About

Pretty Philosophical with Denée Seaton isn’t really a podcast.

It’s her YouTube videos, in audio form; turned into sharp, voice-led reflections on the things most of us are silently working through: self-worth, ambition, identity, money, reinvention, femininity, and freelance life.

Sometimes it’s discipline, sometimes it’s relationships, sometimes it’s disappearing for six months and coming back as your highest self. But it always comes back to this:

How to live louder, freer, and more in alignment with the life that actually feels like yours.

Denée is a writer, marketer, and the founder of She Freelances™, (and a high-functioning romantic about becoming everything you know you’re meant to be).

If you’re obsessed with working on your mindset, your income, and your entire sense of self, I’m so glad you’re here.

I live rent-free in your ears now, no going backsies (;

How Your Savior Complex Affects Relationships

August 18, 2025•8 minutes

In this episode, we explore why the urge to 'save' others—be it friends, partners, or family—can drain your energy and disrupt your peace. Acting as an emotional sponge does not make you more virtuous or loyal; rather, it can lead to resentment, burnout, and fictitious narratives.

We discuss:

How your savior complex impacts relationships
The disguise of people-pleasing as empathy
The fine line between caring and overburdening yourself
How to plant seeds of change without imposing on others' lives

Listen on Spotify or Apple.

#savior complex, #relationships, #people-pleasing, #empathy, #emotional burnout, #caring balance

Timeline

00:00:Intro: You don’t get peace from saving people

01:18:People-pleasing vs projection

03:38:The false storylines we create

04:19:Why fixing others ruins relationships

05:04:Empathy vs savior complex

07:00:How to show up without carrying everything

Pretty Philosophical

With Denée Seaton

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How Your Savior Complex Affects Relationships

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