You're Not Crazy: A Podcast for the Adult Children of Parents with Borderline and Narcissistic Personality Disorders

You've known for months exactly what boundary you need to set. And every time you sit down to do it, something in your body says absolutely not, and you tell yourself you'll deal with it later.
If you grew up with a parent with unmanaged borderline personality disorder or narcissistic traits, you learned early on that reading the room kept you safe and while expressing your emotions was a problem. It's one of the many reasons cycle breakers often grow up to be great intellectualizers who find themselves struggling to make the changes they desperately want to make.
In this episode you'll learn:
Why you know what you "should" do but can't bring yourself to actually do it 
The difference between knowing what to do and having the skill set to tolerate how distressing change can be
Why the hardest part of a boundary is almost never the logistics, it's the guilt and anxiety that come after
The story your brain tells about laziness and lack of motivation, and what's actually happening
Why being too close to the fire makes your own family the hardest one to see clearly
If you've spent years trying to understand your dysfunctional family system and still can't bring yourself to make the changes you need to, this episode is for you.
Grab Surviving Interactions With a Narcissistic, Emotionally Immature, or Otherwise Toxic Parent:
A 12-page step-by-step plan to walk you through the before, during, and after, so you can finally go into your next interaction with clarity and confidence in your approach: confidentboundaries.com/the-guide
Ready to go deeper?
The Cycle Breaker's Vault is my self-guided course for the adult children of parents with borderline and narcissistic traits. Inside, we untangle dysfunctional family systems, boundaries with toxic parents, manipulation, grief, and reconnecting with yourself.
Learn more and get started: confidentboundaries.com/vault
Access two new bonus episodes every month plus the full archive of older episodes when you join You're Not Crazy: The Private Feed
Follow me on Instagram: @cyclebreakertherapist
Follow me on TikTok: @cyclebreakertherapist
Support the show
A huge thank you to our podcast sponsors!
Disclaimer: This podcast is not therapy. If you’re in crisis, please call the 988 Crisis Lifeline.
You're Not Crazy is owned and produced by Torie Wiksell and Confident Boundaries, LLC.

A quick update first- I'm shifting into a more sustainable rhythm for the podcast this fall, then I get into part two of my story. I talk about growing up with a Jekyll and Hyde mom, what that taught me, and how my understanding of what was actually going on with her has changed over the years.
I talk about how if I could stumble through my own healing as clumsily as I have and still end up with the skills and support I have now, I firmly believe anyone who is invested in breaking the cycle is capable of learning how to do so too. 
>>>Grab my new guide, Surviving Interactions With a Narcissistic, Emotionally Immature, or Otherwise Toxic Parent: confidentboundaries.com/the-guide
Ready to go deeper?
The Cycle Breaker's Vault is my self-guided course for the adult children of parents with borderline and narcissistic traits. It covers breaking the cycle: navigating dysfunctional family dynamics, boundaries, manipulation, grief, and reconnecting with yourself.
Learn more and get started: confidentboundaries.com/vault
Want bonus episodes and the full archive? Join You're Not Crazy: The Private Feed
Follow Torie on Instagram: @cyclebreakertherapist
Follow Torie on TikTok: @cyclebreakertherapist
Support the show
A huge thank you to our podcast sponsors!
Disclaimer: This podcast is not therapy. If you’re in crisis, please call the 988 Crisis Lifeline.
You're Not Crazy is owned and produced by Torie Wiksell and Confident Boundaries, LLC.

A quick update on the podcast and when the next episode will drop.
Support the show
A huge thank you to our podcast sponsors!
Disclaimer: This podcast is not therapy. If you’re in crisis, please call the 988 Crisis Lifeline.
You're Not Crazy is owned and produced by Torie Wiksell and Confident Boundaries, LLC.

>>>Grab my new guide, Surviving Interactions With a Narcissistic, Emotionally Immature, or Otherwise Toxic Parent: confidentboundaries.com/the-guide
This week I'm sharing more about me: who I am, why I do the work that I do, and what led me to start this podcast.
In this episode you'll learn:
About my clinical background and how that led to me working almost entirely with adults who have parents with borderline and narcissistic personality disorders
About my attempts to fill the gap so many cycle breakers face when searching for support
How to work together and the various ways I can help
Ready to go deeper?
The Cycle Breaker's Vault is my self-guided course for the adult children of parents with borderline and narcissistic traits. It covers dysfunctional family dynamics, boundaries, manipulation, grief, and reconnecting with yourself.
Learn more and get started: confidentboundaries.com/vault
Want bonus episodes and the full archive? Join You're Not Crazy: The Private Feed
Follow me on Instagram: @cyclebreakertherapist
Follow me on TikTok: @cyclebreakertherapist
Grab my new guide: Surviving Interactions With a Narcissistic, Emotionally Immature, or Otherwise Toxic Parent
A 12-page step-by-step plan for navigating these dynamics with more of your sanity intact: confidentboundaries.com/the-guide
Support the show
A huge thank you to our podcast sponsors!
Disclaimer: This podcast is not therapy. If you’re in crisis, please call the 988 Crisis Lifeline.
You're Not Crazy is owned and produced by Torie Wiksell and Confident Boundaries, LLC.

When you grow up with a narcissistic parent or a parent with unmanaged borderline personality disorder, apologies often function as a way to end the conversation, avoid accountability, or label you as the problem.
And like many aspects of these types of family dynamics, apologies can be confusing and leave you replaying the conversation, wondering if you're being unreasonable by not fully accepting them.
In this episode you'll learn:
What a healthy apology actually looks like
Why "I'm sorry" can be a completely reasonable apology in one relationship and feel hollow in another
The reason your gut flags an apology as insincere, and what your brain is actually tracking
How the gap between what you experienced and what you're told to feel about it erodes self-trust over time
Why not accepting an apology, or accepting it cautiously, can be a reasonable response
Ready to go deeper?
The Cycle Breaker's Vault is Torie's self-guided course for the adult children of parents with borderline and narcissistic traits. It covers dysfunctional family dynamics, boundaries, manipulation, grief, and reconnecting with yourself.
Learn more and get started: confidentboundaries.com/vault
Want ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and the full archive? Join the private feed: confidentboundaries.com/private
Follow Torie on Instagram: instagram.com/cyclebreakertherapist
Follow Torie on TikTok: tiktok.com/@cyclebreakertherapist
Free guide: 10 Boundary Mistakes That Keep You Stuck
If your boundaries keep blowing up or leaving you drowning in guilt, it's usually not you. Learn what problems actually get in the way of setting successful boundaries with toxic parents by downloading my free guide: confidentboundaries.com/opt-in
Support the show
A huge thank you to our podcast sponsors!
Disclaimer: This podcast is not therapy. If you’re in crisis, please call the 988 Crisis Lifeline.
You're Not Crazy is owned and produced by Torie Wiksell and Confident Boundaries, LLC.