(Ep. 62) Judging Yourself: The Hidden Root of Judging Others

What if the harsh way you judge other people is really a mirror of the way you quietly judge yourself?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise take on judgment — and the surprising place it comes from. Starting with Matthew 7 ("judge not, that you be not judged") and reading it with the word "condemn" in place of "judge," they draw a crucial distinction most of us blur: the difference between the everyday wise judgments we're meant to make and the shaming, condemning judgment that quietly eats at us. And they trace that condemning judgment back to its hidden root: how we see ourselves.Laura and Brian unpack why harsh judgment comes from the triggered child brain — the amygdala, which can only see what's right in front of it — rather than the sophisticated adult brain that can hold perspective and compassion. They land on a line that reframes the whole thing: "Heal the pain, and the shaming judgment ends, and true wisdom judgment begins." Along the way they navigate the cultural over-correction (from a harsh past that judged everything to a present that says you're not allowed to judge anything), why "what you do matters, but who you are matters more" holds both grace and real consequences, and how genuine justice actually flows from being okay — clear-minded, tenderhearted, at peace — not from being so triggered that all we can do is condemn.In this episode: 🔹 Matthew 7 revisited: the difference between "judge" and "condemn," and why it matters 🔹 Why condemning judgment comes from the triggered child brain, not the wise adult brain 🔹 "Heal the pain, and the judgment ceases" — how self-judgment fuels the way we judge others 🔹 The cultural "both ditches": from judging everything to being told to judge nothing 🔹 Why real justice flows from being okay — not from a triggered, condemning place📩 Get your free Weekly Dose of Compassion — two short notes in your inbox every week. One to speak over yourself. One from Laura: https://www.lauraduncan.com/pl/2148814868🔗 Learn more: https://triggeredandtrue.comhttps://lauraduncan.com