Jessica Anne Pressler, LCSW is joined by psychotherapist and author Kristen Baird-Goldman to talk about why ADHD and other neurodivergent traits can make people especially vulnerable to narcissistic manipulation. They unpack the “self-blame loop,” rejection sensitivity, rumination (“my day in court”), trauma bonding, and why working with an ADHD-informed, trauma-informed therapist can be the difference between healing and being retraumatized.

About Kristen
Kristen Baird-Goldman, LMFT, ATR, ADHD-CCSP, CIMHP is the author of The CBT Workbook for Adult ADHD and the founder/director of Baird Integrated Therapy, an integrative psychotherapy practice and ADHD center.

Find Kristen
Instagram: @theadhdguru
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kristen.bairdgoldman/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-baird-goldman-m-s-lmft-cimhp-6178817/

Practice: Baird Integrated Therapy (website + discovery call)

Disclaimer
This episode is for education only and is not mental health treatment. If you are in immediate danger, call 911. In the U.S., you can call or text 988 for crisis support.

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Season 2 of Your Traitor Within opens with a powerful conversation between Jessica Anne Pressler, LCSW, and abuse recovery coach Beany, founder of Breakthroughs with Beany.

Beany shares her deeply personal story of surviving a decade-long abusive relationship, the trauma bond that kept her stuck, and how her “Traitor Within” — the internal voice shaped by early wounds — convinced her to endure instead of leave. Together, Jessica and Beany unpack the psychology behind narcissistic abuse, love bombing, cognitive dissonance, intermittent reinforcement, and why leaving is rarely a single moment.

This episode explores:

• How trauma bonding can feel like addiction
• Why “strength” can become a mask that keeps you silent
• The role of external validation in abusive dynamics
• Why physical distance creates clarity
• How healing is built through small daily decisions
• The importance of community in recovery

Beany now supports survivors through one-on-one coaching, group programs, and a membership community designed to help women break trauma bonds and rebuild self-worth.

Connect with Beany / Breakthroughs with Beany:
Instagram: http://instagram.com/breakthroughswithbeany

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@breakthroughswithbeany

TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@breakthroughswithbeany

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1AL3TRJEoy/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Content note: This episode includes discussion of abuse, stalking, and sexual violence.

If you are in danger or need support:
National Domestic Violence Hotline (US): 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788
988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988

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In this deeply personal episode of Your Traitor Within, Jessica Anne Pressler sits down with her longtime friend Margaret Josephs for an honest conversation about how childhood conditioning quietly shapes adult relationships — and how learning to recognize that internal “traitor” voice can change everything.

Margaret reflects on growing up parentified, learning early to normalize chaos, over-responsibility, and emotional self-silencing. She shares how those early survival patterns followed her into adulthood, influencing the red flags she excused, the control she tolerated, and the guilt that kept her staying longer than she should have. What looks like strength from the outside often felt like quiet self-betrayal on the inside.

Together, Jessica and Margaret unpack how the Traitor Within isn’t a villain — it’s a coping mechanism that once helped her survive. But when left unexamined, that same voice can keep us stuck in relationships that require us to shrink, justify, or “put up and shut up.” Margaret speaks candidly about therapy, boundaries, safety, motherhood, and the moment she realized she could no longer live a life that denied who she truly was.

This episode is a powerful exploration of parentification, trauma bonding, emotional control, and the long road from survival to self-trust — told with honesty, humor, and compassion.

Margaret Josephs is an entrepreneur, author, fashion designer, and television personality best known for The Real Housewives of New Jersey. She is the founder of Macbeth Collection, co-founder of the mocktail brand Soirée, and the author of Caviar Dreams, Tuna Fish Budget.

Beyond television and business, Margaret is a devoted mother and wife, and a long-standing advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, children battling cancer, and causes centered on women’s empowerment, independence, and self-worth. Known for her candor, compassion, and resilience, she consistently uses her platform to support community, philanthropy, and conversations around growth, healing, and reinvention at every stage of life.

Follow Margaret Josephs:
@therealmargaretjosephs

Follow Soirée:
@drinksoiree

In this episode of Your Traitor Within, Jessica Anne Pressler, LCSW, talks with certified recovery coach Paula Devine, founder of Happiest Hour Concierge Sobriety. For over 30 years, alcohol was woven into Paula’s life — from high school and college partying to a career in the liquor industry and then into the “mommy wine culture” of early motherhood. On the outside she was high-functioning, involved, and “doing it all.” On the inside she was living with anxiety, hangovers, shame, and the quiet realization that alcohol was slowly dulling who she really was.

Paula shares how her Traitor Within showed up through alcohol: the voice that told her she “deserved” a drink, that she needed it to relax, to connect, to cope, even as her kids began to mirror back the impact. She describes the moment she finally said, “I’m done,” what it was like to stop in a marriage and social world built around drinking, and how her husband’s support and new shared rituals (like pickleball instead of cocktails) helped her hold that line. Now over three years sober, Paula talks about the surprising happiness and clarity that came with sobriety, how she handles romanticizing the past like a “toxic ex,” and how she gently supports women who slip without shame, focusing instead on triggers, self-awareness, and what the lapse can teach them.

Paula also shares how Happiest Hour was born out of her own path — a small group of friends meeting regularly to support each other — and how it evolved into a women’s sobriety coaching practice and community in Lighthouse Point, Florida. Her approach is holistic and personalized: therapy, meetings, coaching, movement, community, and whatever else helps a woman step into an alcohol-free life that actually feels like hers.

You can find Paula at:
Website: www.happiesthouraf.com

Instagram: @happiest_hour_af

In this episode, Jessica welcomes transformation coach and personal trainer Tim Kassouf, whose story is a striking example of what can happen when insecurity, perfectionism, and pain go unspoken for too long — and what becomes possible when someone finally turns toward the truth of their life.

Tim talks openly about the body-image wounds he carried since childhood, the pressure to perform his way into worth, and how those early messages eventually shaped a devastating addiction to Adderall and heroin. He describes the collapse of his first marriage, the moment he no longer wanted to live, and the second chance that came only because he stayed one more day.

What follows is the slow rebuild: sobriety, AA, faith, community, and the discipline of fitness — not as aesthetics, but as structure, identity, and self-respect. Tim shares how purpose returned through helping others, how accountability became a lifeline, and why effort—not outcomes—is now the foundation of his life.

He speaks candidly about men’s silent struggles with body image, the exhaustion of living as a chameleon, the peace that comes from authenticity, and the grounded, mutual love he eventually found in his second marriage.

This conversation is about recovery, discipline, self-forgiveness, and the ongoing work of recognizing the Traitor Within when it speaks — and choosing differently, again and again.

In this episode of Your Traitor Within, Jessica Anne Pressler, LCSW, sits down with dating and confidence coach Terri Boucher (@terri_boucher) to explore how the Traitor Within shows up in modern dating. Terri shares her story of growing up in chaos, emotional neglect, poverty, and hyper independence, and how those early wounds pushed her into survival mode, masculine energy, and relationships with emotionally unavailable men. Jessica and Terri discuss how trauma and protective parts shape our dating choices, why so many women end up chasing, settling, or abandoning themselves, and what it actually takes to step into authenticity, feminine energy, boundaries, self-worth, and healthy relationship patterns. Terri explains how she guides women through nervous system regulation, mindset work, deeper awareness, and aligned action so they can stop repeating old cycles, stop dating from their wounds, and start attracting relationships that feel safe, connected, and aligned with who they truly are.

Emily Colligan is a somatic trauma and narcissistic abuse recovery coach who helps women break trauma-bond cycles, regulate their nervous system, and rebuild a secure sense of self after toxic relationships. Through body-based healing, attachment work, and deep pattern rewiring, Emily guides clients out of survival mode and into the grounded, empowered version of themselves they've never been allowed to be.

Connect with Emily:
Instagram: @emilycolligantherapy
Website: emilycolligantherapy.com

In honor of National Adoption Month, Jessica Anne Pressler, LCSW, sits down with her longtime friend and fellow adoptee, Barbara Eckert of All The Feels Healing Space, to share the parts of their adoption stories that shaped their “Traitor Within” — the protective inner voice that helped them survive but later drove people-pleasing, over-trusting, secrecy, and self-silencing. They discuss late disclosures, abandoned fantasies about birth families, the “primal wound,” somatic fallout, and practical tools for repair, including breathwork, therapy, and community. This candid conversation offers language, validation, and next steps for adult adoptees and adoptive parents alike.

Jessica Anne Pressler, LCSW: @jessicaannepressler | yourtraitorwithin.com

Barbara Eckert: @allthefeelshealingspace | allthefeelshealingspace.com