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The Messy Middle Podcast

The podcast for women navigating the raw, confusing, lonely aftermath of narcissistic abuse and emotional control.I'm Erika Leon, trauma-informed Abuse Recovery coach, mom of five, and creator of the Six Keys to Unfu*kwithable.I have walked thousands of women through the part after the leaving where the adrenaline fades, the grief hits, and the world really wants you to just move on.If you are picking up the pieces, questioning everything, and trying to remember who the fuck you were before you were so carefully erased, you are in the right place.

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    29 | Why Healing After Abuse Takes Longer Than You Think

    How long should healing take after narcissistic abuse? What if you're still thinking about it years later?If you've ever caught yourself thinking, "I should be over this by now," this episode is for you.One of the biggest traps survivors fall into isn't staying stuck. It's believing they shouldn't still be affected by what happened. Society expects you to move on, stop talking about it, and become the "better" version of yourself on someone else's timeline. But recovering from emotional abuse isn't the same as getting over a normal breakup.In this episode, I explore why that quiet pressure to "just move on" creates shame, why healing after betrayal and coercive control is far more complex than people realize, and why you're not failing simply because you're still making sense of what happened.You'll learn:Why the thought "I should be over this by now" is so common after narcissistic abuseHow society pressures survivors to recover in ways that make everyone else more comfortableWhy emotional abuse isn't just heartbreak. It's the collapse of trust, identity, safety, and reality itselfWhy your ex appearing "fine" says nothing about your healingThe powerful question to ask instead of "Why am I not over this yet?"If you've been judging yourself for still feeling angry, grieving, confused, or deeply affected months or even years later, this conversation will remind you of one important truth:You're not healing on the wrong timeline. You're healing from something that changed your entire reality.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    28 | Why You Feel Behind in Life After Narcissistic Abuse

    Do you ever look around and feel like everyone else got the life you were supposed to have?The stable relationship. The career. The home. The confidence. The clear direction.Meanwhile, you're trying to rebuild after emotional abuse, betrayal, divorce, coercive control, or years spent surviving instead of thriving.In this episode of The Messy Middle, Erica explores the painful belief that you're somehow "behind" in life, and why that feeling is so common for survivors of narcissistic and emotionally abusive relationships.When you've spent years managing someone else's moods, walking on eggshells, second-guessing yourself, carrying the mental load, or simply trying to survive, it's easy to look back and feel like you've lost time. But what if you're comparing yourself to a timeline that was never yours to begin with?Together we unpack: Why survivors often feel left behind while everyone else seems to be moving forwardThe hidden cost of spending years in survival modeHow social media and comparison can distort realityWhy you're not comparing apples to apples when you compare your journey to someone else'sThe grief of the life you thought you'd have by nowWhy healing isn't about catching up, it's about creating a life that actually fits youThis episode is a powerful reminder that you're not failing, broken, or late.You've simply lived through experiences that shaped your path differently.And from here, you get to build a life based on what matters to you, not what looks good from the outside.If you've been carrying that quiet ache that says "I should be further along by now," this conversation is for you.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    27 | Why Healing Doesn't Feel the Way You Expected

    Have you ever caught yourself thinking, "I seem okay on the outside... but inside I'm still struggling"?After narcissistic abuse, emotional control, betrayal, or a high-conflict separation, many women find themselves functioning long before they feel healed.You're going to work, looking after the kids, handling responsibilities, showing up for everyone else, and from the outside it might seem like you've moved on.But underneath? You're still carrying grief, triggers, confusion, anger, and moments that knock the wind out of you.In this episode of The Messy Middle, Erica explores the uncomfortable feeling that you're somehow "faking" your healing because the version the world sees doesn't always match what's happening inside. She unpacks why functioning is often mistaken for recovery, how societal pressure can make you feel like you should be "over it by now," and why healing is never as neat or linear as people expect.You'll learn:Why healing and functioning are not the same thingHow shame and unrealistic timelines keep women judging their own recoveryWhy feeling triggered doesn't mean you've gone backwardsThe difference between processing and being stuckHow real healing often shows up in quiet, subtle waysWhy you can be moving forward and still be affected at the same timeIf you've been wondering whether you're doing recovery "wrong" because you're still having hard days, this episode is your reminder that healing isn't a performance, a personality, or a finish line. It's messy, layered, unpredictable, and completely human.You are not faking it.You're simply in the middle of it.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    26 | The 'Was it really that bad?" Thought Spiral..

    One of the most confusing parts of recovery after narcissistic abuse or coercive control is the moment you catch yourself wondering:"Was it really that bad?"In this episode of The Messy Middle, Erica dives into the painful spiral so many survivors experience after leaving an abusive relationship. The memories start to soften. The good moments rise to the surface. The loneliness feels louder than the harm. And before you know it, you're questioning your own reality all over again.If you've ever found yourself missing someone who hurt you, replaying the good times, or wondering whether you exaggerated what happened, this episode is for you.Erica explores why this happens, how gaslighting continues long after the relationship ends, and why your brain naturally tries to edit painful memories to reduce discomfort. She also explains why so many survivors question themselves, return to unhealthy relationships, or worry that they're somehow the problem.Inside this episode, you'll learn:Why your brain tends to remember the good moments firstHow loneliness can distort your perception of the pastThe lasting impact of gaslighting and self-doubtWhy questioning yourself doesn't mean you're wrongHow to stay anchored in reality without re-traumatizing yourselfThe difference between remembering isolated moments and looking at the overall patternWhy it's possible for good memories and harmful dynamics to exist at the same timeThis is a compassionate conversation about self-trust, healing, and staying connected to the truth of your experience when your mind starts rewriting the story.If you're caught in the "maybe it wasn't that bad" spiral, take a breath and press play. You are not alone, and there are very real reasons this happens.As always, send in your questions and Erica may answer them in a future episode.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    25 | Dating as a Practice Ground for Self-Trust

    Dating after narcissistic abuse or coercive control can feel less like excitement… and more like a full-blown survival exam.In this episode, I’m talking about why dating after abuse often becomes loaded with pressure, hypervigilance, self-criticism, and endless overthinking.The “Am I gonna miss the red flags again?” spiral. The scanning. The second-guessing. The feeling that every interaction somehow determines whether you’ll end up hurt all over again.But what if dating wasn’t actually about finding “the one” right now?What if it became a practice ground for rebuilding self-trust instead?We dive into:Why dating apps and modern dating can feel so dysregulating after emotional abuseUsing dating as a social experiment instead of a high-stakes performanceHow to stay connected to yourself while interacting with other peopleThe small moments where self-trust is either built or abandonedThe importance of noticing how your body feels after a date, not just during itRed flags to pay attention to, especially around misogyny, accountability, empathy, and controlWhy discernment is more important than perfectionThis episode is not about becoming cynical, guarded, or terrified of relationships. It’s about learning how to stop disappearing inside them.Because the goal isn’t to become perfect at spotting every bad person instantly. The goal is learning how to stay connected to yourself while gathering information, observing behavior, and trusting your own nervous system again.Dating becomes very different when the focus shifts from:“Do they like me?”to:“Do I actually like how I feel around them?”This is an episode about self-trust, nervous systems, boundaries, intuition, discernment, people-pleasing, healing after narcissistic abuse, and learning how to stop betraying yourself in tiny ways just to keep someone else comfortable.And somewhere in the middle of all that… you might actually start having fun again too.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    24 | The “Oh Hell No” Phase of Healing: When All You See are Red Flags

    After narcissistic abuse or coercive control, there’s a phase nobody really talks about enough: the moment you go from missing red flags… to seeing them absolutely everywhere.In this episode, I’m talking about the hypervigilance that kicks in after emotional abuse recovery.That feeling where every comment, every inconsistency, every weird vibe suddenly feels loaded. Your nervous system is scanning constantly. Your body reacts before your brain can even catch up. You start wondering: Am I finally seeing clearly… or am I becoming too guarded?We dive into the overcorrection phase that so many survivors experience after leaving abusive relationships. The swing from over-explaining harmful behavior and giving endless benefit of the doubt… to wanting to run at the very first sign something feels “off.”I talk about:Why your nervous system starts flagging danger everywhere after coercive control The difference between discernment and hypervigilance How trauma can blur the line between noticing something and actually being unsafe Why not every uncomfortable moment is automatically a toxic pattern Learning to trust yourself again without shutting the whole world out The importance of observing behavior over time instead of rushing to conclusions Why your body reacts so strongly to familiarity after emotional abuse How self-trust and discernment are rebuilt slowly, through practice and awareness This episode is for the women who feel exhausted from constantly scanning, second-guessing, and trying to “get it right” early so they never end up trapped in abuse again.You are not broken for noticing more now. You are awake. Your awareness has expanded. And now comes the next part of healing: learning how to work with that awareness in a way that protects you without imprisoning you.As always, we’re talking nervous systems, somatics, self-trust, trauma responses, emotional safety, and the messy middle of healing after narcissistic abuse.And yes, I’ll still be reminding you to put your feet on the floor, breathe, and trust your damn self. 💛📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    23 | Dating After Abuse: Slower, Safer Sparks

    If the idea of dating again still makes you feel physically ill, this episode is not for you yet, and that is completely okay. But if you have got to the point where you are dipping a toe back in, or even just thinking about it, this one is for you.Because something strange happens when you start dating after narcissistic abuse or a high control relationship. You expect to be better at spotting the warning signs. And in some ways, you are. But there is another layer that nobody really prepares you for.Your body is still wired to respond to what it got used to.That intense, fast-moving, all-consuming feeling you might get with someone new? A lot of the time that is not chemistry.That is your nervous system recognising a familiar pattern. And the person who is steady, consistent, and actually shows up? They can feel flat. Boring, even. And that is exactly where things get confusing.In this episode I get into:Why your nervous system can make red flags feel like chemistry and safety feel like a disappointmentThe difference between activation and actual connection, and why it matters so much at this stageWhy words like "boring" and "something's missing" might actually be really good signsHow the old conditioning comes back online when something feels slightly off and you start negotiating with yourself instead of trusting your gutWhy dating after abuse is less about spotting red flags faster and more about slowing everything downThe specific things worth paying attention to that go way beyond what someone saysWhy you are allowed to take your time, change your mind, and not get it perfectYou do not have to go into this with perfect discernment. You are allowed to learn as you go. And if dating feels confusing right now, that does not mean you have gone backwards. It means your system is recalibrating.And instead of asking yourself why you are not feeling it, try asking this instead: what is this reminding me of?That question will tell you everything.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    22 | Financial Fear After Narcissistic Abuse: What Nobody Talks About

    Financial Fear After Narcissistic Abuse: What Nobody Talks AboutThere is a moment that hits almost every woman after she leaves. Sometimes it is not right away. Sometimes it is weeks later, late at night, looking at her phone or her bank account, and it lands like a quiet, heavy dread.I am on my own. And I am going to have to fight for everything.This week I am talking about financial fear after narcissistic abuse, and I want to be honest about how much bigger this is than most people give it credit for. I have lived it. I see it every single week with the women I work with. And I think it is one of the most isolating parts of leaving, partly because so many women feel embarrassed to say it out loud.In this episode I get into:How financial control creeps in slowly and why it is so easy to miss while you are in itWhy the aftermath is not just emotional, it is practical, and often deliberately designed to keep you in survival modeThe two ways most women respond to financial fear after leaving, and why both make complete senseWhy money after abuse is really about safety, self-trust, and whether you believe you can take care of yourselfWhy so many women come out the other side with a clearer, more conscious relationship with money than they ever had beforeThis is not about being good with money. It is about not being in the dark anymore. Because being in the dark is where your power got taken in the first place.If money feels heavy or looming right now, you are not behind. You are not incapable. You are in the middle of learning something you were probably never properly taught. And you will absolutely smash it.I promise.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    21 | The Quiet Grief of "Wasted Years"

    In this episode, I’m talking about something that almost every woman I’ve ever worked with eventually hits: the quiet grief of “wasted years.”It’s that heavy moment of looking back at a relationship and thinking, I lost myself in that. Sometimes it’s years, sometimes decades. And it often comes with shame, confusion, and a harsh inner narrative that says you should have known better.But what if that whole story is built on hindsight that your past self simply didn’t have access to yet?Let’s get into it.In this episode, I cover: The quiet, often unspoken grief that shows up after narcissistic abuse and emotional control Why “I should have left sooner” is usually hindsight talking, not truth  How abuse dynamics, coercive control, and gaslighting distort your perception while you’re inside them Why your brain rewrites the past once you finally learn the language for what happened How survival, timing, and nervous system capacity all shape when you were able to see and act  Why those “wasted years” are often years of adaptation, not failure The shift that happens when grief turns into clarity, discernment, and self-trust  How survivors often emerge from this stage with a strong refusal to lose themselves again This episode is not about reframing pain into positivity or skipping over grief. It’s about giving it space, naming it properly, and removing the self-blame that so often gets attached to it.Because once you understand what you were actually navigating, the question stops being “Why did I stay?” and starts becoming “How did I survive that?”And that shift changes everything about how you move forward.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    20 | Rebuilding Self-Trust After Manipulation & Abuse

    If you've ever walked away from a controlling or abusive relationship and found yourself completely frozen over the smallest decisions — what to wear, whether to text someone back, what to order for lunch — this episode is for you.It's not just that you stop trusting them after manipulation, control, or abuse. You stop trusting yourself.And that's the part nobody really talks about. Your internal compass gets scrambled. Not because you're broken, but because you were trained to override it. Over time, the loudest voice in your head stops being yours. It becomes theirs. And once you understand that, everything starts to make a little more sense.In this episode, we cover:Why making even basic decisions can feel debilitating after leaving a controlling relationshipHow self-trust gets eroded slowly and quietly, not all at onceWhy that harsh inner critic voice is often not yours, and whose it actually isWhy big, dramatic reinventions won't rebuild self-trust, and what actually willHow to use micro-decisions as daily medicine for your nervous systemWhat the freeze response really looks like, and how to gently bring choice back onlineThe guilt wave that shows up when you start putting yourself first A simple end-of-day journaling practice to start reconnecting with your own signalsYou don't rebuild self-trust with grand gestures or sweeping life overhauls.You rebuild it by choosing your lunch for the right reasons, leaving when you said you would, or following a tiny impulse and noticing how your body responds.It's unsexy. It's repetitive. And it is some of the most radical work you will ever do.You didn't lose your intuition. It just hasn't been listened to in a very long time. Let's change that.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    19 | Why You´ll Lose Your Friends After Leaving High-Control Relationship

    No one prepares you for this part. You think leaving the relationship will be the hardest thing… until your world starts getting smaller in ways you didn’t expect.In this raw and honest episode, I dive into the social fallout that often follows leaving a narcissistic or high-control relationship. The friendships that fade. The family members who stay neutral. The quiet distance. The subtle disbelief. The gut-punch comments like “it takes two.”And the part that hurts the most? Wondering if it’s somehow your fault.I break down why this happens, not to scare you, but to free you from the shame spiral that so many women fall into when their support system shifts or disappears.Inside this episode, wcovers:Why you may lose up to 80% of your social circle after leavingHow “neutrality” often protects the person who caused harmThe role of bystander inaction and why people don’t step upSecondary isolation and why leaving can feel just as lonely as stayingThe subtle ways people question your reality and how that impacts your healingWhy some friendships were built on proximity, not depthThe unexpected clarity and empowerment that can come from this lossThis isn’t just about grief. It’s about rebuilding.Because while this phase can feel deeply lonely, it’s also where you start choosing differently. Where you stop performing, stop appeasing, and start aligning with what actually feels safe, real, and true.If your world got smaller after you left, this episode will help you understand why… and remind you that you didn’t make the wrong choice.You didn’t lose everything.You’re making space for something better.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    18 | "I'll Never Need Anyone Again" Hyper Independence Phase

    “I’ll never need anyone again.” If you’ve said this (out loud or quietly to yourself) after coercive control, betrayal, divorce, or going no contact… this episode is for you.In this conversation, I’m unpacking the very real phase so many women enter after high-control or narcissistic relationships: the swing from “I can’t survive without them” to “I will never depend on anyone ever again.”And I want to normalize this immediately: That response makes sense.If trusting someone meant humiliation…If vulnerability meant punishment…If needing support gave someone leverage over you…Of course your nervous system would decide: I’ll handle everything myself.But there’s nuance here.In this episode, I break down:The difference between hyper-independence and the sacred cocoon phaseWhy becoming “the strong one” can turn into an identity (and quiet isolation)How armor protects you… and how it can also exhaust youThe hidden cost of always being capableThe difference between fear-based independence and healthy autonomyWhy “I don’t need you” and “I don’t trust you won’t hurt me” are not the same sentenceBut there is a difference between healing solitude and fear-based exile - and learning to feel that distinction in your body is part of the work.This episode is not about rushing back into relationships. It’s not about convincing you to “open your heart” before you’re ready.Healing doesn’t mean becoming dependent again.It means expanding your capacity - inch by inch - so that connection no longer equals control, and support no longer equals weakness.You don’t need to be rescued. And you don’t need to be hardened forever either.You get to be sovereign.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    17 | Why Peace Feels Boring After Narcissistic Abuse

    You finally got out. The chaos has stopped. So why does peace feel flat? Restless? Almost… boring?In this episode of The Messy Middle, I’m talking about something that so many women experience after leaving a narcissistic or high-control relationship but rarely admit out loud:Calm can feel uncomfortable.Instead of relief, you might feel numb. Irritated. Agitated. Like something is missing. You might even catch yourself missing parts of the relationship and immediately spiral into, “What is wrong with me?”Nothing is wrong with you.If you lived in volatility for years, your nervous system calibrated to volatility. The adrenaline spikes, the emotional highs and lows, the intermittent reinforcement, the push-pull dynamic, that chaos had a rhythm. And your body learned how to survive inside that rhythm.When it disappears, your system doesn’t instantly relax. It scans. It waits. It braces.In this episode, I break down:Why your nervous system confuses familiarity with safetyThe “intensity illusion” and how intermittent reinforcement wires your brainWhy steady can feel suspicious after fireworksThe urge to self-sabotage, text them, pick a fight, or create dramaWhy calm can feel like emptiness instead of freedomThe difference between feeling unsafe and feeling unfamiliarI also share a simple micro-practice to help you gently expand your capacity for peace without overwhelming your system.There is a gap between chaos and comfort. That gap is the messy middle.And if peace feels weird right now, that doesn’t mean you made a mistake. It means your nervous system is recalibrating.Eventually, calm stops feeling boring. It starts feeling safe. Then powerful. Then luxurious.And one day you will realize the fireworks were not chemistry. They were conditioning.If your peace feels strange right now, you are not broken. You are learning a new rhythm.And that rhythm? It’s called freedom.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    16 | Who Am I Without Him? Journey Back to Yourself

    Who am I when I’m not managing someone else’s moods?Who am I when I’m not bracing for the explosion, calculating the cost of my resistance, or shrinking myself to keep the peace?In this raw and deeply honest episode of The Messy Middle, I’m diving into one of the most disorienting questions we face after narcissistic abuse and coercive control:Who am I without him?This isn’t just about being single. It’s about identity loss after emotional abuse. It’s about what happens to your nervous system when you’ve spent years adapting to volatility, managing someone else’s emotional temperature, and surviving through hypervigilance.In this episode, I talk about:How coercive control slowly rewires my nervous systemWhy I felt lost, untethered, and confused after leavingThe grief no one warned me about: mourning the version of me who survivedWhy “missing him” was often my body missing predictability, not the abuseHow his voice tried to live on inside my inner criticThe subtle, powerful steps I took to rebuild my identity safelyIf you’ve ever caught yourself saying, “I don’t even know what I like anymore,” I’ve been there too.What I’ve learned is this: that identity fracture isn’t weakness. It’s conditioning. And rebuilding doesn’t happen through pressure or performance. It happens through small, nervous-system-safe choices that help me trust myself again.I also share a simple, practical exercise I use to reconnect with my body’s preferences and rebuild self-trust, one tiny decision at a time.If you feel like you’re between versions of yourself, not who you were but not yet who you’re becoming, you’re not broken.You’re in the messy middle.And that space? It’s where autonomy, selfhood, and real freedom begin.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    15 | When Doctors Dismiss You: Medical Gaslighting Explained

    What happens when you’ve been gaslit in your relationship… and then gaslit again by the medical system?In this episode of The Messy Middle, I respond to a listener question that so many women quietly carry:What do you do when you’ve been dismissed, minimized, and made to doubt yourself - not just by a partner, but by doctors?This isn’t about “bad bedside manner.” This is about institutional gaslighting. And for survivors of emotional abuse, it can feel like retraumatization all over again.In this episode, we unpack:Why the modern medical system was never designed around women’s bodiesHow trauma shows up as chronic illness, autoimmune issues, hormonal chaos, and nervous system dysregulationWhy “everything looks normal” can be a form of erasureHow medical dismissal mirrors coercive control dynamicsThe link between long-term emotional abuse and physical symptomsReclaiming yourself as your own authorityThis episode is both validating and activating. It’s about understanding that your body is not betraying you - it’s communicating. And you are allowed to believe it.You are allowed to:Fire doctors who dismiss youWalk out of unsafe appointmentsStop over-explaining yourselfTrust your lived experience over someone else’s credentialsBecoming unfuckwithable sometimes starts with one quiet, radical decision:I believe myself. Even when the system doesn’t.If you’ve ever left an appointment feeling small, foggy, shaky, or wondering if you imagined your own symptoms - this episode is for you.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    14 | You Were Never Crazy - Your Body Always Knew the Truth

    What happens when your body knows the truth before your mind is ready to admit it? In this deeply personal episode of The Messy Middle, I reflect on a powerful message from a listener who paused the podcast to do inner child work in real time: hugging a childhood toy, asking what she needed to hear, and speaking words of truth her body had been waiting for. That moment wasn’t random. It wasn’t “woo.” It was healing. This episode is about learning to trust the moments your body speaks before your brain catches up - especially after narcissistic or emotional abuse, where self-trust has been systematically dismantled. In this episode, we unpack: Why intuition gets overridden in abusive dynamicsHow gaslighting trains you to doubt your own knowingWhat somatic healing actually looks like in real lifeWhy you don’t need full memories or flashbacks to healHow to gently rebuild trust with your intuition without forcing itThrough lived experience, client stories, and practical examples, this episode reminds you of something essential:You are not broken. You are remembering. If you’ve ever had a gut feeling you ignored, whispered truth to a younger version of yourself, or felt something shift in your body before you could explain it - this episode is for you.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    13 | You Don't Have to Forgive Your Abuser to Heal

    In this episode, I’m responding to listener messages that came in after the Inner Child ep, including one powerful moment that stopped me in my tracks. A listener shared how she paused the podcast, climbed into bed with her childhood stuffed zebra, and spoke truth to the younger version of herself. What she described is exactly what real healing looks like - not performative, not perfect, but embodied, intuitive, and honest.From there, we move into some big, thorny questions I get asked all the time:Do we have to forgive our parents?Do we have to forgive narcissistic abusers?Is forgiveness actually necessary for healing, or has it been weaponized against us?In this episode, we talk about:Why forgiveness is not a prerequisite for healingHow women are conditioned to use forgiveness to stay small, quiet, and palatableThe difference between forgiveness, freedom, integration, and indifferenceWhy rage, grief, and truth-telling are often essential parts of recoveryHow to redefine forgiveness on your terms, or reject it altogetherA body-based reflection to help you feel what forgiveness actually means to youThis is not a “just let it go” conversation. It’s a reclaim-your-power conversation.If you’ve ever felt pressured to forgive before you were ready, or told that healing requires you to absolve the people who harmed you - this episode is for you.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    12 | Abuse Dynamics Education: Power and Control

    In this final episode of The Messy Middle Six Keys series, we’re closing with the key that changes everything: Abuse Dynamics Education.If you’ve ever wondered why you still doubt yourself… Why therapy, books, or “doing the work” hasn’t fully set you free… Or why a part of you still feels hooked to someone who treated you like shit…This episode is for you.We’re talking about the hidden mechanics of emotional and narcissistic abuse. Not surface-level red flags, but the real operating system behind manipulation, gaslighting, coercive control, and psychological warfare.You’ll learn:Why abuse is not about anger or miscommunication, but power and controlHow coercive control works so quietly you often don’t see it until years laterThe most common abuse tactics and how they show up in real lifeWhy you didn’t see it sooner and why that does not make you weak, naïve, or stupidHow manipulation turns into your inner voice and how to start separating what’s yours from what was injected into youThis episode also includes a grounding, body-based validation exercise to help you stop gaslighting yourself and reconnect with what your nervous system has always known.Because healing isn’t just about becoming more regulated, more forgiving, or more understanding.Sometimes healing is about realizing:This wasn’t yours to fix.This was done to you. And once you can name the game, you stop playing it.If you’re ready to reclaim your power, rebuild self-trust, and finally answer the question “Is this always going to happen to me?” with a solid no, this episode will land.Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.And that’s where real freedom begins.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    11 | Somatics & Energetics: Why You Can’t Logic Your Way Out of Trauma

    If you’ve ever wondered why boundaries feel impossible, why you keep going back, or why your body reacts before your mind can catch up, I made this episode for you.If you’ve done the therapy, read the books, understand the patterns of abuse, manipulation, or people pleasing, and yet your body still freezes, fawns, shuts down, or betrays you at the exact moment you need it most, this episode is for you.This is a deep dive into somatics and energetics, and why trauma doesn’t live in your thoughts. It lives in your body, your breath, your nervous system, and your energetic field.In this episode: I talk about why you can’t logic your way out of trauma, why insight alone isn’t enough, and why your body is not broken or failing you.I share personal stories from my own journey, including the moments when my body knew the truth long before my mind could cope with it.We explore why freeze, collapse, people pleasing, and panic are not character flaws, but intelligent survival responses, and how changing the questions you ask yourself can shift everything.I also guide you through gentle, practical somatic and energetic exercises you can do with me, including:Taking your nervous system and energetic pulseLearning to listen to sensation instead of overriding itFeeling and strengthening your energetic boundariesReleasing emotional and energetic residue you’ve been carrying that isn’t yoursThis is not about forcing yourself to be more confident, more assertive, or more healed. You cannot bully your nervous system into safety. Healing happens when you meet your body with curiosity, respect, and compassion.Your body is not the problem. It’s the portal.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    10 | Boundaries That Work After Abuse: From Body to Self

    Let’s talk about boundaries. The real kind. Not the affirmations you repeat in the mirror and then immediately override when someone pushes. I mean lived boundaries. The ones you feel in your body before they ever become words.In this episode of The Messy Middle, I’m unpacking why boundaries feel so uncomfortable, scary, and even dangerous for so many of us, especially if you grew up without them, were punished for having them, or survived narcissistic abuse, coercive control, high-conflict relationships, or lifelong people-pleasing.I share why boundaries aren’t a communication problem, they’re a survival strategy. Why your chest tightens, your hands go cold, or your voice disappears when you try to speak up. And why that doesn’t mean you’re bad at boundaries. It means your nervous system learned how to keep you safe in environments where saying no came with consequences.We talk about:Why setting boundaries often costs you relationships and why I wish someone had warned meHow abuse, emotional neglect, and patriarchal conditioning train your body to fear saying noWhy “off-the-shelf” boundary advice doesn’t work for trauma-trained systemsHow your nervous system and neuroception drive boundary responsesWhy boundaries start in the body, not the mouthThe difference between external boundaries and the powerful boundaries you set with yourselfI also guide you through simple somatic practices you can use right now, including a body-based boundary exercise and the yes/no compass to help you reconnect with your inner truth and learn what your body’s yes and no actually feel like.You didn’t fail at boundaries. You learned to survive without them. And now, we get to gently teach your system something new.Start small. Start where your body feels safest. And let this be the beginning of coming home to yourself.Sending you lots of love. Tune in, and I’ll meet you there.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    09 | Intuition: Reclaiming Your Inner Knowing After Narcissistic Abuse

    In this episode of The Messy Middle, I’m diving into intuition and why so many of us learned not to trust it, fear it, or shut it down completely.If you’ve experienced emotional abuse, gaslighting, narcissistic relationships, chronic people-pleasing, or high-control dynamics, there’s a good chance your intuition wasn’t just ignored, it was actively dismissed, minimized, or punished. Over time, that teaches you to second-guess your own knowing and disconnect from your body altogether.I talk about how...How intuition is not woo-woo or mystical. It’s biological. It lives in your nervous system, in your body, in that quiet, steady knowing that doesn’t shout but also doesn’t go away'Trauma can blur the line between intuition and hypervigilance, making it hard to tell the difference between fear and truth;I also share my own experiences, including how intuition showed up for me around betrayal and cheating long before I had proof, and what it felt like in my body when I ignored it versus when I finally listened.We explore what intuition actually feels like, how it differs from anxiety, why society teaches women to demand evidence for their inner knowing, and how to gently rebuild trust with yourself after years of self-gaslighting.There’s also a guided somatic exercise in this episode to help you reconnect with your body’s yes and no, so you can start recognizing intuition again in a way that feels safe, grounded, and accessible.Your intuition isn’t broken. Neither are you. It’s been there the whole time, waiting to be invited back into the conversation.If you’re ready to stop outsourcing your knowing and start trusting yourself again, this episode is for you.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    08 | Toxic Cycle-Breaking: From Generational Hurt to Generational Healing

    This episode is personal. It’s a little dark, a little tender, and honestly one of the more vulnerable things I have put 'out there'. TRIGGER WARNING - In this episode, I talk about domestic violence, abuse, trauma, and the ripple effects of generational harm. If you need to skip this one to protect your nervous system, I fully support that.Thirty years ago, my dad died. Not the stepdad who raised me for most of my life, but my biological father, whose story is woven with violence, patriarchy, poverty, and survival. In this episode, I peel back the layers on a generational cycle that shaped him, shaped me, and shaped the work I do today.I talk about the brutal upbringing he endured, the harm he caused, the day I stood between him and my mom when I was just a kid, and how that moment became the spark that shaped everything I now teach about boundaries, self-worth, and cycle breaking.This is an unfiltered look at patriarchy as the water we’re all swimming in, how boys lose their humanity inside it, and how we reclaim ours in spite of it. It’s also about compassion without excuses, accountability without denial, and the complicated truth that you can love someone and still name the ways they failed you.Most of all, it’s about what becomes possible when we choose to stop repeating what hurt us.If you’re navigating your own messy middle, I hope my story helps you feel seen, less alone, and more certain that you are allowed to break every cycle that broke you.Tune in. This one matters.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    07 | Exposing the Inner Critic: A Healing Dialogue

    If you’ve ever heard that vicious little voice in your head whispering things like you’re not smart enough, you always mess everything up, everyone’s laughing at you, this episode is going to hit home in the best possible way. Because that voice? It isn’t you. And today, we’re ripping the mask right off it.In this raw, intimate episode of The Messy Middle, I’m taking you back to the moment I finally realized my inner critic wasn’t my voice at all. It was training. Conditioning. A survival strategy installed by people who once held power over me.And it all came crashing down in the most bizarre, perfectly timed encounter inside an Office Depot...I’ll walk you through the full story, the panic spiral leading up to my very first support group, and the exact moment the universe slapped my inner critic across the face and reminded me who the hell I really was.We’re diving deep into:Why your inner critic often sounds like your earliest abuser, not youHow your nervous system uses self criticism as a safety planThe hidden thoughts that run on autopilot and tank your self worth before you even noticeThe moment everything shifted for me and why it changed the entire trajectory of my workA powerful somatic exercise that will change how you relate to your inner critic foreverThis episode is not about “being kinder to yourself.” It’s about exposing the lie, reclaiming your internal space, and realizing you were never the problem.Get comfy, grab a notebook, and be ready for an exercise that may hit you right in the chest, in exactly the way it needs to.Your inner critic has been running the show long enough. It’s time to meet the real you underneath all that noise.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    06 | Inner Child Awakening: The Unfu*kwithable Path

    In this raw and unfiltered episode of The Messy Middle, I’m pulling back the curtain on one of the most defining moments of my healing journey and why Inner Child Work became Key One in my Six Keys to Unfu*kwithable. I’m talking about the truth-telling, throat-tightening, survival-trained younger me. The part of me who learned early to shrink, perform, stay quiet, and swallow every truth just to stay safe.I share the deeply personal story of sitting in couples therapy with someone who was actively cheating on me, the gaslighting that nearly broke me, and the one painful moment that ended up becoming my turning point. What was meant to shame me became the spark that led to my biggest breakthrough, my life’s work, and the thousands of women I support today.Inside this episode I walk you through:What the inner child actually is and why she drives so much of your relationship patternsWhy betrayal hurts long before you have proofHow emotionally neglectful childhoods shape the partners we chooseThe way abusive or emotionally immature people weaponize vulnerabilityThe real reason you felt like a child in your adult relationshipHow your younger self has been warning you all alongAnd at the end, I guide you through a grounding somatic practice that helps you meet your own inner child the way I wish someone had met mine: gently, honestly, and without trying to fix her or dismiss what she needed.If you’ve ever felt like a shell of yourself, wondered why you tolerated so much, or questioned whether you’re “just too much,” this episode is going to hit you right in the chest in the best possible way.You’re not broken. You’re rebuilding. One felt truth at a time. Take a breath, tune in, and come meet the part of you that’s been fighting for you all along.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    05 | Will This Always Happen to Me? Narcissistic Relationship Patterns

    In this episode of The Messy Middle, I’m diving into the question I get asked with equal parts fear, dread, and heartbreak: Will this always happen to me?If you’ve ever whispered that to yourself after surviving narcissistic or high-control dynamics, you’re not alone. And no, you’re not cursed, broken, or doomed to attract the same person in a different body for the rest of your life. What you are is a human being who learned survival in a world that normalizes manipulation, misogyny, and emotional labor piled onto your shoulders.In this episode, I break down what’s really happening underneath that fear.I talk about how manipulative people actually operate, the early “tests” they run to see how much they can get away with, and how your body can confuse familiarity with safety. I unpack why chemistry isn’t destiny, why repetition isn’t sabotage, and how your nervous system is simply trying to finish an unfinished story.We get into everything from:Why you’re not a narcissist magnetHow conditioning sets you up to tolerate too mucThe modern rebrand of misogyny and why it mattersWhy early red flags feel comforting if chaos was once your normalHow healing shifts your entire signalDating as a social experimentMost importantly, I walk you through how to rebuild self-trust so deeply that coercive people can’t hook into you anymore.When your safety lives inside you, you get to choose differently, walk away sooner, and stand steadier in your feet than you ever have before.This isn’t about avoiding life. It’s about building a life your nervous system can actually thrive in. A life that feels like coming home to yourself.And no… this won’t always happen to you.Let’s talk about why.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    04 | Why Did I Stay So Long in Toxic Relationships?

    If you’ve ever asked yourself, “Why did I stay so long?” after an abusive or controlling relationship — this one’s for you.In this raw, unfiltered episode, we break down the real reasons survivors stay — and spoiler alert: it’s not because you’re weak, naïve, or broken. It’s because your nervous system, your hope, your history, and a masterclass in manipulation were all working against you.We unpack the shame hidden in that question, the biochemical addiction of intermittent affection, and how childhood wounds, conditioning, and culture keep so many women loyal to chaos disguised as love. She dives into how “reactive abuse” isn’t abuse at all — it’s your body trying to save you — and why your staying was actually your system fighting for safety in the only way it knew how.This episode is both a gut punch and a hug. You’ll walk away understanding that you didn’t “waste years.” You were gathering data. You loved deeply. You hoped fiercely. And now, you see.💔 Trigger warning: This episode discusses emotional and psychological abuse, trauma responses, and recovery.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    03 | How Did I Not See It? The Real Reason You Missed the Red Flags

    In this episode of The Messy Middle, we tackle one of the biggest, most painful questions almost every survivor of narcissistic or emotionally abusive relationships eventually asks: How did I not see it?Spoiler alert: it’s not because you’re naive, dumb, gullible, or any of the garbage your inner critic might fling at you. I break down exactly why intelligent, empathetic, emotionally aware women end up in these relationships, why the early love bombing feels intoxicating instead of suspicious, and how your nervous system, childhood conditioning, and craving for genuine connection all play a role in overriding those early intuitive nudges.You’ll hear:Why charm is not a personality trait but a manipulation tacticHow narcissistic partners gather “intel” early on and weaponize it laterWhy your nervous system will often choose the familiar over the healthyThe real reason you cling to denial longer than you thinkHow grief shows up when the truth finally landsWhy “safe” partners can feel boring or wrong How to start rebuilding trust in your intuition without fearIf you’ve ever tortured yourself with “I should have known better,” this episode will feel like a deep exhale. You’ll understand the psychology, the biology, the conditioning and the truth behind why you didn’t see it… and why none of it was your fault.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    02 | The Most Asked Questions by Narcissistic Abuse Survivors

    In these first three episodes, I’m tackling the three questions I’ve been asked more than anything else.After almost a decade and a half in practice and well over 10,000 hours with clients, these questions come up again and again in different forms. And if you’re at the beginning of this healing journey, or even a little further along but still wrestling with these thoughts, I think you’ll find a lot of clarity here.Q1: How did I not see this sooner? I’m breaking down what narcissistic abuse actually feels like from the inside. How it messes with your memory, perception, and self-trust. The gaslighting, the manipulation, the subtle erosion of your reality, the way these people choose you, and even what’s happening in your brain throughout all of it.Q2: Why did it take me so long to leave? Spoiler: it has nothing to do with weakness and everything to do with internalized programming, trauma responses, and relational conditioning that started long before the relationship itself. I’ll unpack the myth and the total garbage behind “Why don’t you just leave?” and explore the cycles, systems, and childhood dynamics that make this pattern so hard to recognize when you’re in it.Q3: Will this always happen to me? We’ll talk about rebuilding self-trust, interrupting the shame loop, and why it feels like you keep attracting the same person with a different face. I’ll walk you through how to retrain your nervous system, what real safety actually feels like, and why healthy dynamics can feel weird or even boring at first.This three-episode intro is designed to give you grounding, clarity, and a sense of direction as you move forward. Stick with me. We’re going much deeper from here, but I wanted to start with the questions I know so many of you are carrying. If you need these answers, these episodes are for you.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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    01 | Introducing The Messy Middle Podcast: Rising After Narcissistic Abuse

    Welcome to The Messy Middle — the podcast for women finding their way through the raw, confusing, and often lonely aftermath of narcissistic and emotional abuse.I’m Erika Leon, Trauma-Informed Abuse Recovery Coach, mom of five, and creator of The 6 Keys to Unfu*kwithable.If you’ve ever felt like you’re piecing yourself back together, questioning everything, and trying to remember who the f*ck you were before someone tried to erase you - you’re in the right place.In this first episode, I share a crumb of my own story: the devastating double betrayal that blew up my life and ultimately became the start of my freedom. From discovering my ex-husband’s affair with my 'best friend', to navigating the nightmare of family courts, systemic abuse, and total life collapse... it’s been one hell of a ride.But it’s also what led me to my mission today: helping people reclaim their voices, rebuild their confidence, and rise the f*ck up after abuse.Through unfiltered conversations, listener questions, client stories, and a healthy dose of righteous rage, we’ll explore the deeper conditioning that keeps women stuck — and how to dismantle it piece by piece. Expect truth bombs, laughter, healing, feminism, and the occasional f-bomb (because let’s be real).Whether you’re still in survival mode or ready to feel bold and unfu*kwithable again, this is your space to learn, laugh, cry, and rise.📩 Send in YOUR questions and get them answered on the podcast!📢 Get a Laster Coaching call for only $150. A 45-minute session to get to know me, experience my approach, and receive a personalized plan to kickstart your healing journey. Perfect for testing the waters before diving deeper.🎬 Watch Unfu*kwithable Boundaries Masterclass for FREE. Learn how setting clear boundaries can change your life for good and where to start! 📝 Get the Somatic Keys Course. Learn how to recognize your signals, regulate your responses, and reclaim your nervous system as a place of truth.

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

The podcast for women navigating the raw, confusing, lonely aftermath of narcissistic abuse and emotional control.I'm Erika Leon, trauma-informed Abuse Recovery coach, mom of five, and creator of the Six Keys to Unfu*kwithable.I have walked thousands of women through the part after the leaving where the adrenaline fades, the grief hits, and the world really wants you to just move on.If you are picking up the pieces, questioning everything, and trying to remember who the fuck you were before you were so carefully erased, you are in the right place.

HOSTED BY

Erika Leon

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does The Messy Middle Podcast have?

The Messy Middle Podcast currently has 29 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

What is The Messy Middle Podcast about?

The podcast for women navigating the raw, confusing, lonely aftermath of narcissistic abuse and emotional control.I'm Erika Leon, trauma-informed Abuse Recovery coach, mom of five, and creator of the Six Keys to Unfu*kwithable.I have walked thousands of women through the part after the leaving...

How often does The Messy Middle Podcast release new episodes?

The Messy Middle Podcast has 29 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.

Where can I listen to The Messy Middle Podcast?

You can listen to The Messy Middle Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.

Who hosts The Messy Middle Podcast?

The Messy Middle Podcast is created and hosted by Erika Leon.
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