Still Using Affirmations in 2026? Why They Aren't Working and What to Do Instead

If affirmations worked the way we were told they would, most midlife women wouldn’t still feel stuck.In this episode of Getting to After, Chatone Morrison and Morganne Bustos explore why traditional affirmations often stop working in midlife and how the nervous system responds when language feels forced, premature, or unsafe.You’ll learn why repeating phrases like “I am confident” or “I trust myself” can actually create resistance, tension, and emotional shutdown, especially for women who have spent years caregiving, surviving, or holding everything together.This episode is for midlife women who feel frustrated with affirmations that no longer land and want a more supportive, nervous-system-aware approach to self-talk and emotional healing.In this conversation, we cover:• Why affirmations can feel like a threat instead of a goal• How the nervous system responds to language it does not believe yet• Why toxic positivity leaves no room for truth• The difference between forcing belief and creating safety• How EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) supports emotional regulation• A grounding practice and a full tapping transformationIf you have ever felt worse after saying affirmations, you are not broken.You do not need louder words. You need kinder, more accurate ones.New episodes of Getting to After drop every Tuesday at 8:00 AM Eastern.