In this episode of Lynn's Library, host Lynn Dadson sits down with author, therapist, and trauma specialist Adena Bank Lees, LCSW — to unpack her book "Covert Emotional Incest: The Hidden Sexual Abuse — A Story of Hope and Healing" (revised & updated edition).

Adena explains what covert emotional incest actually is — a subtle, non-contact form of sexual abuse within the family system — and how to spot it: triangulation, the "substitute spouse" or confidant role, parentified kids, and the child everyone praises as mature, the hero, the high-achiever. Drawing on 40 years of clinical work and her own healing, she shares how these patterns form, how they pass down through generations, and what genuine recovery looks like.

An honest, sometimes heavy conversation about family dynamics, boundaries, and reclaiming your story — and why "you can't heal what you refuse to name."

Get Adena's book: thelynnshow.com → Lynn's Library → Guest Books

Content note: This episode discusses childhood abuse, disordered eating, and suicidal ideation. If you're struggling, in the US you can call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), 24/7.

Views expressed by guests are their own and do not represent The Lynn Show or its host.

What happens when a father never shows up - and that absence shapes everything about the woman you become?

In this episode of Lynn's Library, I sit down with author, speaker, and founder of Journey to Heal LLC, Michelle Briggs, to talk about her memoir Searching for a Father's Love: A Journey of Brokenness, Healing, and Grace. The book begins with a single image that never leaves you: a little girl sitting on a porch, waiting for a father who never came. It traces Michelle's journey through childhood abandonment, through the wounds that shaped her sense of worth, and through forgiveness, faith, and the long road back to herself.

Michelle brings the heart of her organization Journey to Heal LLC - dedicated to helping women rediscover their identity and walk confidently in their purpose - and the raw honesty of someone who has outgrown being a victim of her own story.

This one will stay with you.

Get a copy of the book: thelynnshow.com/guest-books

What happens when two centuries-old witches reunite to take on a property scam, a dangerous villain, and the weight of lives half-lived?In this episode of Lynn's Library, I sit down with debut author Hazel Hitchins — folklore fanatic, humanist, feminist, and founder of The Bandaged Quill editing service — to talk about her novel Babs and Aggie: The Good, the Bad and the Vegan. Set in a Welsh shopping arcade, the book follows Aggie, a retired healer who has made herself small, and Babs, a force of nature inspired by the Slavic legend of Baba Yaga, as they face down a villain and everything he represents.Hazel writes from Undy, Wales, where she lectures on folklore — how ancient stories still shape how we see the world — and supports new writers through critique groups, the Storyteller's Elite academy, and her own editing practice. This is her debut novel. It is wickedly funny, unexpectedly tender, and full of something rare: older women who are fully, fiercely alive.This one hits different.Get a copy of the book: thelynnshow.com/guest-books

What do you do when the system meant to protect your children becomes the thing destroying them?

In this episode of Lynn's Library, I sit down with author, broadcaster, and advocate Dante Cinque — known off air as David Coleman — to talk about his novel The Pain of Vengeance. First published in 2002, the book follows Attorney Malik Coleman, a man caught between his duty to the law and his responsibility as a father, who becomes the reluctant leader of an underground movement fighting the family court system.

Dante brings 35 years in radio, a background covering the Tennessee Titans and Nashville Predators, and the founding of I Love My Children Too — a nonprofit for noncustodial fathers — to a conversation that is raw, real, and long overdue. He's re-releasing this book now because, as he puts it, nothing has changed.

This one will stay with you.

Get a copy of the book: thelynnshow.com/guest-books

🎙️ Welcome to Lynn's Library Podcast — a part of The Lynn Show.Join Lynn for conversations with authors, readers, publishers, and storytellers from around the world. Discover new books, explore powerful ideas, and hear the stories behind the pages.📚 Find featured books:https://thelynnshow.com🎧 Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Z73cnWloFQXvHmvCveUgI?si=aagC7l-zR3-8S5a2L5sosw▶️ Watch on YouTube Subscribe for new episodes every week: https://www.youtube.com/@TheLynnShowBooks • Authors • Readers • Conversations#LynnsLibrary #TheLynnShow #lynnlore#TheLynnShow #BookPodcast #BusinessPodcast #Books #Entrepreneurship #WomenInBusiness #BookClub #AuthorInterview #SelfImprovement #LindaDadson #Podcast🌐 Books + Bask or Burn: https://thelynnshow.com🎙️ Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7Acp3kZsLefSywQsKL224P🛒 Shop Lynn Living on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/LynnLiving

📚 COMING SOON

This week on Lynn's Library Podcast:
Beyond the Silence by William Charles Larsen.

A story of resilience, healing, and triumph.

🎙️ Full feature dropping soon.
📚 Find this book on TheLynnShow.com

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