This episode is about why everything feels harder, louder, and more urgent during the holidays when you’re navigating high-conflict divorce or co-parenting with a controlling or volatile person. Why situations that felt barely manageable in October suddenly feel explosive in December. Why your body feels like it’s bracing for impact every single day. And why so many parents reach a breaking point and say, “This can’t wait until January.”

I break down what’s actually happening beneath the surface—how time pressure, court slowdowns, holiday schedules, dysregulated kids, financial stress, and relentless communication collide all at once. How the holidays become a tool for control rather than connection. And why this season so often pushes already-burned-out parents into survival mode.

I am well aware this episode is coming after the Holiday season. I am sorry I could not get it out before!

Support the show

*Please Note: there is a long intro that explains my services. If you do not want to listen, just fast-forward 5 mins past. This intro will be changed in future recordings to be shorter. I am not paid to record this podcast and it is a free offering. Offering my work is the only way I can sustain the podcast*

Join the Patreon: https://patreon.com/Youarenotcrazy

*New Course*: Unhooked: Map the Cycle of Abuse in your Relationship

Website: Emotional Abuse Coach and high-conflictdivorcecoaching.com
Instagram: @emotionalabusecoach
Email: jessica@jessicaknightcoaching.com

{Substack} Blog About Recovering from Abuse

{E-Book} How to Break Up with a Narcissist
{Course} Identify Signs of Abuse and Begin to Heal
{Free Resource} Canned Responses for Engaging with an Abusive Partner

I unpack a viral TikTok that has been shared hundreds of thousands of times—and why its message is far more dangerous than it first appears.

On the surface, the video presents itself as “relationship advice” about how women can keep men happy. In reality, it reinforces coercive control, sexual entitlement, and the idea that women are responsible for regulating men’s emotions, egos, and loyalty—often at the expense of their own boundaries, bodies, and well-being.

I break down:

• How this type of content subtly trains women to doubt themselves
• Why framing women as a man’s “peace” is a red flag, not a virtue
• How sexual coercion gets normalized and disguised as intimacy advice
• The link between these messages and trauma bonding
• Why “respect,” “appreciation,” and “affection” become tools of control in abusive dynamics
• How women are conditioned to abandon themselves to keep relationships stable

This episode is direct, emotional, and unapologetic. It is not about attacking men. It is about naming narratives that groom women to tolerate neglect, emotional abuse, and coercion—while being told they are the problem.

Support the show

*Please Note: there is a long intro that explains my services. If you do not want to listen, just fast-forward 5 mins past. This intro will be changed in future recordings to be shorter. I am not paid to record this podcast and it is a free offering. Offering my work is the only way I can sustain the podcast*

Join the Patreon: https://patreon.com/Youarenotcrazy

*New Course*: Unhooked: Map the Cycle of Abuse in your Relationship

Website: Emotional Abuse Coach and high-conflictdivorcecoaching.com
Instagram: @emotionalabusecoach
Email: jessica@jessicaknightcoaching.com

{Substack} Blog About Recovering from Abuse

{E-Book} How to Break Up with a Narcissist
{Course} Identify Signs of Abuse and Begin to Heal
{Free Resource} Canned Responses for Engaging with an Abusive Partner

In this episode, I’m sharing a simple end-of-year practice I’ve returned to every year since 2017—one that has nothing to do with resolutions, goals, or fixing yourself.

It started in a yoga class on New Year’s Eve, during a time when my life was quietly falling apart. I was deeply depressed, circling the truth that I needed to leave my marriage, and trying to survive day to day. The exercise was simple: two cards. One for the year you’re leaving. One for the year you’re stepping into. Not achievements. Not intentions. Just words.

I’m walking you through how this practice helped me tell the truth about what a year actually felt like—longing, fear, disconnection, grief—and how naming that reality grounded me instead of shaming me. When you’ve lived in abuse or survival mode, your inner compass gets scrambled. Your nervous system isn’t thinking about the future. It’s trying to stay safe. So when people ask about goals or resolutions, everything can freeze.

This practice doesn’t ask you to know the future. It asks you to tell the truth about the present.

Here is the Substack link: https://open.substack.com/pub/jessicaknightcoaching/p/instead-of-resolutions-i-do-this?r=1ecj9w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Support the show

*Please Note: there is a long intro that explains my services. If you do not want to listen, just fast-forward 5 mins past. This intro will be changed in future recordings to be shorter. I am not paid to record this podcast and it is a free offering. Offering my work is the only way I can sustain the podcast*

Join the Patreon: https://patreon.com/Youarenotcrazy

*New Course*: Unhooked: Map the Cycle of Abuse in your Relationship

Website: Emotional Abuse Coach and high-conflictdivorcecoaching.com
Instagram: @emotionalabusecoach
Email: jessica@jessicaknightcoaching.com

{Substack} Blog About Recovering from Abuse

{E-Book} How to Break Up with a Narcissist
{Course} Identify Signs of Abuse and Begin to Heal
{Free Resource} Canned Responses for Engaging with an Abusive Partner

This episode is not about fresh starts, resolutions, or manifesting a better year.

It’s for the people who feel heavy, uneasy, or scared as the year changes.

I’m sharing honestly about what the end of the year felt like for me when my life didn’t feel safe—when I was still inside emotionally abusive relationships, even though I didn’t have that language yet. I talk about the dread that replaced reflection, the exhaustion of constant self-editing, the panic attacks, the private crying, the way I negotiated my own needs just to keep the peace.

There are no tidy lessons here. This episode isn’t meant to inspire you to do more or be better.

We talk about:

• Why New Year’s can feel threatening instead of hopeful when your life has felt unpredictable or unsafe
• How emotional abuse intensifies during holidays and end-of-year reflection
• The slow realization of “I can’t keep living like this” and why that isn’t failure
• Trauma bonds, self-doubt, and the moment your body starts telling the truth
• Why hope doesn’t have to be loud to be real

If the bravest thing you can do right now is stop gaslighting yourself, this episode is for you.

Support the show

*Please Note: there is a long intro that explains my services. If you do not want to listen, just fast-forward 5 mins past. This intro will be changed in future recordings to be shorter. I am not paid to record this podcast and it is a free offering. Offering my work is the only way I can sustain the podcast*

Join the Patreon: https://patreon.com/Youarenotcrazy

*New Course*: Unhooked: Map the Cycle of Abuse in your Relationship

Website: Emotional Abuse Coach and high-conflictdivorcecoaching.com
Instagram: @emotionalabusecoach
Email: jessica@jessicaknightcoaching.com

{Substack} Blog About Recovering from Abuse

{E-Book} How to Break Up with a Narcissist
{Course} Identify Signs of Abuse and Begin to Heal
{Free Resource} Canned Responses for Engaging with an Abusive Partner

The holiday season has a way of revealing what we’ve been trying to ignore. When the pressure to perform, host, or appear “happy” collides with the chaos of an emotionally abusive relationship, everything that’s been buried rises to the surface.

In this episode, I unpack why abuse patterns intensify around the holidays — and how to recognize the moment you finally see the cycle for what it is.

I also share ways to start naming the truth, release self-blame, and reclaim your nervous system — even if you’re still in the relationship.

If this resonates, explore Unhooked private podcast and course on breaking the cycle of abuse, or connect for one-on-one coaching at emotionalabusecoach.com

Support the show

*Please Note: there is a long intro that explains my services. If you do not want to listen, just fast-forward 5 mins past. This intro will be changed in future recordings to be shorter. I am not paid to record this podcast and it is a free offering. Offering my work is the only way I can sustain the podcast*

Join the Patreon: https://patreon.com/Youarenotcrazy

*New Course*: Unhooked: Map the Cycle of Abuse in your Relationship

Website: Emotional Abuse Coach and high-conflictdivorcecoaching.com
Instagram: @emotionalabusecoach
Email: jessica@jessicaknightcoaching.com

{Substack} Blog About Recovering from Abuse

{E-Book} How to Break Up with a Narcissist
{Course} Identify Signs of Abuse and Begin to Heal
{Free Resource} Canned Responses for Engaging with an Abusive Partner

This episode explores what happens when the holidays don’t feel magical—when they instead trigger memories of tension, performance, and survival. I reflect on how November and December can awaken body memories of chaos, control, and grief, even years after leaving an abusive relationship.

Support the show

*Please Note: there is a long intro that explains my services. If you do not want to listen, just fast-forward 5 mins past. This intro will be changed in future recordings to be shorter. I am not paid to record this podcast and it is a free offering. Offering my work is the only way I can sustain the podcast*

Join the Patreon: https://patreon.com/Youarenotcrazy

*New Course*: Unhooked: Map the Cycle of Abuse in your Relationship

Website: Emotional Abuse Coach and high-conflictdivorcecoaching.com
Instagram: @emotionalabusecoach
Email: jessica@jessicaknightcoaching.com

{Substack} Blog About Recovering from Abuse

{E-Book} How to Break Up with a Narcissist
{Course} Identify Signs of Abuse and Begin to Heal
{Free Resource} Canned Responses for Engaging with an Abusive Partner

In this episode, I talk about one of the most confusing and insidious forms of manipulation survivors face in high-conflict relationships and co-parenting: Double Speak.

It’s that moment when control hides behind concern — when an email, message, or conversation sounds calm and reasonable to everyone else, but your body knows something is off. It’s when someone says, “I just want what’s best for our child,” while taking positions that go directly against your child’s needs or the agreements already in place.

I break down how Double Speak operates as a tactic of coercive control — how it creates contradiction, self-doubt, and emotional exhaustion — and how to start spotting it before you’re pulled into another circular argument. I share real-world examples from co-parenting cases, explain how this pattern shows up in court, and offer practical strategies for documenting, responding, and staying grounded when someone twists words to maintain power.

If you’ve ever felt like you were being gaslit by “reasonable” communication, this episode will help you name the manipulation — and reclaim your clarity.

Support the show

*Please Note: there is a long intro that explains my services. If you do not want to listen, just fast-forward 5 mins past. This intro will be changed in future recordings to be shorter. I am not paid to record this podcast and it is a free offering. Offering my work is the only way I can sustain the podcast*

Join the Patreon: https://patreon.com/Youarenotcrazy

*New Course*: Unhooked: Map the Cycle of Abuse in your Relationship

Website: Emotional Abuse Coach and high-conflictdivorcecoaching.com
Instagram: @emotionalabusecoach
Email: jessica@jessicaknightcoaching.com

{Substack} Blog About Recovering from Abuse

{E-Book} How to Break Up with a Narcissist
{Course} Identify Signs of Abuse and Begin to Heal
{Free Resource} Canned Responses for Engaging with an Abusive Partner

In today’s episode, we’re unpacking a phrase almost every survivor has heard at some point: “You’re the only one who has a problem with me.”

It’s one of the most subtle yet powerful forms of emotional manipulation — the kind that makes you question your reality, your reactions, and even your goodness.
When someone says this, they aren’t giving you perspective — they’re stripping you of credibility. They’re trying to convince you that your pain doesn’t matter unless other people agree with it.

In this episode, I share how abusers use this tactic to isolate and silence you, the emotional math behind it, and how you can start trusting your own experience again.

Support the show

*Please Note: there is a long intro that explains my services. If you do not want to listen, just fast-forward 5 mins past. This intro will be changed in future recordings to be shorter. I am not paid to record this podcast and it is a free offering. Offering my work is the only way I can sustain the podcast*

Join the Patreon: https://patreon.com/Youarenotcrazy

*New Course*: Unhooked: Map the Cycle of Abuse in your Relationship

Website: Emotional Abuse Coach and high-conflictdivorcecoaching.com
Instagram: @emotionalabusecoach
Email: jessica@jessicaknightcoaching.com

{Substack} Blog About Recovering from Abuse

{E-Book} How to Break Up with a Narcissist
{Course} Identify Signs of Abuse and Begin to Heal
{Free Resource} Canned Responses for Engaging with an Abusive Partner