Breaking Free from Narcissistic Abuse

Kerry McAvoy, Ph.D.
  • 4.6 (295)
  • Mental Health
  • Updated Weekly

Confused by your relationship? Do you catch yourself second-guessing, walking on eggshells, or feeling emotionally drained? Whether you’re still in the chaos or trying to rebuild after leaving, this podcast is your lifeline.Join retired psychologist Dr. Kerry McAvoy as she exposes the hidden dynamics of toxic relationships. You’ll learn how destructive personalities operate, the manipulative tactics they use, and the stages of abuse—plus the practical steps to heal and reclaim your life.If you’re ready to break free, rebuild your self-worth, and find lasting emotional freedom, hit play and start your recovery journey today.

  1. 2d ago

    Is Trauma Destroying Your Body? What Narcissistic Abuse Does to Your Health

    What if the chronic pain, the exhaustion, and the sleepless nights aren’t because of stress, or you’re getting older, but because your body keeping the score of narcissistic abuse? In this episode, Dr. Kerry sits down with somatic healing expert Liz Tenuto, as known The Workout Witch, to explored one of the most overlooked truths: abuse doesn't just impact your mind; it affects your body. Learn why survivors get trapped in a constant state of fight-or-flight and the surprising reason that talk therapy and EMDR alone often aren't enough to finally heal. PODCAST EXTRA EXCLUSIVE SEGMENT Ready to go deeper? Think the abuse never touched you physically? Find out the truth. In this members-only bonus, Liz walks Dr. Kerry through a simple body self-assessment to learn if you’re storing trauma. Learn the early warning signs before they turn chronic. Find the exclusive second segment and weekly newsletter here. LIZ TENUTO (known to her millions of followers as The Workout Witch) demystifies somatic healing and offers a compassionate, science-backed roadmap for anyone struggling with the physical aftermath of stress and trauma. As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and an abusive marriage, Liz spent years battling chronic pain, anxiety, and insomnia. She cycled through countless healing trends before discovering the life- changing power of somatics. Today, Liz is a trauma informed practitioner with a degree in psychology, 15 years of teaching experience, and advanced training in somatic movement through Pilates, Reiki, and 6 years of Feldenkrais mentorship with Augusta Moore. Website Book: When the Body Speaks: How Somatic Healing Sets You Free Key Moments 00:00 Like a paper doll, flat and dead 01:00 Meet Liz Tenuto, the Workout Witch 02:40 When foot pain feels like walking on glass 04:23 Why your body never leaves fight or flight 05:59 How chronic stress dominoes into disease 08:47 The angry father and the trauma beneath the pain 10:22 Unexplained pain your doctor can't explain 11:49 Stress weight and the shame no one talks about 13:56 What somatics actually is 14:36 The massage that unlocked a buried trauma 16:29 Why talk therapy alone isn't enough 19:21 What somatics felt like the first time 21:46 The small, perfect self you built to survive 24:07 Why chasing your step count backfires 26:30 Fight, flight, freeze, and the Goldilocks state 28:44 Five minutes a day to rewire your nervous system 31:01 Are you armored up without knowing it? (→ Podcast Extra) Dr. Kerry's Resources ReclaimYou: Dr. Kerry's AI-powered coaching app The Complete Recovery Collection: Narcissistic abuse resources First Steps to Leaving: Online self-paced digital course Toxic-Free Relationship Club: Live coaching & community support Follow Dr. Kerry! Youtube Instagram TikTok Facebook Kerry Kerr McAvoy, Ph.D, a retired psychologist & author, is an expert on cultivating healthy relationships and deconstructing narcissism. As an Amazon affiliate, commission is earned from qualifying purchases. This podcast/video is for educational purposes only. It does not constitute therapy, counseling, or professional mental health advice. If you are in crisis, please call 911 or your local emergency number. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    32 min

  2. 6d ago

    Why Narcissists Refuse to Say Your Name: The 4 Patterns Survivors Miss

    Why has the person who claimed to love you gone years without once saying your name — not even once? When a narcissist won't say your name, it isn't a quirk. It's name erasure: a slow, deliberate way of treating you as less than a full person. In this Viewers' Stories episode, Dr. Kerry reads real survivor stories and unpacks four ways the same tactic shows up. Each one is a covert control tactic, and together they're a form of withholding affection most survivors don't recognize as emotional abuse until much later. You'll learn how to read what someone's use of your name reveals about how they actually see you, and why these small omissions add up to something far bigger than rudeness. Key Moments 00:00:00 — The Husband Who Never Said Her Name 00:01:19 — When "Gorgeous" Was a Quiet Cruelty 00:03:11 — The Trap Hidden Inside "Babe" and "Honey" 00:04:08 — Hearing Your Name Until the Room Goes Foggy 00:05:09 — Mispronounced on Purpose, Again and Again 00:05:51 — What the Sound of Your Name Reveals Resources ReclaimYou: Dr. Kerry's AI-powered coaching app The Complete Recovery Collection: Narcissistic abuse resources First Steps to Leaving: Online self-paced digital course Toxic-Free Relationship Club: Live coaching & community support Follow Dr. Kerry! Youtube Instagram TikTok Facebook Kerry Kerr McAvoy, Ph.D, a retired psychologist & author, is an expert on cultivating healthy relationships and deconstructing narcissism. As an Amazon affiliate, commission is earned from qualifying purchases. This podcast/video is for educational purposes only. It does not constitute therapy, counseling, or professional mental health advice. If you are in crisis, please call 911 or your local emergency number. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    9 min

  3. Jun 15

    Why Narcissists Use Pet Names Instead of Calling You by Your Real Name

    What if the sweet pet name your partner calls you isn't affection at all — but rather designed to keep you off balance? In this episode, Dr. Kerry and co-host Lynn Strathdee unpack one of the strangest and most overlooked patterns in narcissistic relationships: the use of pet names. Learn why some narcissists even speak about themselves in the third person, and the chilling moment when a "compliment" reveals exactly what they really think of you. Podcast Extra Exclusive Segment Want to go deeper? What does it actually take to heal when the abuse has shaped how you see yourself? In this members-only bonus, Lynn and Dr. Kerry discuss why recovery requires building a stronger sense of self. Find the exclusive second segment and weekly newsletter here. LYNN STRATHDEE is a UK-based psychodynamic psychotherapist specializing in echoism, narcissistic abuse recovery, and the unconscious patterns that keep survivors stuck in repeating relationship cycles. A former educator turned therapist, Lynn brings both clinical training and lived experience to her private practice, where she works with clients online and in person. Her approach goes beyond surface-level psychoeducation to the deeper identity work that creates lasting change. WEBSITE Submit your question to be answered on air here! Resources ReclaimYou: Dr. Kerry's AI-powered coaching app The Complete Recovery Collection: Narcissistic abuse resources First Steps to Leaving: Online self-paced digital course Toxic-Free Relationship Club: Live coaching & community support Follow Dr. Kerry! Youtube Instagram TikTok Facebook Kerry Kerr McAvoy, Ph.D, a retired psychologist & author, is an expert on cultivating healthy relationships and deconstructing narcissism. As an Amazon affiliate, commission is earned from qualifying purchases. This podcast/video is for educational purposes only. It does not constitute therapy, counseling, or professional mental health advice. If you are in crisis, please call 911 or your local emergency number. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    26 min

  4. Jun 11 ·  Video

    You've Been Brainwashed! How Manipulators Train You to Never Leave

    Were you brainwashed to stay — and didn't even know it? A cult doesn't need a compound, robes, or a manifesto. All it needs is two people: one who sets the rules and one who lives by them. Dr. Kerry reads your most powerful wake-up moments — from the woman who recognized every cult trait laid down in the first three months of a nine-year relationship, to the viewer who grew up in a home where productivity meant safety, to the one who finally had a word for what she'd survived: brainwashed. This isn't about missing the signs. It's about a system that was designed to make coercive control feel like love, devotion, and belonging. Have you been struggling to leave? Stop asking why you didn't see it sooner. Start asking if you were trained not to. Want Dr. Kerry to read your story on air? Email your question to clients@kerrymcavoyphd.com. Submit your question to be answered on air here! Resources ReclaimYou: Dr. Kerry's AI-powered coaching app The Complete Recovery Collection: Narcissistic abuse resources First Steps to Leaving: Online self-paced digital course Toxic-Free Relationship Club: Live coaching & community support Follow Dr. Kerry! Youtube Instagram TikTok Facebook Kerry Kerr McAvoy, Ph.D, a retired psychologist & author, is an expert on cultivating healthy relationships and deconstructing narcissism. As an Amazon affiliate, commission is earned from qualifying purchases. This podcast/video is for educational purposes only. It does not constitute therapy, counseling, or professional mental health advice. If you are in crisis, please call 911 or your local emergency number. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    9 min

  5. Jun 8 ·  Video

    Born into a Cult. Then Married a Narcissist. Is Coercive Control Stealing Your Life?

    Were you born into a cult — or did you unknowingly marry one? If you've ever felt trapped, controlled, and unable to trust your own reality — whether in a religion, a family system, or a relationship — you may have been living inside a cult of two. Narcissistic abuse operates through the same coercive control and psychological manipulation that keep cult members from ever questioning their reality. Brooke Deanne, trauma healing mentor and author of Shattered, Broken and Beautiful, joins Dr. Kerry to share her remarkable survivor's story: 36 years inside a high-control religious cult, followed by 17 years married to a narcissist. Discover the chilling similarities between coercive control in relationships and cult indoctrination that make narcissistic abuse so hard to name. Coercive control doesn't always look like abuse — sometimes it looks like devotion, duty, and belonging. PODCAST EXTRA — EXCLUSIVE SEGMENT Find the exclusive second segment and weekly newsletter here: https://substack.com/@breakingfreenarcabuse If you've been in a narcissistic relationship, how do you finally release the shame? In this members-only bonus, discover Brooke Deanna’s full healing steps. BROOKE DEANNE is a Trauma Healing Mentor, Rapid Transformational Therapist (RTT), and NLP Practitioner empowering female survivors of abuse and trauma to reclaim their lives by rewriting their stories via a holistic approach to access new levels of mind, body, and spirit integration. After overcoming her history of abuse as an ex-Jehovah’s Witness and toxic relationships, Brooke brings profound insight to her work as an advocate against religious abuse and domestic violence. Website Books: Shattered, Broken, & Beautiful - Losing My Religion and Finding Faith Children’s Book: The Grief Monster Podcast: The Cult Diaries Submit your question to be answered on air here! Resources ReclaimYou: Dr. Kerry's AI-powered coaching app The Complete Recovery Collection: Narcissistic abuse resources First Steps to Leaving: Online self-paced digital course Toxic-Free Relationship Club: Live coaching & community support Follow Dr. Kerry! Youtube Instagram TikTok Facebook Kerry Kerr McAvoy, Ph.D, a retired psychologist & author, is an expert on cultivating healthy relationships and deconstructing narcissism. As an Amazon affiliate, commission is earned from qualifying purchases. This podcast/video is for educational purposes only. It does not constitute therapy, counseling, or professional mental health advice. If you are in crisis, please call 911 or your local emergency number. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    29 min

  6. Jun 4 ·  Video

    You Saw the Red Flags and Stayed Anyway. Here’s the Real Reason Why

    Why can you spot every red flag, name every tactic, and still find yourself in another toxic relationship? A commenter recently wrote that she had been raised by three narcissists, married to one, dated another for five years, recently lost a friendship to one, and a former partner just resurfaced. She wrapped up by saying “the law of averages can't explain it. So what can?” In this episode, Dr. Kerry unpacks why insight alone never sets survivors free. Submit Your Question If you'd like Dr. Kerry to answer your question on air, email it to clients@kerrymcavoyphd.com or use this link. Submit your question to be answered on air here! Resources ReclaimYou: Dr. Kerry's AI-powered coaching app The Complete Recovery Collection: Narcissistic abuse resources First Steps to Leaving: Online self-paced digital course Toxic-Free Relationship Club: Live coaching & community support Follow Dr. Kerry! Youtube Instagram TikTok Facebook Kerry Kerr McAvoy, Ph.D, a retired psychologist & author, is an expert on cultivating healthy relationships and deconstructing narcissism. As an Amazon affiliate, commission is earned from qualifying purchases. This podcast/video is for educational purposes only. It does not constitute therapy, counseling, or professional mental health advice. If you are in crisis, please call 911 or your local emergency number. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    8 min

  7. Jun 1 ·  Video

    Nobody Taught Us What a Healthy Relationship Looks Like — Here's the Cost

    Nobody taught us what a healthy relationship should feel like. Not in school. Not in graduate training. Not in the culture we grew up in. And that missing lesson? It's costing survivors years of confusion, repeat heartbreak, and an obsession with understanding the very people who harmed them. This week marks a major shift for Breaking Free from Narcissistic Abuse. After a year of flying solo, Dr. Kerry welcomes Lynn Strathdee as her new co-host — a UK-based psychodynamic psychotherapist, echoism specialist, and survivor whose path to this work mirrors so many of yours. Inside this episode: How Kerry and Lynn met through echoism — and why their shared focus on the survivor's inner world changes everything How free, violent porn rewired intimacy into rage The Predator's Playbook: cobras, pit bulls, and the deliberate targeting of survivors  (Get your copy of the Predator's A-Z Playbook here!) Why you can't stop talking about the abuser PODCAST EXTRA — MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS SEGMENT Why does studying the abuser feel productive but actually keep you stuck? In this exclusive bonus, Lynn and Dr. Kerry break down the difference between understanding your abuser and healing from them — and the one shift that moves you from analysis to recovery. Find the exclusive second segment and weekly newsletter here: https://substack.com/@breakingfreenarcabuse LYNN STRATHDEE is a UK-based psychodynamic psychotherapist specializing in echoism, narcissistic abuse recovery, and the unconscious patterns that keep survivors stuck in repeating relationship cycles. A former educator turned therapist, Lynn brings both clinical training and lived experience to her private practice, where she works with clients online and in person. Her approach goes beyond surface-level psychoeducation to the deeper identity work that creates lasting change. Lynn’s Website Submit your question to be answered on air here! Resources ReclaimYou: Dr. Kerry's AI-powered coaching app The Complete Recovery Collection: Narcissistic abuse resources First Steps to Leaving: Online self-paced digital course Toxic-Free Relationship Club: Live coaching & community support Follow Dr. Kerry! Youtube Instagram TikTok Facebook Kerry Kerr McAvoy, Ph.D, a retired psychologist & author, is an expert on cultivating healthy relationships and deconstructing narcissism. As an Amazon affiliate, commission is earned from qualifying purchases. This podcast/video is for educational purposes only. It does not constitute therapy, counseling, or professional mental health advice. If you are in crisis, please call 911 or your local emergency number. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    26 min

  8. May 28 ·  Video

    Alpine Divorce: When Narcissistic Abuse Turns Physically Dangerous

    Have you heard of an Alpine Divorce? During a listener’s two-year marriage to a psychopath, her husband took her hiking and then left her clinging to a rock in gale-force winds while he filmed her terror and laughed. This is what’s commonly called an "Alpine Divorce." It is also an example of malignant sadism. In this episode, Dr. Kerry unpacks one of the most chilling tactics in a dangerous personality's playbook. Learn how some abusers engineer life-threatening situations to trap their victims in forced dependency. Also, learn how environmental gaslighting (the weaponized use of weather, terrain, and wilderness) gives these dangerous individuals plausible deniability. If you or someone you know has experienced this: ▸ Be sure to preserve the photos and videos as digital evidence of criminal behavior ▸ Consider seeking out a CPTSD-specialized clinician ▸ And the only safe path is total severance Submit Your Question If you'd like Dr. Kerry to answer your question on air, email it to clients@kerrymcavoyphd.com or use this link. Submit your question to be answered on air here! Resources ReclaimYou: Dr. Kerry's AI-powered coaching app The Complete Recovery Collection: Narcissistic abuse resources First Steps to Leaving: Online self-paced digital course Toxic-Free Relationship Club: Live coaching & community support Follow Dr. Kerry! Youtube Instagram TikTok Facebook Kerry Kerr McAvoy, Ph.D, a retired psychologist & author, is an expert on cultivating healthy relationships and deconstructing narcissism. As an Amazon affiliate, commission is earned from qualifying purchases. This podcast/video is for educational purposes only. It does not constitute therapy, counseling, or professional mental health advice. If you are in crisis, please call 911 or your local emergency number. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    12 min
See All (277)

Trailer

Hosts & Guests

4.6
out of 5
295 Ratings

About

Confused by your relationship? Do you catch yourself second-guessing, walking on eggshells, or feeling emotionally drained? Whether you’re still in the chaos or trying to rebuild after leaving, this podcast is your lifeline.Join retired psychologist Dr. Kerry McAvoy as she exposes the hidden dynamics of toxic relationships. You’ll learn how destructive personalities operate, the manipulative tactics they use, and the stages of abuse—plus the practical steps to heal and reclaim your life.If you’re ready to break free, rebuild your self-worth, and find lasting emotional freedom, hit play and start your recovery journey today.

Information

You Might Also Like