Being Human

Borderline personality patterns are often misunderstood and mislabeled—but beneath the surface is a painful struggle shaped by identity instability, emotional overwhelm, and the exhausting push–pull between fearing abandonment and fearing annihilation. In this episode, Dr. Greg brings clarity and compassion to this pattern, offering language and hope for anyone who recognizes these dynamics in themselves or in someone they love.

Key Topics:

• Why borderline patterns are so often misunderstood
• The exhausting push–pull between fearing abandonment and fearing annihilation
• How identity instability fuels intense relationship dynamics
• Why emotions can feel overwhelming and all-consuming
• Why conflict and drama can start to feel like proof of connection
• How integration and truth open the path toward healing

Learn More:

• Need help? Schedule a free CatholicPsych consultation
• Start of the Being Human series on the Dependent Defense Pattern:
  • Ep. #265: Jerry Maguire, Gollum, and the Fear of Not Existing
• Start of the Being Human series on the Narcissistic Defense Pattern:
  • Ep. #261: Narcissism and the Terror of Being Ordinary
• Stop Walking on Eggshells – A guide for navigating relationships affected by borderline personality patterns
• Want to help? Learn more about our Certification in Professional Accompaniment

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Even if you're Christian — even if your spouse is a genuinely good person — you can still feel deeply unfulfilled. In this episode, Dr. Greg explores how asking another person to carry your identity, security, and worth turns love into survival — and leaves both people depleted.

Key Topics:

• How misplaced dependence slowly erodes love
• Why identity collapses when relationships become sources of self-worth
• The difference between free self-gift and anxious attachment
• How to properly order your love

Learn More:

• Pilgrimage to Poland - Learn more about this interior journey with St. John Paul II
• Summit of Integration 2026 - Sign up to learn more about this year's event!
• Healing Retreat in Wyoming - Learn more about our upcoming retreat experience.
• Being Human episodes on the Dependent Defense Pattern:
  • Ep. #267: Not All Satisfaction Is Good: Understanding Codependency As Relationship Cancer
  • Ep. #266: You're Giving Too Much! Uncovering How Anxiety Disguises Itself as Holiness
  • Ep. #265: Jerry Maguire, Gollum, and the Fear of Not Existing
• Gaudium et Spes - Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World by Pope Paul VI
• Need help? Schedule a free CatholicPsych consultation
• Want to help? Learn more about our Certification in Professional Accompaniment

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What if you're mistaking something emotionally dangerous for love? In this episode, Dr. Greg tackles a painful but common pattern: relationships that look close, committed, and appear to be flourishing, yet quietly trap both people in fear, dependence, and anxiety.

Key Topics:

• Why both partners can feel "happy" even as the relationship becomes unhealthy
• How codependency distorts the kind of free, fruitful relationships God calls us to
• Why awareness and willpower aren't enough to break these cycles – and what we can do to heal them

Learn More:

• Pilgrimage to Poland - Learn more about this interior journey with St. John Paul II
• Being Human episodes on the Dependent Defense Pattern:
  • Ep. #266: You're Giving Too Much! Uncovering How Anxiety Disguises Itself as Holiness
  • Ep. #265: Jerry Maguire, Gollum, and the Fear of Not Existing
• Person and Act by Karol Wojtyla (Pope Saint John Paul II)
• Love and Responsibility by Karol Wojtyla (Pope Saint John Paul II)
• Discernment of Spirits - Learn more through the lens of Catholic anthropology and Catholic mindfulness
• Need help? Schedule a free CatholicPsych consultation
• Want to help? Learn more about our Certification in Professional Accompaniment

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What if the reason you feel anxious, resentful, or exhausted from "doing the right thing" isn't a lack of generosity—but anxiety hiding behind virtue? This episode explores the crucial difference between authentic Christian self-gift and giving that's really about survival, revealing how true sacrifice should expand freedom, not erase you.

Key Topics:

• The difference between Christian self-gift and anxiety-driven giving
• Why humility is not the same as self-erasure
• How attachment wounds can fuel overgiving
• How dependent and narcissistic patterns reinforce each other
• Why true love always increases freedom

Learn More:

• Love and Responsibility by Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II)
• Casti Connubii (Encyclical of Pope Pius XI on Christian Marriage)
• Being Human episode on the Dependent Defense Pattern:
  • Ep. #265: Jerry Maguire, Gollum, and the Fear of Not Existing
• Need help? Schedule a free CatholicPsych consultation
• Want to help? Learn more about our Certification in Professional Accompaniment

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Have you ever felt safer letting someone else decide—not because you didn't care, but because choosing for yourself felt overwhelming or even dangerous? Dr. Greg explores the dependent defense pattern and why giving up agency can feel like survival—until healing restores the freedom to exist, choose, and love.

Key Topics:

• Why dependency isn't just fear of being alone—but fear of not existing alone
• How proximity can start to feel like survival
• Why some people lose touch with what they want, like, or dream about
• How dependency can quietly shape marriages, families, and faith
• And how healing doesn't erase need—it restores freedom

Learn More:

• Being Human episodes on narcissistic personality patterns:
  • Ep. #261: Narcissism and the Terror of Being Ordinary
  • Ep. #262: Spiritual Narcissism: Exposing the Sneaky Way We Use Religion as a Pattern of Protection
  • Ep. #263: Holiness and Narcissism
  • Ep. #264: IFS, JP2 and Narcissism
• Is Leadership of the Family a Man's Job? (Being Human, Ep. #201)
• Correcting Aquinas: JP2's Truth Bomb on Gender and Human Dignity (Being Human, Ep. #197)
• Being Human episodes on Parts Work:
  • Ep. #34: A New Theory! w/a Catholic Lens
  • Ep. #35: Why Do I Feel Like I Have Conflicting Thoughts? w/ Dr. Peter Malinoski
  • Ep. #49: Internal Family Systems & External Family Tensions
• Need help? Schedule a free CatholicPsych consultation
• Want to help? Learn more about our Certification in Professional Accompaniment

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Dr. Greg wraps up the series on narcissism by going beneath behavior and willpower, drawing on JP2 and psychology to show how real healing happens at the subconscious level. Learn how narcissistic patterns can be unburdened and integrated with compassion—not erased or fought—so healing can actually take root.

Key Topics:

• Why a narcissistic part is not a monster, but a protector
• How deep wounds get buried beneath conscious awareness and still drive behavior
• Why healing isn't about willpower or "trying harder"
• How narcissistic patterns can be unburdened and integrated, rather than erased

Learn More:

• Being Human episodes on Narcissism:
  • Ep. #263: Holiness and Narcissism: Undoing the Knots with Awareness, Self-Determination, Empathy and Our Lady
  • Ep. #262: Spiritual Narcissism: Exposing the Sneaky Way We Use Religion as a Pattern of Protection
  • Ep. #261: Narcissism and the Terror of Being Ordinary
• Related blog articles:
  • The Problem with the Bishop Scandals
  • Outlining Narcissistic Personality Disorder
  • The Two Types of Narcissism
• Being Human episodes on Parts Work:
  • Ep. #34: A New Theory! w/a Catholic Lens
  • Ep. #35: Why Do I Feel Like I Have Conflicting Thoughts? w/ Dr. Peter Malinoski
  • Ep. #47: How to Turn Your Inner Worst Enemies into Your Inner Best Friends
• Person and Act by Karol Wojtyla (Pope Saint John Paul II)
• Need help? Schedule a free CatholicPsych consultation
• Want to help? Learn more about our Certification in Professional Accompaniment

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"Die to yourself." "Offer it up." What happens when these phrases get tangled with woundedness? In this episode, we explore spiritual narcissism—and the path back to freedom through awareness, empathy, self-determination, and Our Lady.

Key Topics:

• Why "good advice" can sometimes feel silencing rather than supportive
• How being told to "pray more" can replace real listening
• The hidden ways love can feel conditional in spiritual spaces
• How spiritual environments can quietly erode trust in your own intuition

Learn More:

• Related blog articles:
  • The Problem with the Bishop Scandals
  • Outlining Narcissistic Personality Disorder
  • The Two Types of Narcissism
• Being Human episodes on Narcissism:
  • Ep. #262: Spiritual Narcissism: Exposing the Sneaky Way We Use Religion as a Pattern of Protection
  • Ep. #261: Narcissism and the Terror of Being Ordinary
• Need help? Schedule a free CatholicPsych consultation
• Want to help? Learn more about our Certification in Professional Accompaniment

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When faith is used to silence, control, or end conversations, something has gone wrong. In this episode, Dr. Greg exposes spiritual narcissism—the hidden way woundedness disguises itself as holiness and quietly breaks relationships from the inside out.

Key Topics:

• Why spiritual maturity does not automatically include emotional maturity
• How faith can unconsciously be used to shut down dialogue
• Why boundaries can be an authentic act of mercy
• How real healing requires integration, not just more prayer or effort
• How spiritual language can become a shield against vulnerability rather than a path to communion
• Why grace perfects nature but does not bypass psychological woundedness
• Why marriage is not a chain of command but a mutual gift of self
• How authority language can become a warning sign instead of a virtue
• Why feeling confused, guilty, or silenced in a "faithful" relationship signals deeper misalignment

Learn More:

• Related blog articles:
  • The Problem with the Bishop Scandals
  • Outlining Narcissistic Personality Disorder
  • The Two Types of Narcissism
• Being Human episodes on Narcissism:
  • Ep. #261: Narcissism and the Terror of Being Ordinary
  • Ep. #68: "I'm Not Narcissistic, You're Narcissistic!"
  • Ep. #67: An Antidote to Narcissism
  • Ep. #21: A Look at Narcissist Personality Disorder
• Being Human Ep. #201: Is Leadership of the Family a Man's Job?
• Being Human episodes on Parts Work:
  • Ep. #49: Internal Family Systems & External Family Tensions
  • Ep. #47: How to Turn Your Inner Worst Enemies into Your Inner Best Friends
• Pastores Dabo Vobis (St. John Paul II) – On human formation as the foundation of spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral growth
• Need help? Schedule a free CatholicPsych consultation
• Want to help? Learn more about our Certification in Professional Accompaniment

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Everyone's talking about narcissism — but most of the conversation is missing what's really going on underneath. In this episode, Dr. Greg uncovers the blind spot driving narcissistic patterns, and why willpower never creates the change that only love can.

Key Topics:

• Why willpower alone never leads to real change
• How blind spots protect us from unbearable shame
• What "the terror of being ordinary" actually means
• Why patience and sacrifice don't heal narcissism
• And what does create the conditions for change

Learn More:

• Being Human episodes on Narcissism:
  • Ep. #21: A Look at Narcissist Personality Disorder
  • Ep. #67: An Antidote to Narcissism
  • Ep. #68: "I'm Not Narcissistic, You're Narcissistic!"
• Being Human episodes on Parts Work:
  • Ep. #34: A New Theory! w/a Catholic Lens
  • Ep. #35: Why Do I Feel Like I Have Conflicting Thoughts? w/ Dr. Peter Malinoski
  • Ep. #36: A Guided Exercise w/ Dr. Peter Malinoski
  • Ep. #47: How to Turn Your Inner Worst Enemies into Your Inner Best Friends
  • Ep. #49: Internal Family Systems & External Family Tensions
• Need help? Schedule a free CatholicPsych consultation
• Want to help? Learn more about our Certification in Professional Accompaniment

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The tilma is so astonishing that it may have actually distracted us from the deeper story of Guadalupe. In this episode, Dr. Greg and Joseph González uncover the ancient prophecies and cultural preparation that reveal an even bigger plan at work.

Key Topics:

• Why the tilma may actually distract us from the real Guadalupe story.
• How God was preparing the Americas long before the missionaries arrived.
• The ancient "flower world" poetry that mirrors Juan Diego's tilma.
• What the four-petaled flower over Mary's womb really means.
• Why almost 10 million conversions suddenly made sense.
• How Guadalupe shows the right way to evangelize a culture.
• How archaeology is only now uncovering what God was already doing.
• What Guadalupe reveals about how God is working in your life, unseen.

Learn More:

• Guadalupe and the Flower World Prophecy – Dive deeper into the book and additional work by Joseph Julian & Monique González
• Being Human Ep. #257 — "This Book Just Changed My Life" – Dr. Greg's first exploration of Guadalupe and the Flower World Prophecy.
• Joseph Julian González on YouTube – Watch more of his reflections, research, and musical explorations into the Flower World tradition.
• Misa Azteca (by Joseph González) – The musical work that first opened the door to Joseph's research into Guadalupe and the Flower World.
• Need help? Schedule a free CatholicPsych consultation
• Want to help? Learn more about our Certification in Professional Accompaniment

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