This week a listener asks a question: How do I let go of all the rage?

After years of no contact with her abusive family, she’s exhausted by how much power the past still has over her present.

She doesn’t want revenge or empty apologies - she just wants peace. But how do you move forward when there will never be justice? In this episode, we explore what rage really is beneath the surface, why it can feel impossible to release, and how to begin freeing yourself from its grip so you can finally start living for you.

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BEYOND SURVIVAL - The Therapy Podcast

This week, I read a letter from a listener who’s been no contact with her mother for two years - but still feels like she’s living with her shadow.

Every bark of the dog, every knock at the door, sends her body into high alert. Even something as simple as checking the mailbox feels dangerous.

Myself and Dr. Ruth Callaghan will explore what it’s like when no contact doesn’t bring peace, and how our nervous system can become stuck in fight/flight - especially when the person we’re protecting ourselves from once felt impossible to escape.

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BEYOND SURVIVAL - The Therapy Podcast

Question - "I'm never going to find her easy but how do I regulate after exposure to her?"

In this episode, we hear from a listener - an only child - who has spent a lifetime navigating exhaustion, guilt, and confusion in her relationship with her aging mother.

Her mother calls her “my everything,” professes deep love, yet never asks about her life or family. Instead, she elicits promises, plays the victim, uses guilt to control, and bends the truth to suit her narrative.

For this listener, going no contact isn’t an option. So she’s learning to hold firmer boundaries — limiting visits, stepping back from constant caretaking, and seeing the manipulation for what it is — but still battles the heavy weight of guilt and self-doubt: “Am I being too harsh?”

With growing self-awareness and hard-won clarity, she asks a powerful question: "How do I regulate better when with her - and after?"

Together, Ruth and I explore how to stay grounded in contact with a narcissistic parent, how to recover from the emotional crash afterward, and how true healing often means redefining love, responsibility, and self-worth on your own terms.

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www.callaghancounselling.ie

BEYOND SURVIVAL - The Therapy Podcast