When we’ve grown up in chaos, it can be hard to untangle our trauma from who we truly are. In this episode, Patrick explores the tangled web of trust, identity, and survival after a lifetime shaped by narcissistic abuse - and a recent autism diagnosis that’s reframed everything.

As he sits down with Helen, we witness a moving conversation about how trauma disguises itself in our thoughts, how autism and trauma intertwine, and how addiction can become a clever - if costly - coping mechanism. Together, they unpack people-pleasing, perfectionism, emotional disconnection, and the shame that lingers long after the abuse ends.

This is an episode about rebuilding from the rubble, reclaiming joy, and learning to trust yourself again.

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To be on the show please apply here: ⁠https://hub.liberationacademy.co.uk/podcast-application

When a child’s behaviour pushes all our buttons, it can be hard to separate the present from the past. In this powerful episode, a mother explores her deep discomfort around her son’s intense emotional responses and defiance—asking herself if he might be a narcissist, like her own father was.

But as she sits down with Helen, a different picture begins to emerge. How do unresolved wounds from narcissistic abuse shape the way we interpret our children’s behaviour? What part is ADHD or Autism playing in the dynamic?

This honest, tender conversation dives into projection, ADHD, autism, parental guilt, and the courage it takes to break inherited patterns.

Join The Hub at https://liberationacademy.co.uk/the-hub/

To be on the show please apply here: https://hub.liberationacademy.co.uk/podcast-application

The Expert Series is a conversation between a professional and me discussing their specialism in relationship to the course on The Hub. Listen as we explore people pleasing and sex, trauma and shame, or identity and neurodiversity. This content is free for Hub members, or available for a small monthly subscription.

Thanks and take care!

Helen

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If you're looking for stories from people just like you, and suggestions on how to find a way through similar problems, welcome to The Liberation Effect.

Join me as we pull apart struggles and problems and see what's going on and how to move forward.

https://liberationacademy.co.uk/the-hub/

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