Narcissists, Gaslighters, and Cheaters, Oh My!

Angel was raised by a woman she called the Vortex of Solitude. Someone who could walk into a room, and you could feel the darkness.She was also, in Angel's words, genuinely funny. Charismatic. Someone Angel loved — the way you love the mother you were given, even when she was the one doing the damage.Angel's story starts at the very beginning. A car accident when Angel was a year and a half that took her mother's leg and became the foundation of a mythology Angel spent decades trying to fact-check. A childhood of hoarding, drug addiction, pathological lying, and volatility that could flip from fine to catastrophic over a Diet Pepsi. A mother who befriended Angel's friends to preemptively spin the narrative. Who made Angel stay up through the night babysitting her in case she dropped a cigarette in the hoard. Who missed her high school graduation because she didn't clean a house she wasn't allowed to throw anything away in. Who, when sixteen-year-old Angel, exhausted out of her mind at dawn, said, " Mom, your hair is so pretty today — cut off a lock of hair, shoved it in her hand, and told her she'd be dead by morning.Angel still has the hair.She talks about what it means to grow up not knowing your own history — because when a narcissist tells your story long enough, even your own memories can't be trusted. She talks about the sexual abuse she reported, and wasn't believed. The DCS call that went nowhere. The first marriage that followed directly from a childhood that taught her she deserved exactly what she got.And she talks about the moment everything changed. Rocking her six-month-old son in the nursery, looking at this tiny person she was now responsible for, and understanding with complete clarity — if I don't change, the cycle continues.She walked into that room one person. She walked out different.Angel is Behk's friend, and this one felt like a long-overdue catch-up session and a masterclass in survival all at once. She processes with humor, tells the truth without apology, and is proof that the survivor gene is absolutely real.Narcissists, Gaslighters, & Cheaters, Oh My! — real folks, real stories, survival & healing.Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of narcissistic abuse, physical and sexual abuse, parental neglect, childhood trauma, substance abuse and addiction, self-harm, suicidal ideation, sexual assault, and intergenerational trauma. Listener discretion is advised.If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence of any kind, you are not alone. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788 for free, confidential support — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.If you or someone you know is struggling with substance use, SAMHSA's National Helpline is free, confidential, and available 24/7: 1-800-662-4357Behk and LAH are not doctors or therapists. Nothing shared on this podcast should be taken as medical or professional advice.Have a story you'd like to share? We'd love to hear it. Submit yours here.If this show has meant something to you, consider supporting us on Patreon for exclusive content — every bit helps us keep the curtain rising.Hosts: Behk & LAHFollow us on Instagram + Facebook @ngcompodProduction & Design: LAHardenMusic: No Reason Why by Anchor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some people leave the church quietly. Becky Garrison stayed and took notes.A satirist, journalist, and Yale Divinity School-trained religious critic, Becky spent over a decade as Senior Contributing Editor at The Wittenburg Door — the nation's oldest, most irreverent Christian satire magazine — before the institution gave her more material than she bargained for. Her latest book, Gaslighting for God, is part exposé, part survival manual, and somehow genuinely funny. Because when the narcissist is behind the pulpit, sometimes the only sane response is satire.Becky joins Behk & LAH to talk about what happens when the tactics we recognize in toxic relationships — the love bombing, the narrative rewriting, the coercive control, the manufactured reality — get wrapped in a scripture verse and called sacred. She traces her own journey from preacher's kid to what she now calls an "epiphytic agnostic Anglican," explains why progressive spiritual spaces can be just as dangerous as conservative ones, and makes the case that your gut instinct is one of the most underrated tools you have.The conversation goes deep — from the NXIVM case and the prosecution of Keith Raniere, to the OneTaste orgasmic meditation case and why charging Nicole Daedone with human trafficking rather than prostitution was a critical distinction for survivors, to the Archbishop of Canterbury's resignation following a pattern of sexual abuse among clergy in the Church of England. Becky also breaks down why narcissistic collapse looks exactly like a three-year-old's temper tantrum, why you cannot rationalize with someone in the middle of one, and why learning to recognize the pattern is genuinely liberating.Her parting advice: trust your gut. We are taught not to. But your intuition — nurtured, cared for, and freed from the trigger responses of unhealed trauma — is the most powerful narcissist detector you have. 🎭Narcissists, Gaslighters, & Cheaters, Oh My! — real folks, real stories, survival & healing.Resources & Links: 📖 Get the book: Gaslighting for God — Lake Drive Books 📖 🌐 Website: beckygarrison.com ✍️ Substack: beckygarrison.substack.comCases mentioned in this episode: 🔗 NXIVM / Keith Raniere — women's empowerment organization prosecuted for sex trafficking and racketeering 🔗 OneTaste / Nicole Daedone — orgasmic meditation organization prosecuted for human trafficking 🔗 Archbishop of Canterbury resignation — following reports of sexual abuse patterns among Church of England clergyContent Warning: This episode contains discussions of spiritual abuse, religious trauma, coercive control, sexual coercion, human trafficking, narcissistic abuse, and references to political and institutional abuse of power. Listener discretion is advised.If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence of any kind, you are not alone. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788 for free, confidential support — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.Behk and LAH are not doctors or therapists. Nothing shared on this podcast should be taken as medical or professional advice.Have a story you'd like to share? We'd love to hear it. Submit yours here.If this show has meant something to you, consider supporting us on Patreon for exclusive content — every bit helps us keep the curtain rising.Hosts: Behk & LAHFollow us on Instagram + Facebook @ngcompodProduction & Design: LAHardenMusic: No Reason Why by Anchor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're taking a little detour from the narcissists this week. Consider it a palate cleanser. 🎃In this special Halloween edition, Behk & LAH are setting the toxic relationships aside for one episode to bring you all the spooky autumn energy you didn't know you needed. Favorite fall rituals, cozy simmer pots, pumpkin everything — and then things get a little darker. Personal ghost stories that will have you side-eyeing every shadow in your house. Plus a special guest who stops by to read a haunting creepypasta that is not for the faint of heart.Light a candle. Grab a blanket. Turn on a lamp or two. 🕯️Narcissists, Gaslighters, & Cheaters, Oh My! — real folks, real stories, survival & healing.Behk and LAH are not doctors or therapists. Nothing shared on this podcast should be taken as medical or professional advice.Have a story you'd like to share? We'd love to hear it. Submit yours here.If this show has meant something to you, consider supporting us on Patreon for exclusive content — every bit helps us keep the curtain rising.Hosts: Behk & LAHFollow us on Instagram + Facebook @ngcompodProduction & Design: LAHardenMusic: No Reason Why by Anchor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emily thought her second marriage was a fresh start. It was not.In this chapter of Emily's story, she takes us into the betrayal she never saw coming — a husband living a secret life as a sex addict who had been using her photos to catfish other men online. Her image. Her face. Her identity — weaponized without her knowledge or consent.This is the kind of violation that doesn't just break trust. It breaks your sense of yourself.Emily got out. Her family opened their arms, and she came home — and the slow, nonlinear work of rebuilding began. This episode is about what that actually looks like when the deception runs that deep.Emily is still here. Still talking. Still healing. And this series is far from over.Narcissists, Gaslighters, & Cheaters, Oh My! — real folks, real stories, survival & healing.Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of PTSD, trauma, emotional abuse, sexual addiction, image exploitation, betrayal trauma, and manipulation, self-harm ideation, mental health, murder ideation, and any topics that may disturb some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.Behk and LAH are not doctors or therapists. Nothing shared on this podcast should be taken as medical or professional advice.Have a story you'd like to share? We'd love to hear it. Submit yours here.If this show has meant something to you, consider supporting us on Patreon for exclusive content — every bit helps us keep the curtain rising.Hosts: Behk & LAHFollow us on Instagram + Facebook @ngcompodProduction & Design: LAHardenMusic: No Reason Why by Anchor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Annie looked like she had it all together. She was terrified someone would find out she didn't.In this episode, Annie opens up about the relationship that found her in the middle of rediscovering herself — healing her faith, exploring her identity, cautiously stepping back into dating. The man she met seemed exciting. He became a nightmare. And in a small town where everyone knows Annie's name, he knew exactly how to use that against her.The accusations. The constant surveillance. The dogs he took as leverage. The threat of public exposure hung over every move she made. Annie went back to him more than once — because that's what trauma bonding does — and she's here to talk about that too, without flinching.This one is for anyone who has ever stayed quiet about their story because of what people might think. Annie told hers anyway.All details have been kept anonymous out of respect for everyone involved.Narcissists, Gaslighters, & Cheaters, Oh My! — real folks, real stories, survival & healing.Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of toxic narcissistic behavior, emotional abuse, coercive control, manipulation, harassment, stalking, and any topics that may disturb some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence of any kind, you are not alone. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788 for free, confidential support — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.Behk and LAH are not doctors or therapists. Nothing shared on this podcast should be taken as medical or professional advice.Have a story you'd like to share? We'd love to hear it. Submit yours here.If this show has meant something to you, consider supporting us on Patreon for exclusive content — every bit helps us keep the curtain rising.Hosts: Behk & LAHFollow us on Instagram + Facebook @ngcompodProduction & Design: LAHardenMusic: No Reason Why by Anchor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The legal system is supposed to protect survivors. Professor Dale Margolin Cecka is here to talk about why it often doesn't.In this episode, Behk & LAH sit down with Professor Cecka — Director of the Family Violence Litigation Clinic at Albany Law School — for one of the most important conversations this podcast has ever had. She brings decades of legal expertise to the questions survivors are asking in real time: Why isn't the court protecting me? Why are my children still at risk? Why does the system keep failing us?Professor Cecka breaks down the difference between reactive violence and calculated patterns of control — a distinction that changes everything in a legal context. She also unpacks the ways reproductive justice and family court are more connected than most people realize, and where the gaps in legal protection leave children and teens the most exposed.This one is essential listening — for survivors, for advocates, and for anyone trying to understand why leaving is legally complicated in ways that have nothing to do with courage.Narcissists, Gaslighters, & Cheaters, Oh My! — real folks, real stories, survival & healing.Professor Cecka's Featured Writings:USA Today – “Diddy trial and Macron shove reveal our blind spots about domestic violence” (June 2, 2025) — In this striking op-ed, Professor Cecka explores how high-profile cases expose dangerous societal blind spots regarding abuse. Albany Law School+1Governing – “The Fatal Consequences of Giving Violent Men Access to Their Children” (October 25, 2024) — A sharp look at how family courts’ custody decisions can put children’s lives at risk. Governing Albany Law SchoolSalon – “How ‘It Ends With Us’ Gets Domestic Violence Wrong” (August 21, 2024) — A critique of how popular culture simplifies and misrepresents the realities of intimate partner violence. Salon.comAlbany Law SchoolPeople’s World – “VAWA Is 30, But Are We Still Failing Survivors?” (October 30, 2024) — A reflective commentary marking three decades since the Violence Against Women Act. peoplesworld.orgContent Warning: This episode contains discussions of toxic behavior, narcissistic abuse, and any topics that may disturb some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.Behk and LAH are not doctors or therapists. Nothing shared on this podcast should be taken as medical or professional advice.Have a story you'd like to share? We'd love to hear it. Submit yours here.If this show has meant something to you, consider supporting us on Patreon for exclusive content — every bit helps us keep the curtain rising.Hosts: Behk & LAHFollow us on Instagram + Facebook @ngcompodProduction & Design: LAHardenMusic: No Reason Why by Anchor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amie is a therapist. She still didn't see it coming.In this episode, Amie Schulz sits down with Behk & LAH to share something that takes real courage to say out loud — she got caught in an emotional affair with a coworker who turned out to be a covert narcissist. What started as a blurred boundary became a full campaign of manipulation, professional sabotage, and a smear operation designed to destroy her credibility before she could tell her own story.This episode goes deep on covert narcissistic behavior — how it works, why it's so hard to name in real time, and how someone who spends her professional life helping others navigate exactly this kind of dynamic still found herself completely lost inside it.Amie is healing. Her marriage is healing. And she's here to talk about all of it — because if it can happen to a therapist, it can happen to anyone.Follow Amie on Instagram @amieschulztherapy💛 As mentioned at the beginning of this episode, Grace from Episode 11, "The Breaking Point," has a GoFundMe started at the request of a listener. If you're able, please consider donating or sharing. Every bit helps,Narcissists, Gaslighters, & Cheaters, Oh My! — real folks, real stories, survival & healing.Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of toxic behavior, narcissistic abuse, and any topics that may disturb some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.Behk and LAH are not doctors or therapists. Nothing shared on this podcast should be taken as medical or professional advice.Have a story you'd like to share? We'd love to hear it. Submit yours here.If this show has meant something to you, consider supporting us on Patreon for exclusive content — every bit helps us keep the curtain rising.Hosts: Behk & LAHFollow us on Instagram + Facebook @ngcompodProduction & Design: LAHardenMusic: No Reason Why by Anchor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Veronika is still in the courtroom. She's also building something for everyone who comes after her.In part two, we pick back up with Veronika — still fighting, still standing, and somewhere in the middle of one of the most exhausting battles a person can face. Her ex hasn't stopped. The legal abuse continues. And Veronika has decided that if the system won't protect survivors, she'll build something that does.Veronika is creating a nonprofit for parents just like her — people whose abusers discovered that family court is the perfect place to keep hurting someone after the relationship ends. Parents navigating custody filings weaponized against them. Loopholes exploited by people who know exactly how to use them.She's turning her worst chapter into someone else's lifeline. That's not resilience. That's revolution.Narcissists, Gaslighters, & Cheaters, Oh My! — real folks, real stories, survival & healing.Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of legal abuse, family court trauma, child molestation, emotional manipulation, narcissistic abuse, and any topics that may disturb some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.If this episode brings anything up for you, please reach out. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788 — free, confidential support available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, call the RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 — free, confidential support available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.Behk and LAH are not doctors or therapists. Nothing shared on this podcast should be taken as medical or professional advice.Have a story you'd like to share? We'd love to hear it. Submit yours here.If this show has meant something to you, consider supporting us on Patreon for exclusive content — every bit helps us keep the curtain rising.Hosts: Behk & LAHFollow us on Instagram + Facebook @ngcompodProduction & Design: LAHardenMusic: No Reason Why by Anchor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Penny's grandfather had two families. He called the second one "the others." That tells you everything you need to know about where this story begins.In this episode, Penny takes us through a family legacy that was broken long before she arrived — a grandfather whose cruelty shaped a father who never learned how to show up, and a daughter who grew up feeling the very specific ache of being emotionally abandoned by someone who never actually left.But here's what makes Penny's story different. There was also her mother — a relationship so full of genuine love and friendship that it gave Penny something to hold onto. A blueprint for what connection could actually look like.Penny took that blueprint and built something. A committed partnership. Emotionally intelligent kids. A home that runs on empathy, trust, and open communication — none of which were modeled for her.This is what breaking the cycle looks like when you decide the story ends with you.All details have been kept anonymous out of respect for everyone involved.Narcissists, Gaslighters, & Cheaters, Oh My! — real folks, real stories, survival & healing.Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of toxic behavior, narcissistic abuse, and any topics that may disturb some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.Behk and LAH are not doctors or therapists. Nothing shared on this podcast should be taken as medical or professional advice.Have a story you'd like to share? We'd love to hear it. Submit yours here.If this show has meant something to you, consider supporting us on Patreon for exclusive content — every bit helps us keep the curtain rising.Hosts: Behk & LAHFollow us on Instagram + Facebook @ngcompodProduction & Design: LAHardenMusic: No Reason Why by Anchor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Buddy is back. And he is doing the work.A year ago, Buddy sat down with us fresh out of a whirlwind marriage that unraveled in ways nobody saw coming. Today he's back — lighter, clearer, and with the kind of hard-earned perspective that only comes from actually doing the hard things instead of just talking about them.In this episode, Buddy opens up about what healing has genuinely looked like over the past year. The patterns he had to unlearn. The joy he found in doing things purely for himself. And the final conversation with his ex-wife that surprised even him with what it revealed about how far he'd come.He's also here to talk about something that doesn't get said enough on podcasts like this one — men supporting men. The power of vulnerability between male friends. What happens when you dismantle the idea that needing help is a weakness? Buddy has lived it, and he's not shy about saying so.Happily single, focused on his health, and fully himself. This is what a year of real healing looks like.Follow Buddy on IG, Facebook, TikTok & Bluesky @brillianceproperAll details have been kept anonymous out of respect for everyone involved.Narcissists, Gaslighters, & Cheaters, Oh My! — real folks, real stories, survival & healing.Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of narcissistic abuse, toxic abuse, alcoholism, mental health issues, and any topics that may disturb some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, you don't have to figure it out alone. Call the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 for free, confidential support — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It's a judgment-free call.Behk and LAH are not doctors or therapists. Nothing shared on this podcast should be taken as medical or professional advice.Have a story you'd like to share? We'd love to hear it. Submit yours here.If this show has meant something to you, consider supporting us on Patreon for exclusive content — every bit helps us keep the curtain rising.Hosts: Behk & LAHFollow us on Instagram + Facebook @ngcompodProduction & Design: LAHardenMusic: No Reason Why by Anchor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Four months of long distance. One whirlwind proposal. What could go wrong?In part one of Buddy's story, he takes us through the romance that felt like fate and the marriage that revealed itself to be something far more complicated. Severe bipolar disorder. Alcoholism. And a series of red flags that made perfect sense in hindsight and absolutely none in the moment.We're leaving you on a cliffhanger. Part two is coming — and it's a lot.Follow Buddy on Instagram, Facebook & TikTok @brillianceproperAll details have been kept anonymous out of respect for everyone involved.Narcissists, Gaslighters, & Cheaters, Oh My! — real folks, real stories, survival & healing.Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of toxic abuse, alcoholism, mental health issues, and any topics that may disturb some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, you don't have to figure it out alone. Call the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 for free, confidential support — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It's a judgment-free call.Behk and LAH are not doctors or therapists. Nothing shared on this podcast should be taken as medical or professional advice.Have a story you'd like to share? We'd love to hear it. Submit yours here.If this show has meant something to you, consider supporting us on Patreon for exclusive content — every bit helps us keep the curtain rising.Hosts: Behk & LAHFollow us on Instagram + Facebook @ngcompodProduction & Design: LAHardenMusic: No Reason Why by Anchor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Grace opens up about surviving an emotionally and psychologically abusive marriage — and what happened when her husband's diagnosis didn't soften him, it revealed him. While Grace and her son needed support most, he chose abandonment. And Grace's son was fighting his own battle at the same time — a dangerous eating disorder that nearly took his life, without a father willing to show up for any of it.Grace fought for her son anyway. Even when they were left homeless by her husband's cruelty. Even when no one was fighting for her.This is a story about the kind of love that doesn't quit — and the strength it takes to hold everything together when the person who was supposed to help you has chosen to make everything worse.💛 Grace has a GoFundMe started at the request of a listener. If you're able, please consider donating or sharing. Every bit helps.Narcissists, Gaslighters, & Cheaters, Oh My! — real folks, real stories, survival & healing.Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of toxic behavior, narcissistic abuse, eating disorders, and any topics that may disturb some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.If this episode brings anything up for you, please reach out. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788 — free, confidential support available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.If you or someone you love is struggling with an eating disorder, please contact the National Alliance for Eating Disorders Helpline at 1-866-662-1235 for support and resources.Behk and LAH are not doctors or therapists. Nothing shared on this podcast should be taken as medical or professional advice.Have a story you'd like to share? We'd love to hear it. Submit yours here.If this show has meant something to you, consider supporting us on Patreon for exclusive content — every bit helps us keep the curtain rising.Hosts: Behk & LAHFollow us on Instagram + Facebook @ngcompodProduction & Design: LAHardenMusic: No Reason Why by Anchor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sarah thought she had found her person. He was also someone else's person. And someone else's. And someone else's — across multiple countries.In this episode, Behk & LAH welcome Sarah, joining us all the way from Geneva, Switzerland, with a story that is equal parts heartbreaking and jaw-dropping. Her dream man — a charming, successful financier — turned out to be a serial cheater, a professional future faker, and a man living an entirely different life every time he flew to Ireland to visit his "ailing mother." He wasn't visiting his mother.The deeper Sarah dug, the worse it got. Multiple women across Europe. Pregnancies he coerced them into terminating. And most recently — her own foster daughter, whom he had once been a father figure to, the moment she turned 18.Sarah found the other women. They found each other. And they are all talking now.This one will have your jaw on the floor from start to finish. It is a lot. It is all true.Narcissists, Gaslighters, & Cheaters, Oh My! — real folks, real stories, survival & healing.Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of toxic behavior, infidelity, narcissistic abuse, and any topics that may disturb some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.Behk and LAH are not doctors or therapists. Nothing shared on this podcast should be taken as medical or professional advice.Have a story you'd like to share? We'd love to hear it. Submit yours here.If this show has meant something to you, consider supporting us on Patreon for exclusive content — every bit helps us keep the curtain rising.Hosts: Behk & LAHFollow us on Instagram + Facebook @ngcompodProduction & Design: LAHardenMusic: No Reason Why by Anchor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.