How to understand toxic relationships, and gain healthy ones

How to understand toxic relationships, and gain healthy ones

From Creative Mind Audio by Douglas Eby

December 18, 2025 · 3 min

About this episode

This episode features therapist Jessica Baum discussing toxic relationships and how to cultivate healthy ones.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit thecreativemind.substack.com Therapist Jessica Baum writes, “You might not use the word safety when talking about your relationships. But you do know the feeling of walking on eggshells, shrinking yourself to avoid conflict, or bracing for the moment they pull away or you explode. “Safety is the presence of steadiness, not just lack of chaos, where you can exhale and be your full self, knowing you’ll still be loved.” This episode starts with therapist Jessica Baum from a short podcast interview reel, followed by an excerpt from a video interview on the Real Love Ready YouTube channel. The final section of this Creative Mind Audio is an excerpt from the video introduction to her online course 7 Stages of Detoxing from Toxic Relationships . Jessica Baum LMHC is a “celebrated author of Anxiously Attached: Becoming More Secure in Life and Love and a licensed expert therapist with over 15 years of professional experience helping individuals heal from trauma bonds, unhealthy relationship dynamics, narcissism, gaslighting, and other relationship challenges.” One of her books: Safe : An Attachment-Informed Guide to Building…

People in this episode

Host: Douglas Eby

Guest: Jessica Baum

Topics covered

  • toxic relationships
  • healthy relationships
  • attachment theory
  • mental health
  • self-improvement

Keywords

  • toxic relationships
  • healthy relationships
  • attachment theory
  • mental health
  • self-improvement
  • trauma bonds
  • narcissism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Real Love Ready YouTube channel

Books & works: Anxiously Attached: Becoming More Secure in Life and Love, Safe : An Attachment-Informed Guide to Building More Secure Relationships

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