When Good News Becomes Something You Have to Apologize For

To learn more about Jackie and Catherine’s therapy and coaching services, and the work they do with individuals and couples, be sure to check out their website.https://www.candgtherapy.com/https://www.catherineroebuck.com/DescriptionMost people know how to brace for bad news. But there's something quietly harder about sharing — or receiving — good news. If you've ever found yourself announcing something wonderful with a kind of apology in your voice, or you've noticed yourself go flat when someone you love tells you something great happened for them, this episode is about that.This episode covers:Why sharing good news can feel shameful or exposing — and where that instinct comes fromThe connection between how you relate to your own achievements and your capacity to genuinely celebrate othersWhat Brené Brown calls "foreboding joy" — the automatic pull away from positive intensity — and how it breaks contact with yourself and with the people you're close toHow anxiety about other people's reactions can cause you to downplay your own life, and how to interrupt thatWhat to do with jealousy when it comes up — including how to let it point you toward something useful rather than taking it somewhere destructiveThis is the kind of conversation Jackie and Catherine have with clients all the time — the smaller, more specific places where closeness breaks down. If you're curious about what it might look like to work on this, both of them offer free 15-minute consultations and would be glad to talk.Free consultation: [link]Substack: [link]Podcast: [link]Chapter Markers00:00 – When sharing good news feels like doing something wrong 01:27 – Why this is harder than it sounds 02:44 – The vulnerability of letting someone in on joy 04:19 – Pregnancy, good news, and emotionally charged topics 05:10 – Learning to manage others' reactions instead of feeling your own 06:00 – What "foreboding joy" actually is 07:10 – The Mel Robbins quote and what it points to 08:09 – How to share without anticipating punishment 09:42 – Differentiation: holding your own experience even when it's positive 11:11 – The other side: struggling to celebrate your partner 12:31 – Building capacity in small steps 15:24 – Brené Brown on joy as the most vulnerable emotion 17:08 – What to say to someone who hides good news out of guilt 18:22 – Jealousy as information, not a verdict 20:51 – Using envy to move toward what you actually want 22:13 – Closing thoughtsMusic: Echoes by Roa https://soundcloud.com/roa_music1031License: Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0Free Download / Stream: https://audiolibrary.com.co/roa-music/echoesMusic promoted by Audio Library: https://youtu.be/HCXJxHIkH8w