismissed, or blamed?

In this episode, Alejandra Siroka continues her series on aggressive communication by shining a light on four patterns that often go unnoticed: dismissing, derogatory criticism, blame shifting, and bringing up the past. These habits show up in everyday moments, during a disagreement with a par...

Most of us say we want peace in our relationships. So why do we still use words that create tension, distance, or even hurt?

In this episode, Alejandra Siroka invites us to take a closer look at the everyday language we use and how some of it may be doing more harm than we realize. Without meaning to, we may be speaking in ways that shut others down, leads them to feel small, or quietly chip away at trust. Where do those habits c...

Rowena Chiu spent 20 years unable to speak about her sexual assault after signing an NDA. Now, she’s using her voice to challenge power and change how we talk about trauma, truth, and legacy.

Joining Alejandra Siroka in this episode, Rowena reflects on the cultural silence she grew up with as the daughter of Chinese immigrants, and how emotional scarcity and obedience shaped her response to assault. As a former assistant to Harve...