Beyond Survival - The Therapy Podcast with Katie McKenna

Katie McKenna
  • 5.0 (24)
  • Mental Health

This Podcast is for anyone who grew up up in a dysfunctional or narcissistic family system and now finds themselves stuck in patterns of people-pleasing, anxiety or unhealthy relationships. Each episode offers real-world insight into trauma recovery, relationships, boundaries, nervous system healing and reconnecting to your true self.  Whether your just starting your healing journey or looking to deepen it, you’re welcome here - just as you are 

  1. 6d ago

    In The Shadows (S7 Ep.7)

    The narcissistic parent hands their child a mirror.  The child job is to hold it up and reflect back whatever the parent needs to see.  Beside it, the parent paints a canvas and says: this is you. Selfish. Difficult. Ungrateful. Cold. Unlovable. None of that was ever you. In this episode, I pull apart what it means to grow up invisible. Behind the mirror and behind that ugly painted canvas, there's a blank one.  It isn't blank because there's nothing there. It's blank because you were never allowed to find out. I explore why: You don't know what you actually feel, only what's "allowed" You mistake self-erasure for being "easygoing" or "low-maintenance" You confuse being needed with being loved You can't trust what happened until someone else confirms it. You get to exist. Not for anyone else's benefit. For yours. Take The Quiz  –  What is Your Number? 🎧 The CALM Parent - Podcast  ▶️ The CALM Parent - YouTube BEYOND SURVIVAL - The Therapy Podcast

  2. Sep 18

    'Why Does He Do That? Inside The Minds of Angry and Controlling Men' - Lundy Bancroft (S7 Ep6)

    Have you ever found yourself wondering, “Why is he doing this?” You replay the argument. Question what you said.  Apologise when you’re not even sure what you’ve done wrong.  You explain away the silence, the accusations, the sudden shifts in mood. He was stressed. He had a bad day. I could have said it differently. But what happens when you stop looking at each moment on its own — and start looking at the pattern? In this week’s episode of Beyond Survival, I’m joined by Lundy Bancroft, who has spent more than 30 years working with abusive men and their families and is the author of 'Why Does He Do That? - Inside The Minds of Angry and Controlling Men' Lundy describes an abusive man as operating a little like a magician. The trick isn’t necessarily what he’s doing — it’s where he gets you to look. While you’re focused on his feelings, his anger, his wounds and what you might have done to cause them, you can lose sight of what’s actually happening. This conversation is about stepping back from the confusion of individual moments and noticing what happens when you look at them together. Because sometimes, the things that are hardest to see are the things we’ve been living with for so long that they simply feel normal. Take The Quiz  –  What is Your Number? 🎧 The CALM Parent - Podcast  ▶️ The CALM Parent - YouTube BEYOND SURVIVAL - The Therapy Podcast

  3. Sep 11

    Naming the Grief, You Can't Yet Name (S7 Ep.5)

    In this solo episode I tackle the complex topic of grief.  If you grew up in a narcissistic or dysfunctional family system, the first roadblock to this grief is often minimising it.  “It wasn't that bad” “Other people had it worse”  “I've nothing to complain about" We say this so automatically, that we never even get to the feeling underneath it. In the episode, I use an example that might surprise you — Ireland's colonization, and what happened when we were denied our own language. I know that sounds like a strange place to start a therapy podcast, but stay with me, because the parallel is exact: a narcissistic parent does the same thing to a child.  They deny you the language of yourself — your own feelings, wants, preferences, boundaries — until you're so disconnected from them that you don't even know they were ever yours to have.  And it's hard to grieve something you never knew you were missing. This episode goes deeper into the invisible child, the cruelty of the inner critic, and how to start giving yourself the compassion you never got. Take The Quiz  –  What is Your Number? 🎧 The CALM Parent - Podcast  ▶️ The CALM Parent - YouTube BEYOND SURVIVAL - The Therapy Podcast

  4. Sep 4

    If You Knew Me Would You Love Me? - with Irish psychologist A.J. Cosgrave

    In this episode, I speak with Irish psychologist and author A.J. Cosgrave about her deeply personal book, If You Knew Me Would You Love Me?, and her experience of living with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder. DID is a condition that is often misunderstood, sensationalised, or reduced to the way it is portrayed in films and television. A.J.’s story offers something very different: an honest, thoughtful and remarkably accessible insight into what living with DID can actually look like. We talk about her own journey, the realities and challenges of living with dissociation, the process of integration and recovery, and the importance of approaching the condition — and the people who live with it — with empathy rather than fear or stigma. This conversation about identity, trauma, understanding ourselves and others, and ultimately learning to meet complexity with kindness and courage. Buy - 'If You Knew Me Would You Love Me? - click here Take The Quiz  –  What is Your Number? 🎧 The CALM Parent - Podcast  ▶️ The CALM Parent - YouTube BEYOND SURVIVAL - The Therapy Podcast

  5. Aug 28

    The FOG: When Guilt Makes the Decisions for You (S7 Ep.3)

    Guilt is a natural emotional response. It can tell us when we've done something that doesn't align with our values and prompt us to repair, take responsibility and make things right. But when guilt becomes excessive, it can become a heavy burden — creating an overwhelming sense of expectation and responsibility that isn't actually yours to carry. In this final episode of the FOG — Fear, Obligation and Guilt — I look at what happens when guilt becomes the driving force behind your decisions. You feel obligated to do something, and when you consider saying no, the guilt arrives before you've even made a decision. You assume you've done something wrong. You worry you've hurt someone. You feel guilty for having needs, setting boundaries, disappointing someone or even thinking about saying no. And so you give in. Not because you want to — but because the fear of feeling guilty becomes more powerful than your own wants, needs or judgement. If you grew up in an emotionally immature or emotionally abusive family, you may have learned to take responsibility for other people's feelings while questioning your own. In this episode, I explore why guilt can become so powerful, how it gets tangled up with obligation and people-pleasing, and how to recognise when guilt is giving you useful information — and when it's controlling your choices. Because feeling guilty doesn't always mean you've done something wrong. Sometimes, it simply means you're doing something differently. Take The Quiz  –  What is Your Number? 🎧 The CALM Parent - Podcast  ▶️ The CALM Parent - YouTube BEYOND SURVIVAL - The Therapy Podcast

  6. Aug 21

    The FOG: Why Do I Feel Responsible for Everyone Else? (S7 Ep.2)

    Why saying no can feel selfish, even when you're exhausted from putting everyone else first. If you grew up with an emotionally immature, narcissistic, or emotionally abusive parent, you may have learned early that other people's needs come before your own. That learned sense of obligation can follow you into adulthood — shaping your relationships, parenting, boundaries and decisions. And obligation and guilt often go hand in hand: you feel you should do something, and when you consider saying no, your inner critic tells you you're selfish, difficult or letting someone down. In this episode, I explore people-pleasing, guilt, obligation and the fear of conflict, and why you may find yourself over-explaining, justifying your needs or taking responsibility for other people's feelings. Because having a need doesn't make you selfish. And saying no doesn't make you a bad person. Take The Quiz  –  What is Your Number? 🎧 The CALM Parent - Podcast  ▶️ The CALM Parent - YouTube BEYOND SURVIVAL - The Therapy Podcast

  7. Aug 14

    The FOG: When Fear Follows You into Adulthood (S7 Ep.2)

    For anyone who experienced a childhood in which emotional safely or physical safety weren't consistent, stable and predictable, Fear, Obligation and Guilt — will be the dominant emotions controlling their behaviour and decision making. In this episode, I focus on Fear and how The FOG keeps adult children stuck in survival mode, and why fight, flight, freeze and fawn becomes our automatic responses. I look at what happens when these survival responses are still running the show in your adult relationships — from shutting down in the middle of an argument, to lashing out, giving in, apologising when you don't need to, or putting everyone else's needs before your own. Most importantly, I look at how to recognise these patterns in real time, rather than only understanding them intellectually or seeing them once the moment has passed. Because the goal isn't simply to understand why you react the way you do. It's learning that you have a choice now. Take The Quiz  –  What is Your Number? 🎧 The CALM Parent - Podcast  ▶️ The CALM Parent - YouTube BEYOND SURVIVAL - The Therapy Podcast

  8. Aug 7

    Am I a Bad Daughter for Not Wanting to Care for My Mother? (S6 Ep.10)

    What happens when you realise your relationship with your mother has been shaped by emotional parentification, enmeshment, and emotional abuse? In this week’s letter, a 48-year-old woman shares how much of her identity and behaviour was shaped around managing her mother’s needs. After setting boundaries and working through childhood trauma in therapy, she begins to recognise the familiar cycle of guilt, gaslighting, victimhood, emotional manipulation, and rewriting history. Now she faces a question many adult children of toxic parents wrestle with: “Am I the cold, heartless bitch for not wanting to fly to her side and become her caregiver if she needs help?” This episode explores narcissistic mothers, emotionally immature parents, parentification, enmeshment, toxic family dynamics, boundaries, estrangement, caregiver guilt, and complicated grief—and offers reassurance to anyone who has spent a lifetime questioning whether protecting themselves makes them a bad person. Take The Quiz  –  What is Your Number? 🎧 The CALM Parent - Podcast  ▶️ The CALM Parent - YouTube BEYOND SURVIVAL - The Therapy Podcast

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About

This Podcast is for anyone who grew up up in a dysfunctional or narcissistic family system and now finds themselves stuck in patterns of people-pleasing, anxiety or unhealthy relationships. Each episode offers real-world insight into trauma recovery, relationships, boundaries, nervous system healing and reconnecting to your true self.  Whether your just starting your healing journey or looking to deepen it, you’re welcome here - just as you are 

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