When Reality Breaks: Reclaiming Yourself After Psychological Abuse w/ Dr. Jaime Zuckerman
Sun Feb 01 2026
Psychological abuse, narcissistic abuse, and gaslighting can completely distort your sense of reality and self-trust.
In this episode, I talk with Dr. Jaime Zuckerman about what survivors actually experience after emotional and psychological abuse—and how they begin to heal.
https://www.drjaimezuckerman.com/
We focus on reclaiming identity, rebuilding trust, and why “just get over it” is one of the most damaging things you can say to survivors.
This is my second conversation with Dr. Z. In our first episode, we spent a lot of time exploring the mind of the narcissist. This time, I wanted to shift the focus entirely to survivors.
When you’ve been psychologically abused or coercively controlled, the damage doesn’t end when the relationship ends. Reality can feel unstable. Your sense of self can collapse. Shame, self-blame, anger, and confusion can take over—and many people are left wondering if something is wrong with them.
In this conversation, we talk about what actually happens to a person after psychological abuse, why survivors often feel disconnected from reality, and how people slowly begin to reclaim their inner compass, safety, and identity.
We explore:
• Why survivors feel “crazy” (and why they’re not)
• How abuse trains self-doubt and hyper-self-monitoring
• Why shame, anger, and grief are necessary parts of healing
• How to rebuild trust—starting with yourself
• Why being told to “just get over it” is neurologically and psychologically wrong
This episode is for anyone who has lived through psychological or narcissistic abuse—or for anyone who wants to better understand what survivors are actually dealing with long after the abuse ends.
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The views and opinions expressed on WTF is on my Mind?! do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast or Mark Vicente. Any content provided by guests are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business individual, anyone or anything.
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Psychological abuse, narcissistic abuse, and gaslighting can completely distort your sense of reality and self-trust. In this episode, I talk with Dr. Jaime Zuckerman about what survivors actually experience after emotional and psychological abuse—and how they begin to heal. https://www.drjaimezuckerman.com/ We focus on reclaiming identity, rebuilding trust, and why “just get over it” is one of the most damaging things you can say to survivors. This is my second conversation with Dr. Z. In our first episode, we spent a lot of time exploring the mind of the narcissist. This time, I wanted to shift the focus entirely to survivors. When you’ve been psychologically abused or coercively controlled, the damage doesn’t end when the relationship ends. Reality can feel unstable. Your sense of self can collapse. Shame, self-blame, anger, and confusion can take over—and many people are left wondering if something is wrong with them. In this conversation, we talk about what actually happens to a person after psychological abuse, why survivors often feel disconnected from reality, and how people slowly begin to reclaim their inner compass, safety, and identity. We explore: • Why survivors feel “crazy” (and why they’re not) • How abuse trains self-doubt and hyper-self-monitoring • Why shame, anger, and grief are necessary parts of healing • How to rebuild trust—starting with yourself • Why being told to “just get over it” is neurologically and psychologically wrong This episode is for anyone who has lived through psychological or narcissistic abuse—or for anyone who wants to better understand what survivors are actually dealing with long after the abuse ends. Support the show The views and opinions expressed on WTF is on my Mind?! do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast or Mark Vicente. Any content provided by guests are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business individual, anyone or anything. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MarkVicente Website: www.markvicente.com Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@markvicente7 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markvicente/ X: https://x.com/markvicente TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_vicente Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markvicente/