Subconscious Belief & Identity Strategist
Your transformational journey towards the highest version of yourself begins with Dana S. Diaz — Author, Speaker, Podcaster & Coach
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Free Power Shift Diagnostic™
Not a personality quiz.
A precision check on your internal systems.
In 7 minutes, identify which gear you’re operating in
and where subtle misalignment may be costing you energy, clarity, or traction.
Remember who you were before the world convinced you to forget.
It's not about what broke you.
It's about the mindset that rebuilds you.
As someone who suffered decades of narcissistic abuse and domestic violence, I know that we often feel like our circumstances are unique; that no one else is going through what we are going through, and no one would believe us if we told them the truth. I also know that it’s not always safe or financially feasible to leave an abusive situation, so there is no judgment here. Just support, community and information.
So, I invite you to engage with all the resources provided herein, to find empowerment to heal, shift your mindset, and create a life around who you were always meant to be. 💕
Follow Dana’s personal journey through her memoir trilogy
Gasping for Air: The Stranglehold of Narcissistic Abuse
Dana’s best-selling debut memoir that tells the true story of her life with a narcissistic partner and the abuse she endured. Spanning from early red flags to the courage it took to finally escape, Gasping for Air pulls back the curtain on narcissistic abuse and lets survivors know they are understood. (“It’s not just vanity – narcissistic abuse is real, insidious, and it can happen to anyone,” Dana emphasizes in her story.)
Choking on Shame: The Scapegoat Child in a Narcissistic Family
The #1 New Release prequel to Gasping for Air, this upcoming memoir delves into Dana’s tumultuous childhood. It exposes how growing up with abuse and trauma set the stage for accepting toxic relationships later in life. Choking on Shame is a courageous look at the childhood wounds behind the shame – and how understanding those early injuries is key to breaking free.
Rising from the Ashes: Breaking the Cycle of Narcissistic Abuse
In the highly anticipated sequel, Dana shares the next chapter of her journey: healing, empowerment, and rebuilding a life of joy and purpose after abuse. Rising from the Ashes will inspire readers to break the cycle and emerge stronger than ever.
Want a PREVIEW before you commit?
Download the first two chapters of Gasping for Air – free
Get a powerful glimpse into Dana’s story of survival, awareness, and healing.
Who I Work With
Why Dana?
Survivor & Advocate: Dana isn’t just talking about overcoming narcissistic abuse – she’s lived it. With decades of firsthand experience, she speaks with authenticity and empathy about surviving narcissists, from a painful childhood to a toxic marriage.
Bestselling / Award-Winning Author: As the author of Gasping for Air: The Stranglehold of Narcissistic Abuse, Dana shines a light on the hidden realities of emotional and psychological abuse. Her memoir – inspired by her own life – became a #1 bestseller, validating countless readers and bringing awareness to covert abuse. trauma.
Inspirational Speaker: Dana has quickly become a sought-after speaker for conferences, corporations, and community groups. She has been featured on nearly 300 podcasts and media interviews worldwide, sharing her story and insights with audiences around the globe. Event organizers praise Dana’s warm, engaging style, raw relatability, and actionable takeaways.
Empowering Identity Strategist: In addition to speaking, Dana offers self-guided and supported courses that provide practical tools and heart-centered guidance for rebuilding self-worth, setting healthy boundaries, and aligning time and energy towards the life you truly want and the version of yourself just waiting to live it.
The Real Obstacle
The issue isn’t talent, intelligence, or opportunity.
The biggest challenge faced by individuals
and teams
is internal:
self-limiting beliefs.
They crush confidence, block creativity, and keep people
playing it safe and small.
Why Dana
With certifications in Emotional and Positive Intelligence
Over two decades leading top sales teams and helping hundreds of people
Dana turns EQ into a powerful tool
for leadership, growth, and success.
The Power Shift
After hearing Tara speak, audiences don’t just leave inspired
they leave empowered.
They walk away with tools they can use right away to lead more
effectively, communicate with clarity,
and show up with confidence. Dana delivers relatable stories,
real-world strategies, and actionable
insights that stick.
A Speaker that disrupts what you believe and empowers you with the truth to excel!
Dana S. Diaz is the speaker that curates the Power within through unflinching truth.
Deep down, you know there’s something bigger waiting for you.
You’ve got an amazing idea one that people need but you’re not sure how to take the first step.
With the right strategy and a coach who’s been there, you know you could build something powerful. You don’t want to waste time (or money) chasing methods that don’t work you want a proven path.
You’re ready to learn what it really takes to start and grow a successful business that lasts.
Looking for a Dynamic Expert Podcast Guest?
Dana S. Diaz is not only a powerful speaker—she’s also an exceptional podcast guest. With over 300 interviews to date, Dana brings clarity, compassion, and credibility to every conversation.
Whether you're producing a podcast on mental health, women's empowerment, trauma recovery, mindset or relationships, Dana offers a voice that’s both authoritative and relatable. The trauma made her funny, too!
Topics Dana can speak to:
Red flags and what they reflect about ourselves
Empowerment with boundaries, boundaries, and more boundaries!
Healing from narcissistic abuse and toxic relationships
Covert emotional abuse and trauma bonds
Childhood trauma and toxic family systems
Rebuilding self-worth and identity
How I Help
Coaching
Psychoeducation-based strategy sessions
Group Program
A personalized & powerful 10-week experience
Expert Contributor
Insights & tips from a therapist’s perspective
Keynote Speaker
Dynamic & Compassionate, encouraging & empowering
5 Lies High-Functioning Women Tell Themselves
Patriarchal society told our grandmas that they couldn’t; and there were laws to trap them in their cages.
Our mothers were told that they shouldn’t but burned their bras anyway. Then they were shamed for disrupting polite society with their insistence on being acknowledged as equals to men in every way.
So now, here we are, with everything our predecessors fought for—education, careers, income, access, authority, acknowledgment—but still fighting a war with ourselves.
Women have positioned themselves in such high-stress roles, taking on every burden, every responsibility, over giving, over committing, and constantly overwhelmed.
It’s hard not to be overwhelmed, though, when we’re doing everything that our grandmas did on the home front as wives and mothers and also doing everything men do to climb corporate ladders or build businesses of our own in what is still a very male-dominated world.
So, it’s no wonder that women statistically experience higher levels of stress and exhibit the physical manifestations of it in their bodies.
According to the National Institute of Health, women are more likely than men to internalize stress and also experience higher rates of anxiety and depression.
How does this happen? Through societal conditioning that makes us believe that everything we've asked for as females is now our burden to carry without complaint.
So as not to appear weak, we tell ourselves:
🤷🏼♀️“It’s not that bad.”
🤷🏼♀️“I don’t want to overreact.”
🤷🏼♀️“I can handle it.”
🤷🏼♀️“I just need to be patient.”
🤷🏼♀️“I should be grateful.”
Have you ever thought or spoken these words?
If so, I understand. Women are often forced to be self-reliant for reassurance and soothing, and in many other ways as well.
But here's the thing—
➡️Sometimes it IS that bad.
➡️Sometimes an overreaction is necessary for a women to be SEEN and to be HEARD.
➡️Just because a woman CAN handle it doesn’t mean she doesn’t DESERVE help or a break.
➡️A woman can only wait so long for HER needs to be honored and respected.
➡️And although gratitude is productive in every situation, wanting more or better is valid, too.
It seems society has taught women to diminish themselves so much that we tell ourselves these lies out of habit.
Let’s not forget that neuroscience has proven that repeated exposure to words or ideas—even as little as 2 to 7 repetitions—causes your brain to begin to accept those statements as truths.
Neuroscience also shows that chronic stress shrinks cognitive flexibility. What that means is that your ability to adapt to new situations or ideas is reduced as a result of high stress. This affects decision-making and problem resolution, and causes dysregulation symptoms that impact clarity and focus.
This isn’t weakness. It’s adaptation.
😖To women’s historical unworthiness.
😖To the silenced voices of all the generations before us.
😖To the acceptance of what we are given and the fear of asking for more.
😖To the presumption that women should abandon themselves for some greater good.
Lying to ourselves isn’t the answer, though.
The answer is to be radically honest with ourselves about our truth, to validate how we truly feel, and to boldly protect our time and energy and values without apology or regret.
Because if it costs your peace, it’s too expensive; and no one is worth the sacrifice of your being.
If any part of this resonates, I invite you to take a diagnostic quiz to determine which aspects of your life might need a little tune-up. Go to https://accelerator.danasdiaz.com for more information.
What others are saying
TESTIMONIALS
A story of strength and overcoming fear and finding self worth! This book was very well written and demonstrated a story I have seen several friends and family go through. The isolation from family and friends, the verbal and physical abuse or even just belittling and loss of self worth. Seeing how the author over comes and find her strength. How after time, she had a great friend who was there waiting. Finding real love with a supportive and caring man and being willing to open up and take a chance to love. I hope many women read this and see it can be anyone and help loose the stereotype and blame, to find ways to prevent this from happening to friends and family or even themselves! A recommended read for all!
AMAZING!!! A MUST READ!!! I couldn’t put the book down! If I didn’t have to work or do life, I would’ve read this cover to cover without stopping. It’s such a well-written, beautifully horrifying story. Dana is honest, raw, and shares intimate details of her relationship that anyone can relate to who has been in a narcissistic relationship. She reminds us of the subtle signs of this behavior that are so easy to overlook and justify when you’re first in it - and then making it hard to leave years down the road -especially when there is a kid involved. I love that the chapters are song titles. There is so much creativity, brutal honesty, and even some humor in this book that make it an easy read. I recommend this book for everyone! Even if you haven’t been with a narcissist, it’s good to know the subtle signs of this behavior and often we encounter people like this in our lives at work and in other situations. I’m going to purchase more books and give them to the people I love that I know would benefit from reading them. Thank you, Dana for sharing your story with us!!
Riveting Truth Here! Dana Diaz is profoundly brave and on a mission in this lifetime. Her book, Gasping for Air took me on a ride that I could relate to through her honest portrayal of what it is like to walk through fire and come out in one piece. Diaz's tempo and pivotal truth-telling uncover realities in living we often hide behind, deny or become desensitized enough to think they are normal. She has stepped up repeatedly to take a ride through hellish hallways all to share with her readers the truth behind abuse and narcissism. Brava, Dana Diaz for dropping the curtain to unveil the cold and brutal truth of a system that is eating humanity from the inside out. And I can't wait for the prequel. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Definitely a MUST read!!! This book grasped my attention from the beginning and I couldn't put it down! Very well written, as it walks you through the experience of an abusive relationship and its toll on everyone involved. This book gave me an enlightened understanding of what victims go through when under the control of a narcissistic personality. Not only was this a great portrayal of how manipulation and control can affect a family, it also gives a heightened awareness as to how it weighs on an individual to the point of trauma induced health issues. Hopefully, this story will be helpful to others in similar situations. Great job Dana!
Very good read. Dana is a great author and knows how to grab the reader. Finished this book in only a few days and can’t wait for the next one!
A great read! I loved this book! Such an important and painful topic, written with such honesty and compassion. I couldn’t stop reading it and rooting for Dana! I have an adult daughter and will be giving her this book. I hope Dana’s well-written reflections of her experiences will help shed light on the warning signs of a relationship with a narcissist. The stories of helplessness, love, optimism and persistence should resonate with every woman of every age!
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