Beyond Survival - The Therapy Podcast with Katie McKenna

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 lan...

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 ...

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. Y...

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 sayin...

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 r...