The Case for Workplace Self-Defense

Verbal Aikido

In this episode of Exposing Workplace Bullying, Dr. Jan Kircher breaks down Verbal Aikido—a practical workplace self-defense approach for handling pressure, disruption, and escalating behavior in real time. This isn’t about having one perfect response. It’s about using different verbal self-defense moves together depending on the situation, the people involved, and the level of risk in the moment. Through a workplace meeting scenario, you’ll hear how strategies like silence, micro-scripts, the broken record move, the sandwich move, and disengagement can be used to respond without getting pulled into the escalation. Because bullying doesn’t stay predictable, verbal self-defense isn’t one-size-fits-all. It requires awareness, practice, and the ability to adjust as things change. Get the Verbal Self-Defense at Work: https://www.stopbullyculture.com/store/p/verbal-self-defense

Ground Control

Episode 29 explores what Ground Control looks like in real time—when something shifts mid-conversation and you feel it before you have words for it. A meeting changes tone. A comment lands wrong. Questions feel pointed. The nervous system reads the moment instantly, even if you haven’t caught up yet. This episode focuses on that exact point in time. Ground Control is unpacked as a practical, in-the-moment skill: how to stay internally steady, sort signal from noise, and contain your response without escalating or disappearing. This isn’t about stopping the behavior. It’s about not letting it take control of you. This podcast is independently funded. Consider supporting it at StopBullyCulture.com/Support Get Support: * Visit StopBullyCulture.com for practical tools and real support. Stay Connected: * Follow Exposing Workplace Bullying for updates and new episodes.

Threat Assessment

Most conversations about workplace bullying focus on what to do after harm has happened. In Episode 28, Threat Assessment, we shift the lens to threat assessment — what you need to understand before you walk into an interaction and while it’s unfolding. Drawing from protective intelligence principles and lived experience, Dr. Jan Kircher breaks down how to assess risk in real time: what to notice, how to read changing conditions, and how to recognize when a situation is turning against you. Threat assessment is a foundational element of workplace self defense. It keeps you oriented in reality — not what you hope is happening or what you’ve learned to tolerate. This podcast is independently funded. Consider supporting it at StopBullyCulture.com/Support Resources: * Visit StopBullyCulture.com for practical tools and real support. * Follow Exposing Workplace Bullying for updates and new episodes.

The Case for Workplace Self-Defense

Episode 27 marks the beginning of Season 4: The Art of Workplace Self-Defense—and introduces a hard truth: the strategies most people are told to use when they’re being bullied at work often don’t stop the behavior—and in many cases, make things worse. In this episode, Dr. Jan Kircher breaks down why documenting, reporting, or leaving can fail to protect you, and what happens when the system doesn’t intervene. Dr. Jan also shares the moment that shifted how she understood workplace bullying—and why she stopped relying on others to step in. This episode reframes what it means to respond to workplace bullying: not stopping it—but learning how to reduce harm and protect yourself in real time through workplace self-defense. This podcast is independently funded. Consider supporting it at StopBullyCulture.com/Support Resources: * Visit StopBullyCulture.com for practical tools and real support. * Follow Exposing Workplace Bullying for updates and new episodes.

The Reckoning

Season 3 closes with a hard truth: there’s no single reason people become workplace bullies — and organizations play a major role in letting them thrive. In this finale, Dr. Jan Kircher breaks down what bullies know, what they don’t care about, and how their power is built and protected by the systems around them. Dr. Jan also tackles the lingering question so many people ask: Do bullies know what they’re doing? This episode reframes “the reckoning” as the starting point for what comes next: shifting from understanding bullying to learning how to fight back This podcast is independently funded. Consider supporting it at StopBullyCulture.com/Support Resources: * Visit StopBullyCulture.com for practical tools and real support. * Follow Exposing Workplace Bullying for updates and new episodes.