Breaking Free from Narcissistic Abuse

31:26

The Narcissist's Gotcha Game: How They Flip Every...

Breaking Free from Narcissistic Abuse ·

2026/10/05

What if every explanation you offer becomes ammunition? Have you noticed how a narcissist stays one-up without ever having to raise their voice In this episode, Kerry and Dr. Les Carter expose the hidden power mechanics that keep you arguing in circles. Many narcissists use the Gotcha Game which flips every conversation into a confrontation because it’s all about power. WANT TO GO DEEPER? In the exclusive podcast extra, Kerry and Les get practical. Learn how to hold your ground,...

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21:04

They Didn't Miss You, They Ran Out of Money: How...

Breaking Free from Narcissistic Abuse ·

2026/10/01

Future faking hoovering isn't a change of heart. It's a second round of grooming, aimed at exactly what the first round wanted. In this highlight from Kerry's weekly live Q&A, she takes on what's actually happening when someone shows up with flowers, apologies and a raked pile of leaves after months of silence — and why the answer has almost nothing to do with you. In this episode: • Why not being hoovered is a read on what you had left to give • Hoovering is a role vacancy, not a longi...

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29:30

I Asked AI to Diagnose My Ex Like a Psychiatrist —...

Breaking Free from Narcissistic Abuse ·

2026/09/28

What if naming the disorder never actually got you out? And what if the thing you've been calling proof was really just a way to feel in control? In this episode, Kerry and co-host Lynn Strathdee take on the debate splitting the recovery world right now — one universal predator type, or many distinct subtypes. You can know exactly what someone is and stay anyway. You can't choose your neighbor, your coworker, or the parent sitting next to you at the PTA meeting. Understanding the diagnosis ...

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19:18

Gray Divorce and the 30-Year Con: Why Covert...

Breaking Free from Narcissistic Abuse ·

2026/09/24

Gray divorce isn't a midlife crisis. For a lot of people, it's the end of a con that ran for decades. When researchers ask why people divorce after 50, the top answer from women isn't money or infidelity — it was abuse. In this highlight from Kerry's weekly live Q&A, she takes on why so many people stay in psychologically abusive marriages for 20 or 30 years, and why leaving late isn't a failure of judgment. In this episode: * Why boomers are divorcing at four times the rate of 1...

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43:16

How Human Predators Brainwash You — The Tactics...

Breaking Free from Narcissistic Abuse ·

2026/09/21

What if the calm stare that looked like strength in a crisis was actually a mask. And what if your honesty and kindness were the exact qualities a human predators look for? In this episode, Kerry and Dr. Karen Mitchell unpack the hidden mechanics behind human predators — how a brain that doesn't feel fear uses manipulation tactics to control and brainwash without using overt force. This was never about you being "too sensitive.” Human predators’ dysfunctional nature is deceptive at its cor...

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17:30

DARVO Exposed: How Manipulators Make YOU the Abuser...

Breaking Free from Narcissistic Abuse ·

2026/09/17

Why did the narcissist’s collapse look so real — curled on the floor, shaking, sweating, begging you not to leave — yet nothing changed after? What looks like a breakdown is often a temporary loss of status, not a loss of identity — the defensive structure drops for 30 seconds, then rapidly reconsolidates and the manipulation continues. This is a highlight from a recent live Q&A, repurposed here as our second weekly podcast segment. In this episode, Kerry unpacks the hidden mechanics be...

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27:21

Why Narcissists Ruin Your Sleep: Don't Miss This...

Breaking Free from Narcissistic Abuse ·

2026/09/14

What if the reason you feel like you're always “nagging” has nothing to do with you being difficult — and everything to do with deliberate provocation? In this episode, Dr. Kerry McAvoy and Lynn Strathdee break down the hidden mechanics behind pathological provocation — why abusers poke, prod, and sabotage your boundaries at bedtime and beyond. How they insist on misunderstanding you, wear you down, and then recast you as the “whining nag” to make themselves the victim. This isn’t about the ...

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27:01

I Treated Narcissists for Years and Never Saw a...

Breaking Free from Narcissistic Abuse ·

2026/09/10

Why did the narcissist’s collapse look so real — curled on the floor, shaking, sweating, begging you not to leave — yet nothing changed after? What looks like a breakdown is often a temporary loss of status, not a loss of identity — the defensive structure drops for 30 seconds, then rapidly reconsolidates and the manipulation continues. This is a highlight from a recent live Q&A, repurposed here as our second weekly podcast segment. In this episode, Kerry unpacks the hidden mechanics be...

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32:58

He Fooled Every Therapist in the Room — What No One...

Breaking Free from Narcissistic Abuse ·

2026/09/07

What if the trait everyone praises you for is the exact one the narcissist is scanning for? That isn’t naivety. That isn’t missing the red flags. Agreeableness — assuming people are honest, wanting harmony, believing no one would be cruel on purpose — is a readable personality profile, and predators read it faster than you can. In this episode, Kerry sits down with therapist and author Chelsey Brooke Cole. Cole married two narcissists — one grandiose, one covert — while practicing as a clin...

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17:46

The Family Scapegoat: Why You Were Chosen, and Why It...

Breaking Free from Narcissistic Abuse ·

2026/09/03

Why does one person in the family end up carrying everything — the blame, the mood, the thing nobody will say out loud? That wasn't a flaw in you. That was a role, and someone cast you in it. Scapegoating is bullying that a family agrees not to stop, and it works because it holds the group together at your expense. This is a highlight from a recent live Q&A, repurposed here as our second weekly podcast segment. In this episode, Kerry breaks down why families choose a scapegoat, wh...

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17:46

The Family Scapegoat: Why You Were Chosen, and Why It...

Breaking Free from Narcissistic Abuse ·

2026/09/03

Why does one person in the family end up carrying everything — the blame, the mood, the thing nobody will say out loud? That wasn't a flaw in you. That was a role, and someone cast you in it. Scapegoating is bullying that a family agrees not to stop, and it works because it holds the group together at your expense. This is a highlight from a recent live Q&A, repurposed here as our second weekly podcast segment. In this episode, Kerry breaks down why families choose a scapegoat, wh...

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35:21

How Narcissists Pick Their Victims in Under an Hour

Breaking Free from Narcissistic Abuse ·

2026/08/31

What if it only takes him an hour to know exactly how to control you? That wasn't chemistry. That wasn't "instant connection." A predator ran a background check on your character to know if you had the exact traits he needs to exploit. In this episode, Dr. Kerry sits down with returning author and expert, Don Hennessy. Hennessy has spent decades working directly with abusive men. He breaks down the calculated, deliberate selection process predators use to identify and groom targets. Podca...

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24:05

Rumination After Narcissistic Abuse: Why Your Mind...

Breaking Free from Narcissistic Abuse ·

2026/08/27

Why do you keep replaying a relationship that's already over — running the same five minutes on a loop, searching for the one detail that will finally make sense of it? That wasn't you overthinking. That was your nervous system trying to close a case file that has no ending. You survived a partner who gaslit you and switched faces so that the "true" version of them was never verifiable. This is a highlight from a recent live Q&A, repurposed here as our second weekly podcast segment. In th...

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26:40

The Narcissist Relationship Cycle: Why They Get Bored...

Breaking Free from Narcissistic Abuse ·

2026/08/24

What if the reason they keep coming back to you has nothing to do with love — and everything to do with boredom? In this episode, Dr. Kerry and Lynn Strathdee break down the internal clock that drives narcissistic relationship cycles. How pathological partners idealize, withdraw, only to circle back. This isn’t about the victim—it’s about the dysfunctional nature of the abuser. Podcast Extra Exclusive Segment Want to go deeper? Become a Substack paid subscriber and learn wh...

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12:48

The Attack-and-Block Trick: How They Weaponize 'I...

Breaking Free from Narcissistic Abuse ·

2026/08/20

They said they'd "never talk to you again" — like it was a boundary. Like it was healthy. But the silence never actually stayed silent. Behind your back, a different story was already being told behind your back. And when you reach out, you’re blocked. This is a smear campaign with a "no contact" mask on. This episode, Dr. Kerry McAvoy reads from your stories — real accounts from people who lived through the attack-then-block cycle — to break down what's actually happening when a narcissist "...

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29:37

The Abuse Doesn't Stop at Divorce: What Narcissists...

Breaking Free from Narcissistic Abuse ·

2026/08/17

The divorce papers are signed. The marriage is over. But for survivors of narcissistic abuse, the legal system is often where the abuse escalates — not ends. In this conversation, Kerry McAvoy and Family Law Attorney Diana Romanov decode the legal tactics narcissists weaponize after you leave. How conflict avoidance becomes your abuser’s most powerful legal advantage. Learn how the earliest red flags predict exactly how dangerous the divorce will be. Exclusive Podcast Extra Segme...

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31:16

Feed Swap: Beneath the Apology — Shame, Image & the...

Breaking Free from Narcissistic Abuse ·

2026/08/14

Why does their apology leave you feeling like the one who did something wrong? \ Continuing this week's feed swap, I'm sharing a conversation from Renee Swanson's Covert Narcissism Podcast — this time a guest interview with Dr. Anthony Mazzella, a psychodynamic therapist and host of The Narcissism Decoder. Together they get underneath the behavior to the "why," unpacking what they call the illusion of empathy: the moment an apology looks like remorse but is really about image control.&n...

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15:24

The Financial Abuse Tactic Narcissists Use When They...

Breaking Free from Narcissistic Abuse ·

2026/08/13

They said they were managing the finances — because you weren't good with money. That every purchase had to go through them. But somehow, there was always money for what they wanted. They made you feel like a child asking for an allowance — in your own home. And the moment you tried to leave, you realized you had nothing. Because they had made sure of it. That wasn't financial stress. That was financial control. This Thursday episode, Kerry reads from real accounts from people who lived insid...

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28:16

How Narcissists Use Love Bombing to Build a Financial...

Breaking Free from Narcissistic Abuse ·

2026/08/10

He checked the grocery receipt. And the look on his face said everything: he expected to catch you at something. You weren't a partner. You were a suspected thief. But that moment — that first time money became a surveillance tool — didn't come out of nowhere. It didn't start with the receipts, or the interrogations, or the separate account he opened without telling you. It started the moment he made you feel like the luckiest person alive. Because that feeling — of being ch...

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13:33

Narcissistic Parents Don't Love Their Children — They...

Breaking Free from Narcissistic Abuse ·

2026/08/06

They said they were managing the finances — because you weren't good with money. That every purchase had to go through them. But somehow, there was always money for what they wanted. They made you feel like a child asking for an allowance — in your own home. And the moment you tried to leave, you realized you had nothing. Because they had made sure of it. That wasn't financial stress. That was financial control. This Thursday episode, Dr. Kerry McAvoy reads from your stories...

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