Dr. Lakelyn is joined by licensed mental health counselor Rebecca Johnson for an honest conversation about one of caregiving's most complicated and often unspoken realities, caring for a narcissistic parent.
For many adult children, becoming a caregiver means stepping back into painful family dynamics that never truly healed. Feelings of obligation, guilt, resentment, grief, and responsibility can exist alongside love and compassion. Rebecca shares practical strategies for navigating these complex relationships while protecting your emotional well-being and maintaining healthy boundaries.
Together, they discuss how caregivers can care for someone who once caused emotional harm, why boundaries are acts of protection rather than punishment, and how healing can happen even when the relationship never becomes what you hoped it would be.
Episode highlights include:
-Understanding the unique challenges of caring for a narcissistic parent.
-Why caregiving can reactivate childhood wounds and trauma.
-Navigating guilt, obligation, and difficult family expectations.
-The importance of boundaries (or "parameters") during caregiving.
-The difference between self-care and soul care.
-Coping with ambiguous grief, anticipatory grief, and disenfranchised grief.
-Practical tools for protecting your mental health while providing care.
Helpful links from the episode:
-Restoration Counseling: restorationcounselingfl.com
-Workbook (on Amazon): Finding Your True North: A Recovery Workbook for Adult Children of Narcissistic Parents: a.co/d/0e8u3htA
- After the Narcissicist Private Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/afterthenarcissist/
- Dr. Ramani YouTube channel: youtube.com/@DoctorRamani
To learn more about this podcast and to subscribe to our caregiving newsletters, visit www.homeinstead.com/caregiverchats. Share your thoughts, experiences and ideas by emailing Dr. Lakelyn at caregiverchats@homeinsteadinc.com.
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