This episode tells the story of Thomas, a survivor who went no contact with his abusive father after a public meltdown at his wedding, and how the world around him quietly blames him for the relationship he didn’t break.

From well-meaning coworkers saying “all families have stuff,” to relatives insisting “you’ll have to let it go,” Patrick explores why the burden to forgive and reconnect so often falls on the person who was hurt, not the person who caused the harm.

Learn how survivors like Thomas are pressured to “be the bigger person,” while abusers avoid accountability, and how to stop carrying that emotional labor yourself.

Topics include:

• Why abusive parents are rarely held accountable
• How relatives and in-laws minimize harm to “keep the peace”
• The shame, guilt, and invisibility survivors feel when going no contact
• The hidden motives behind advice like “just forgive”
• How to flip the script and protect your peace

If you’ve ever been told to reconcile with someone who never took responsibility for the pain they caused, this episode offers validation, and a new way forward.

Keywords: family estrangement, toxic parents, no contact healing, emotional abuse recovery, accountability, narcissistic parent, trauma recovery, boundaries, forgiveness pressure, inner child healing

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This episode explores how growing up with a toxic or emotionally unavailable mother can shape a daughter’s sense of worth, identity, and boundaries, and how to finally break free.

Rather than focusing on blame, Patrick unpacks the lasting emotional damage that daughters carry into adulthood and the path toward self-trust and emotional independence.

Learn why patterns like people-pleasing, guilt, and over-responsibility aren’t flaws, they’re survival strategies that once kept you safe. Through stories, insights, and tools, Patrick guides you toward seeing your story with compassion and clarity.

Topics include:

• How toxic maternal behavior damages self-perception
• The “good daughter” role and its emotional consequences
• Guilt, shame, and the confusion between love and obligation
• Reparenting yourself and building healthy emotional boundaries
• Reclaiming confidence and connection without losing yourself

You’ll leave this episode with practical tools to stop carrying emotional responsibility for others, repair your self-image, and begin building the safety your mother couldn’t provide.

Keywords: toxic mother, mother-daughter trauma, emotional abuse, inner child healing, childhood trauma recovery, boundaries, reparenting, self-worth repair, codependency, healing tools, family roles, emotional neglect

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This episode explores how growing up with a narcissistic or emotionally immature parent can distort your perception of yourself, others, and your worth, and how to reclaim it. Instead of fixating on the parent, we look at the damage that lingers and the path to undo it.

Learn why triggers around work, relationships, and self-doubt aren’t personality flaws—they're leftover survival responses from childhood. Patrick shares vulnerable personal stories about being cast as “the dumb one” and how those old narratives showed up in adulthood, even during success.

Topics include:

• How narcissistic parents damage a child’s perception
• The impact on self-worth, identity, and intimacy
• Hypervigilance, projection, and feeling “in trouble” for existing
• Three powerful recovery tools:
  • Protecting your inner child
  • Writing a truth statement
  • Giving back what was never yours to carry

You’ll walk away with practical exercises to shift perception, stop living in fear, and reclaim a sense of self that was always yours.

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Workbook Chapters
1 — How to Get Your Inner Adult in Place … 12
2 — The Built-In Forgetter (Codependency) … 27
3 — Honoring Our Trauma Responses & Coping Strategies … 38
4 — Overcoming Magical Thinking … 51
5 — The Feeling of Being "In Trouble"… 63
6 — How to Stop Anticipating Criticism … 74
7 — Childhood Trauma & Physical Energy Issues … 84
8 — Depression Related to Childhood Trauma … 97
9 — Processing Childhood Emotional Neglect
(The Things That Didn’t Happen)… 107
10 - Processing Childhood Enmeshment with an
Emotionally Immature Parent …118
11 - Processing Childhood Trauma-Related Grief … 131
12 - Processing Guilt: Recognizing the Family History
Before Low or No Contact … 143
13 - How to Recover from a Narcissistic Parent … 153


Journal Prompts
Journal Prompt #1: How did self-worth get twisted?
How did your narcissistic parent create damage around your self-worth and how you perceive yourself?

Write a list of ten experiences about lost self-worth due to that parent.

Examples
That Christmas when my mother made me stand up in front of the entire extended family while she berated me about why I didn’t get any gifts.

My father would take any achievement I had and one-up me. I gave up on having self-worth because he was the focus.


Journal Prompt #2: Who did they say you are?
Write several paragraphs about your struggle with a healthy sense of self and how the narcissistic parent contributed to a poor sense of self. Who did your parents say you were, either through protection, neglect, or supply?

Example

I’ve always guessed at what I like or who I am. My mother had these twisted ideas, or fantasies, that I was going to become an entrepreneur and live a fabulous life in support of her. Did I want that? What even is that? What I know now is if she had a child who was a rich genius, she could have supply and validation—she could tell her friends she raised an entrepreneur. Of course I don’t know who I am.

Access the workbook here

Patrickteahan.com/workbook

Keywords: narcissistic parent recovery, childhood trauma, perception wounds, inner child healing, self-worth repair, intimacy triggers, emotional abuse healing, trauma recovery tools

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