If you're co-parenting with a narcissist, you may eventually face one of the most painful challenges of narcissistic abuse: parental alienation.

When a narcissistic parent feels a loss of control during divorce or separation, they often escalate their tactics. One of the most common strategies is turning the children against the other parent.

In this episode of Restoring Resilience, therapist Chelsey Brooke Cole explains:

• Why narcissists use children to regain control

• How parental alienation begins

• Why traditional communication strategies don't work with narcissists

• How to respond to manipulation using the R&R communication approach

• What to say when your child repeats lies they've heard from the narcissistic parent

• How to support your child's emotional well-being without attacking the other parent

You'll also learn three powerful strategies to help protect your relationship with your child:

1️⃣ Don't disparage the narcissistic parent — but don't minimize their behavior either

2️⃣ Validate your child's feelings instead of debating the facts

3️⃣ Use the "older placeholder" strategy for conversations that are too heavy for children

Co-parenting with a narcissist can create guilt, confusion, and emotional exhaustion. But understanding how narcissists think and communicate can help you develop the clarity and strategy you need to protect both yourself and your children.

Remember: one healthy parent can make a world of difference in a child's life.

Free Training

If you're ready to understand narcissistic manipulation patterns more deeply, watch Chelsey's free masterclass:

The Narcissist's Playbook

Learn the psychological tactics narcissists use and how to protect your emotional world.

👉 https://www.chelseybrookecole.com/the-narcissists-playbook

In this episode of Restoring Resilience with Chelsey Brooke Cole, we explore the early psychological signs that you may be in a narcissistic or emotionally toxic relationship — especially when nothing looks obviously abusive on the surface.

Often, the first red flag isn't their behavior.

It's the change in you.

Narcissistic abuse doesn't just hurt you in obvious ways. It slowly erodes your clarity, your identity, and your self-trust.

You start asking: "Why can't I fix this?" "Why am I so sensitive?" "What's wrong with me?"

But a more important question might be:

Who am I becoming in this relationship?

Are you more grounded or more confused? More empowered or more ashamed? More yourself, or less?

Your body is constantly giving you feedback. Anxiety, confusion, hypervigilance, and numbness are not random. They are signals.

If this episode resonated and you want a deeper understanding of narcissistic manipulation patterns, including how to stop personalizing their behavior and start protecting your emotional world, I invite you to explore my free masterclass:

The Narcissist's Playbook

In it, I walk through common manipulation tactics, why narcissists behave the way they do, and practical strategies to help you disengage from toxic cycles.

You can access it using the link below. https://www.chelseybrookecole.com/the-narcissists-playbook/

Wherever you are in your healing journey, resilience can be restored. And we'll keep building it together.

Thanks for listening! Please remember to subscribe, and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

There is a psychological reason narcissists stay close to their ex, and it's not about love, closure, or friendship.

Narcissists are not motivated by connection, closure, or emotional honesty the way healthy people are. They are motivated by access.

Access to your attention. Access to your emotional energy. Access to knowing they still matter to you.

What looks like friendliness is often regulation. What looks like caring is often control. What looks like connection is often manipulation.

If you've felt confused, guilty for setting boundaries, pulled back in emotionally, or destabilized by their contact, this episode will give you clarity.

Your healing does not require you to stay accessible to someone who harmed you.

If this resonated with you and you want to understand narcissistic manipulation patterns more deeply, I invite you to watch my free masterclass:

The Narcissist's Playbook

In this training, I break down the most common tactics narcissists use, how to recognize them clearly, and how to protect your emotional world so you can finally break free from the trauma bond.

You can watch it for free here: 👉 https://www.chelseybrookecole.com/the-narcissists-playbook

The more clearly you see the pattern, the less you personalize their behavior, and the stronger your self-trust becomes.

Resilience can be restored. And we'll keep building it together.

Thanks for listening! Please remember to subscribe, and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

In this episode of Restoring Resilience with Chelsey Brooke Cole, we unpack how vulnerable narcissists (often called covert narcissists) slowly and strategically create self-doubt over time, without explosive arguments or obvious rage.

Unlike grandiose narcissists, vulnerable narcissists don't appear arrogant or dominant.

And that's exactly what makes the manipulation so confusing.

If this episode helped you put language to what you've been feeling, the confusion, the guilt, the erosion of self-trust, I want to invite you deeper.

📘 In my book If Only I'd Known, I walk through six different types of narcissists, including the vulnerable type, and guide you step-by-step through healing from narcissistic abuse, breaking the trauma bond, and rebuilding self-trust.

You can get the first chapter FREE: https://www.chelseybrookecole.com/firstchapterfree/

If you're untangling what was real and what wasn't, this resource was written for you.

Resilience can be restored. And we'll keep building it together.

Thanks for listening! Please remember to subscribe and leave a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Narcissistic abuse has a way of making you doubt your reality. Gaslighting, manipulation, and chronic unpredictability can leave your nervous system stuck in survival mode, replaying conversations, second-guessing yourself, and feeling disconnected from who you used to be.

This podcast is a safe place to begin healing.

I'm Chelsey Brooke Cole, licensed psychotherapist, certified partner trauma therapist, bestselling author, and narcissistic abuse survivor. In Restoring Resilience, we go beyond simply understanding narcissism. We focus on:

Healing after narcissistic abuse

Recovering from gaslighting and emotional manipulation

Rebuilding self-trust and confidence

Nervous system regulation and trauma recovery

Boundaries that actually fit who you are

Restoring resilience and reclaiming your identity

This is not about toxic positivity or quick fixes. It's about honest healing. It's about rebuilding trust with yourself. It's about remembering that your life is bigger than what happened to you.

If you're searching for support with narcissistic abuse recovery, trauma bonding, emotional abuse healing, or how to stop doubting yourself, you're in the right place.

Subscribe and join us as we restore resilience, together.

Explore recovery programs and resources here: https://www.chelseybrookecole.com/