CALLING HOME with Whitney Goodman, LMFT

Whitney explores patterns around adult children who mimic their parents' harmful behaviors, the complexities of maintaining boundaries when a parent struggles with addiction, and how illness can be weaponized in estranged families. In the Q&A, she answers a caller's question about navigating grandparent illness during estrangement. 00:00 Introduction: Darker Family Patterns 02:59 Airport Observation: When Adult Children Treat Parents Like They Were Treated 08:11 Real Housewives SLC: How to Show Up for a Child Struggling with Addiction 10:55 Q&A: When Grandparent Illness Becomes a Manipulation Tactic Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles. Have a question for Whitney? Call in and leave a voicemail for the show at 866-225-5466 Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club⁠⁠ Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft ⁠⁠Order Whitney’s book, Toxic Positivity⁠⁠ Learn more about ad choices. Visit podcast.choices.com/adchoices This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Whitney analyzes the Amazon Prime show "The Girlfriend" to explore mother-son enmeshment and emotional incest. She analyzes how the show illustrates blurred boundaries, guilt and manipulation, marital dysfunction, and the devastating long-term impacts on sons' ability to form healthy romantic relationships, connecting the fictional dynamics to real research on these family patterns. Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles. 00:00 Introduction to The Girlfriend and Mother-Son Enmeshment 04:00 Defining Emotional Incest and What It Looks Like 09:06 Power Assertion and Blocked Individuation 14:10 The Girlfriend as Both Rival and Mirror 17:25 How Marital Dysfunction Fuels Enmeshment 21:56 Why Enmeshed Sons Struggle with Adult Partnerships 25:12 Lies, Isolation, and the Ultimate Betrayal Have a question for Whitney? Call in and leave a voicemail for the show at 866-225-5466 Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club⁠⁠ Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft ⁠⁠Order Whitney’s book, Toxic Positivity⁠⁠ Learn more about ad choices. Visit podcast.choices.com/adchoices This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Whitney reflects on how the "rage economy" of social media and news is destroying our mental health and capacity to connect with others. She explores how algorithms reward inflammatory content that keeps us trapped in cycles of anger and isolation. Later in the episode she highlights a positive example from Real Housewives of Orange County where a parent demonstrates accountability and course-correction in real time. Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles. Have a question for Whitney? Record a voice memo on your phone and email it to whitney@callinghome.co or leave a voicemail to 866-225-5466 Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club⁠⁠ Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft ⁠⁠Order Whitney’s book, Toxic Positivity⁠⁠ 00:00 The Rage Economy That's Destroying Our Mental Health 04:34 How Algorithms Reward Inflammatory Content Over Nuance 08:58 Breaking Free from the Cycle of Rage and Reactivity 12:34 When Sports Team Politics Replace Critical Thinking 16:35 Real Housewives Example: How to Course-Correct as a Parent Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Whitney Goodman teams up with therapist Kate Gray (@codependencykate) to analyze a viral YouTube video from an estranged parent with over 1.2 million views. They break down common patterns of defensiveness, emotional neglect, and deflection that prevent reconciliation, offering insights for both estranged adult children and estranged parents on how these dynamics play out and what healthier approaches might look like. Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles. Have a question for Whitney? Record a voice memo on your phone and email it to whitney@callinghome.co or leave a voicemail to 866-225-5466 Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club⁠⁠ Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft ⁠⁠Order Whitney’s book, Toxic Positivity⁠⁠ 00:00 Introduction and Disclaimers About Analyzing Real People 05:24 The Politics Defense and Minimizing the Daughter’s Letter 13:53 Empty Gestures vs. Real Connection 26:45 The Birthday Martyrdom and Drama Triangle 34:06 Public Betrayal 42:43 Ghosting vs. Setting Boundaries 53:54 Spiritual Bypassing and Avoiding Real Accountability Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Whitney breaks down dysfunctional family dynamics in Real Housewives of Miami and The Summer I Turned Pretty, then answers a caller's question about healing from the pain of having an enabling parent who failed to protect them from an abusive narcissistic parent. Enabling parents are often harder to process than overtly abusive ones and Whitney details what finding acceptance actually looks like. Have a question for Whitney? Record a voice memo on your phone and email it to whitney@callinghome.co or leave a voicemail to 866-225-5466 Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles. Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club⁠⁠ Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft ⁠⁠Order Whitney’s book, Toxic Positivity⁠⁠ This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute  for professional mental health advice. 00:00 Family Cycle Breakers Club Community Update 05:02 Real Housewives of Miami: When Parents Take Credit for Your Success 08:19 Family Estrangement After Late-Life Adoption 13:18 The Summer I Turned Pretty: Should Parents Boycott Major Life Events 16:22 Q&A: How to Heal From an Enabling Parent Who Never Protected You Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Whitney Goodman interviews Dr. Ingrid Clayton about her new book "Fawning: Why the Need to Please Makes Us Lose Ourselves and How to Find Our Way Back." They explore fawning as the fourth trauma response, how it differs from people-pleasing and codependency, why children and marginalized people develop this survival strategy, and how it can masquerade as success while leading to complete self-abandonment. Fawning: Why the Need to Please Makes Us Lose Ourselves-and How to Find Our Way Backhttps://www.ingridclayton.com/ Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles. Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club⁠⁠ Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft ⁠⁠Order Whitney’s book, Toxic Positivity⁠⁠ This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute  for professional mental health advice. 00:00 Dr. Clayton's Discovery of Fawning Through Her Own Trauma 04:26 Why Fawning Isn't About Shame - It's About Survival 09:00 How to Recognize Fawning in Your Own Life 12:16 The Connection Between Fawning and Family Estrangement 19:49 Fawning vs. People-Pleasing vs. Codependency 22:13 When Fawning Looks Like Success 27:46 Growing Out of the Fawning Response Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

SPOILER WARNING: This episode contains major spoilers for the Netflix documentary "Unknown Number: The High School Catfish" Whitney analyzes the Netflix documentary by exploring the psychology behind extreme parental abuse and manipulation. She examines the case through the lens of child psychology, trauma bonding, and the devastating impact when a parent orchestrates elaborate schemes to control and isolate their child while positioning themselves as the sole source of comfort and support. Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles. Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club⁠⁠ Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft ⁠⁠Order Whitney’s book, Toxic Positivity⁠⁠ This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute  for professional mental health advice. 00:00 Introduction to the Unknown Number Case 08:11 The Shocking Revelation: When the Abuser Becomes the Comforter 15:27 Understanding Abusive Parents Who Don't See Themselves as Abusive 21:07 The Predatory Behavior and Hidden Motivations 23:26 Trauma Bonding and Why Children Protect Their Abusers 27:43 The Difficulty of Admitting Your Parent Harmed You Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Whitney interviews Michelle Dempsey-Multack about how to protect children during divorce and co-parenting. They debunk the myth that divorce inherently harms children, exploring how the quality of the divorce experience—not the divorce itself—determines the impact on kids. The conversation includes practical strategies for healthy co-parenting, introducing new partners, and handling difficult conversations with children.Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club⁠⁠ Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft ⁠⁠Order Whitney’s book, Toxic Positivity⁠⁠ This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute  for professional mental health advice. 00:00 Debunking Divorce Myths: It's About How You Handle It 02:45 Staying Together for the Kids vs. Healthy Single Parenting 08:00 How to Have a Good Divorce: Separating Emotions from Parenting 13:14 Speaking Poorly About the Other Parent and Its Long-Term Impact 20:16 Balancing Protection with Facilitating Relationships 33:11 Introducing New Partners: Timing and Red Flags Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Too often the phrase “grow up” is code for ignoring your past and repressing your childhood trauma. This dismissive “get over it” mentality fails to ever reach a healthy emotional maturity. Join Whitney as she explores what it actually means to acknowledge your past, set boundaries, and embrace your adult power. Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles. Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club⁠⁠ Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft ⁠⁠Order Whitney’s book, Toxic Positivity⁠⁠ This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute  for professional mental health advice. 00:00 What People Think Growing Up Means 04:22 The Real Process of Growing Up: Acknowledgment and Mourning 08:45 Decentering Unhealthy Relationships and the Double Bind 14:13 Taking Accountability as an Adult 16:54 Building Emotional Maturity and Self-Trust Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this Q&A episode, Whitney responds to a thoughtful listener question about self-reflection in family relationships - specifically when calling out parents' hurtful behavior makes them withdraw and feel bad about themselves leading to guilt about whether you're part of the problem. She also discusses Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's engagement then explores troubling father-son enmeshment patterns she's observing in shows like McBee Dynasty. Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles. Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club⁠⁠ Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft ⁠⁠Order Whitney’s book, Toxic Positivity⁠⁠ This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute  for professional mental health advice. 05:18 McBee Dynasty and Toxic Father-Son Dynamics 10:07 Family Secrets: September's Topic 14:52 When Parents Walk on Eggshells Around You 22:14 Q&A: How to Know If You're Part of the Problem Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices