S2 E9 – When Patterns Repeat Like Groundhog Day: Breaking the Cycle

Have you ever felt like you’re stuck in a loop of destructive relationship patterns—where the same hurtful behaviors repeat over and over, almost like Groundhog Day?

In this episode of Relational Trauma SOS, host Jeni Brockbank, Executive Director of H.E.R. Wings Unfold and a victim advocate, explores the Cycle of 4-A Behavior: Abuse, Addiction, Adultery, and Abandonment.

Using vivid analogies like volcanoes erupting and Groundhog Day, Jeni explains how destructive patterns often follow a predictable path:

Tension Building – the pressure beneath the surface.

Explosive Behaviors – the eruption.

Fragile Peace – the calm that follows, before it begins again.

For many survivors, simply naming the cycle brings relief and clarity: “This isn’t random. It’s a pattern—and patterns can be broken.”

This episode also includes a gentle guided meditation to close—offering self-compassion and empowerment through the imagery of a bird learning to spread her wings, reminding us all:

This is hard.

I am not alone.

I am learning to soar.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Step 4 inventories in the TS-12 Anon program → ts12anon.org

Cycle of 4-A Behavior Worksheet (FREE)

Join the 10 STRONG Wings Campaign to support women in healing

✨ Trauma survivors belong here.