Brandon talks with Belle (Returning Survivor Guest) about non-linear healing, being told to get over it, intermittent reinforcement, the addiction lens, trauma, changing responses, creative outlets, and reclaiming the things that made you happy.
Annie fell head over heels in love with a 'regular' guy. But this man was anything but regular. Very quickly, Annie became subservient to his needs, as her ex-partner masterfully used competition, his hearing impairment, and triangulation as his main tactics to manipulate her.
Buttercup's husband gave her the one thing she always wanted, to feel seen and understood. And once he had Buttercup hooked on his LOVE, her husband began a vicious cycle of infidelity and psychological abuse.
Brandon discusses the 6 Stages and 4 Styles of Emotional Blackmail from the book 'Emotional Blackmail: When the People in Your Life Use Fear, Obligation, and Guilt to Manipulate You' by Susan Forward and Donna Frazier.
Harley's mom always knew what was best for her. If Harley ever disagreed with her, no matter how respectfully or meekly, her mom would always claim it as a mistreatment of her. For 20+ years, Harley lived in a world of gaslighting, but she didn't even know that gaslighting existed. However, with so…
Brandon talks with Tracy Malone (Author & International Educator) about processing the emotions behind the idealization, devaluation, and discard phases of abuse.
After years of battling alcohol addiction, Dakota was finally sober. She was living in a women's home, going to meetings, and taking long bus rides to see her beautiful child. Then one day, the abuser who pretended to be her hero, showed up to her meeting, swept her off her feet, and almost took he…
Rhea was raised and betrayed by her narcissistic father. It’s a story of dark family secrets, conditional affection, witnessing abuse, perfectionism, infidelity, and survival mode.
Brandon discusses the top 5 signs of isolation, how isolation is used to abuse you, common phrases used to isolate you, creating dependency, manipulation tactics, isolation as a form of punishment, identity erosion, and the difficulty in leaving.
Mia met her husband as a teenager. Their relationship was a dream come true. But after the birth of their first child, everything about her husband changed. Mia was relegated to secondary supply and became the scapegoat of the family. Children as 'proxies' began to run rampant behind the scenes, as…
Brandon talks with a recovering love addict named Eunice about her love addiction, fantasies, toxic shame, codependency, narcissists, and unhealthy relationships.
Lennon met her future husband at a rooftop bar. He was intelligent, driven, strong, and seemingly steady. However, as soon as their relationship became romantic, controlling behavior emerged. And once they were married, the coercive control ramped up, leaving Lennon and her kids in a financially ab…
On this episode of Narcissist Apocalypse Q&A, Brandon discusses validation, the different types of verbal/non-verbal invalidation used by narcissistic abusers, and the different types of invalidating families.
Dasha's family was controlled by her emotionally invalidating narcissistic dad. It was the cult of her father. And unfortunately for Dasha, she cracked under the pressure of mixed messages, expectations, and keeping herself small. However, a funny thing happened to Dasha while she battled depressio…
Brandon talks with Michael Lander (MSW & Psychotherapist) about his use of Acceptance & Commitment Therapy with families of abuse, 3rd party objectivity, collaborative problem solving with kids, counter parenting, knowing a child's process, manipulation, sharing language, generational trauma, the b…
Caroline thought she met her Christian Prince Charming, and for 3.5 years, their dating life was near perfect. However, once they were married, Caroline's Christian Prince Charming quickly turned into a sexually coercive boundary pusher who couldn't bare the thought of Caroline loving their child m…
On this episode of Narcissist Apocalypse Q&A, Brandon talks with Dr. Christine Marie Cocchiola (DSW, LCSW, Coercive Control Advocate, Educator, Researcher & Survivor) about coercive control, authoritarian parents, Disney, dad's, the Neurosequential Model, the psychological maltreatment of children,…
From the moment Leighton was born, her dad used her as either a pawn or a prop for his nefarious needs. Leighton's dad was part grifter, part abuser, part predator, and because of that, Leighton lived her life in constant chaos.
On this episode of Narcissist Apocalypse Q&A, Brandon discusses Dr. Karyl McBride's '6 types of maternal narcissists', the 3 childhood experience types of daughters of narcissistic mothers, and the common phrases narcissistic mothers use and why?
Olia fell in love with a charismatic individual who transitioned to a woman during their relationship. Knowing the transition for her partner would be very difficult, Olia bent over backward to be emotionally/physically available, but it was never enough. And before she knew it, Olia was under the …
On this episode of Narcissist Apocalypse Q&A, Brandon discusses all things empathy. How the narcissist uses cognitive empathy and your own empathy against you. Plus he helps you see under the narcissists cognitive empathy mask during the love bombing stage.
Lemon thought she found 'acceptance' when she got into a relationship with the man of her dreams. But unfortunately for Lemon, there was a power imbalance right from the start and Lemon endured 10 years of emotional abuse.
