Narcissistic abuse doesn't just affect your mind — it gets stored in the mind-body connection.

Do you have the kind of chronic pain no doctor can explain? Does it get worse the harder you try to fix it? Are you bracing, clenching, and shutting down without knowing what's wrong?

In this episode, Dr. Kerry unpacks how narcissistic abuse gets stored in the body, not just the mind. Want to learn more about healing from narcissistic abuse, check out Monday’s episode with Liz Tenuto, The Workout Witch. Watch it here: https://youtu.be/gM9h4GjITpc?si=BxsgI-eUXsrZzTuA

Have a story or realization you'd like Dr. Kerry to take on air? Send it to clients@kerrymcavoyphd.com.

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Key Moments

• 00:00 — "I knew before I knew"
• 00:53 — The words you use for toxic love ("I bent over backwards")
• 01:39 — Why your body keeps the receipts (Monday's Liz Tenuto)
• 02:05 — "I emptied myself out" — loving an emotional black hole
• 03:05 — Not codependency: the alarm that fires before logic
• 03:41 — "He told me exactly what he expected from me"
• 04:17 — My story: love-bombed and quietly terrified
• 04:46 — The PI, the missing records, and the wedding bombshell
• 05:26 — Why we silence the body's warning
• 06:21 — Three truths to take with you
• 07:59 — Your body is on your side
• 08:23 — Share your story + Reclaim You

• ReclaimYou: Dr. Kerry's AI-powered coaching app
• The Complete Recovery Collection: Narcissistic abuse resources
• First Steps to Leaving: Online self-paced digital course
• Toxic-Free Relationship Club: Live coaching & community support

• Youtube
• Instagram
• TikTok
• Facebook

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This podcast/video is for educational purposes only. It does not constitute therapy, counseling, or professional mental health advice. If you are in crisis, please call 911 or your local emergency number.

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What if the chronic pain, the exhaustion, and the sleepless nights aren’t because of stress, or you’re getting older, but because your body keeping the score of narcissistic abuse?

In this episode, Dr. Kerry sits down with somatic healing expert Liz Tenuto, as known The Workout Witch, to explored one of the most overlooked truths: abuse doesn't just impact your mind; it affects your body.

Learn why survivors get trapped in a constant state of fight-or-flight and the surprising reason that talk therapy and EMDR alone often aren't enough to finally heal.

PODCAST EXTRA EXCLUSIVE SEGMENT
Ready to go deeper?
Think the abuse never touched you physically? Find out the truth.

In this members-only bonus, Liz walks Dr. Kerry through a simple body self-assessment to learn if you’re storing trauma. Learn the early warning signs before they turn chronic.

Find the exclusive second segment and weekly newsletter here.

LIZ TENUTO (known to her millions of followers as The Workout Witch) demystifies somatic healing and offers a compassionate, science-backed roadmap for anyone struggling with the physical aftermath of stress and trauma. As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and an abusive marriage, Liz spent years battling chronic pain, anxiety, and insomnia. She cycled through countless healing trends before discovering the life- changing power of somatics. Today, Liz is a trauma informed practitioner with a degree in psychology, 15 years of teaching experience, and advanced training in somatic movement through Pilates, Reiki, and 6 years of Feldenkrais mentorship with Augusta Moore.

Website
Book: When the Body Speaks: How Somatic Healing Sets You Free

Key Moments

• 00:00 Like a paper doll, flat and dead
• 01:00 Meet Liz Tenuto, the Workout Witch
• 02:40 When foot pain feels like walking on glass
• 04:23 Why your body never leaves fight or flight
• 05:59 How chronic stress dominoes into disease
• 08:47 The angry father and the trauma beneath the pain
• 10:22 Unexplained pain your doctor can't explain
• 11:49 Stress weight and the shame no one talks about
• 13:56 What somatics actually is
• 14:36 The massage that unlocked a buried trauma
• 16:29 Why talk therapy alone isn't enough
• 19:21 What somatics felt like the first time
• 21:46 The small, perfect self you built to survive
• 24:07 Why chasing your step count backfires
• 26:30 Fight, flight, freeze, and the Goldilocks state
• 28:44 Five minutes a day to rewire your nervous system
• 31:01 Are you armored up without knowing it? (→ Podcast Extra)

• ReclaimYou: Dr. Kerry's AI-powered coaching app
• The Complete Recovery Collection: Narcissistic abuse resources
• First Steps to Leaving: Online self-paced digital course
• Toxic-Free Relationship Club: Live coaching & community support

• Youtube
• Instagram
• TikTok
• Facebook

As an Amazon affiliate, commission is earned from qualifying purchases.

This podcast/video is for educational purposes only. It does not constitute therapy, counseling, or professional mental health advice. If you are in crisis, please call 911 or your local emergency number.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Why has the person who claimed to love you gone years without once saying your name — not even once?

When a narcissist won't say your name, it isn't a quirk. It's name erasure: a slow, deliberate way of treating you as less than a full person.

In this Viewers' Stories episode, Dr. Kerry reads real survivor stories and unpacks four ways the same tactic shows up. Each one is a covert control tactic, and together they're a form of withholding affection most survivors don't recognize as emotional abuse until much later. You'll learn how to read what someone's use of your name reveals about how they actually see you, and why these small omissions add up to something far bigger than rudeness.

Key Moments

• 00:00:00 — The Husband Who Never Said Her Name
• 00:01:19 — When "Gorgeous" Was a Quiet Cruelty
• 00:03:11 — The Trap Hidden Inside "Babe" and "Honey"
• 00:04:08 — Hearing Your Name Until the Room Goes Foggy
• 00:05:09 — Mispronounced on Purpose, Again and Again
• 00:05:51 — What the Sound of Your Name Reveals

Resources

• ReclaimYou: Dr. Kerry's AI-powered coaching app
• The Complete Recovery Collection: Narcissistic abuse resources
• First Steps to Leaving: Online self-paced digital course
• Toxic-Free Relationship Club: Live coaching & community support

Follow Dr. Kerry!

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Kerry Kerr McAvoy, Ph.D, a retired psychologist & author, is an expert on cultivating healthy relationships and deconstructing narcissism.

As an Amazon affiliate, commission is earned from qualifying purchases.

This podcast/video is for educational purposes only. It does not constitute therapy, counseling, or professional mental health advice. If you are in crisis, please call 911 or your local emergency number.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.