💡 ABOUT THIS EPISODE
⚠️ Content Warning: This episode includes discussion of sexual assault and physical trauma. If you need support, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673. You are not alone.
Dr. Catherine Gildner spent 25 years as a clinical psychologist and has seen things most people never get close to. In Good Morning, Monster, she walks through five of her most unforgettable cases — and what they taught her about survival, bonding, and what healing actually looks like when it isn't pretty.
We talked about the difference between bonding and love, why overprotection might be the most damaging parenting pattern of our generation, the "tapes" that run in your head long after the damage is done, and why unlearning something takes four times longer than learning it in the first place. This one goes deep. Take your time with it.
🎯 KEY TAKEAWAYS
Bonding is biological. Love is a choice. Confusing the two is how most people end up in relationships that hurt them.
Overprotection is the most damaging parenting pattern of our generation — it produces the angry dependent child.
The tapes your parents put in your head are baked in by age four. You can't erase them, but you can stop mistaking them for the truth.
Unlearning takes four times longer than learning — and therapy isn't a fix, it's a transfer of responsibility back to you.
Your body keeps score when your mind won't. Repressed anger will find a way out.
Who you choose to love is usually who feels familiar — not who is good for you.
TOPICS
MENTAL HEALTH
HEALING & SELF TRUST
RELATIONSHIPS
