Divorce Attorney Diana Romanov: Why Being Nice to a Narcissist Can Leave You Homeless

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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Feed Swap: Beneath the Apology — Shame, Image & the Illusion of Empathy with Renee Swanson & Dr. Mazella

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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The Financial Abuse Tactic Narcissists Use When They ‘Have No Money

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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How Narcissists Use Love Bombing to Build a Financial Trap

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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Narcissistic Parents Don’t Love Their Children — They Use Them

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 your stories — re…

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When Your Narcissistic Ex Weaponizes Your Children in Their Smear Campaign

Your child comes home from a visit with the other parent guarded. Repeating things they couldn’t have come up with on their own. Now they’re looking at you differently. That’s not just “divorce being hard.” That’s a smear campaign — and your narcissistic ex has recruited your own children to run it. This week, Dr. Josh Davis — neuroscientist, psychologist, and author of The Difference That Makes a Difference — joins Kerry McAvoy to break down exactly how narcissistic exes weaponiz…

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Feed Swap: Covert Narcissist Relationships — When You Can’t Live the Lie Anymore with Renee Swanson

If you can name the patterns and see the behaviors, have you wondered why do you still feel so stuck? This week I’m sharing an episode from Renee Swanson of the Covert Narcissism Podcast — a feed swap I wanted to bring straight to this community. Renee unpacks what she calls “hitting the wall”: the moment you can no longer live the lie in a covert narcissistic relationship, when you can’t keep pretending that you’re fine, that your family is fine, when it simply isn’t. Renee Swanson, the host…

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When Narcissists Weaponize Food: What Survivors Need to Hear

Food shouldn’t feel like a threat — but for narcissistic abuse survivors, it often does. In this viewer stories episode, survivors share exactly how the narcissist in their life weaponized food — turning meals into rituals of control, criticism, and shame. Kerry shares her own experience too. If mealtime ever filled you with dread, this episode will name what you lived through and show you why it happened. In this episode: • The specific tactics narcissists use to weaponize food • Why this co…

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When Narcissists Weaponize Food: What Survivors Need to Know

Narcissistically disorder individuals often use basic needs, like food, to establish dominance and control. They like to use a reoccurring and emotionally loaded activity to express their specialness and to point out your inadequacies. Learn 3 practical steps to rediscover your autonomy and pleasure around food.

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The Real Reason Narcissists Make Food About Control

Food is the most primal human need — and narcissists know it. The demands that ruin a vacation. The meal that is never made right. The praise given once, then withheld forever. These are calculated moves in a much larger control strategy. In this conversation, Kerry McAvoy and co-host Lynn S. decode the psychology behind narcissistic food control: why it is never actually about the food, how narcissists exploit your deepest vulnerabilities through something as basic as sustenance, and why rec…

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