Soul Recovery (Therapy Podcast) is a grounded, therapy-informed conversation about healing the patterns we learned in childhood and how they continue to shape our mental health and relationships.
Hosted by two therapists, Gayle Dargel, M.A., LMFT and Dr. Keean Menard, PsyD, this show explores trauma, nervous system regulation, anxiety, and prediction error in a way that’s clear and practical.
We talk about how early environments wire us for survival, how those patterns show up in adult relationships, and how to begin unlearning what no longer serves you. Each episode also connects personal healing to the bigger picture. From current events to cultural shifts, we examine how what’s happening in the world impacts our nervous systems, our stress levels, and the way we relate to each other.
The goal is simple: increase self-awareness, build regulation skills, and move from survival patterns into healthier, more secure relationships.
New episodes weekly.
When Your Brain Won’t Stop Looking for Danger | Secondhand Trauma & Survival Mode
We’re back for a new season of the Soul Recovery Podcast.
In this episode, we’re talking about secondhand trauma, also known as secondary traumatic stress, and what can happen when you’re repeatedly exposed to other people’s emergencies, pain, fear, or trauma.
For first responders, firefighters, caregivers, helping professionals, and others constantly surrounded by crisis, the brain can become trained to stay on alert. It starts scanning for danger, predicting what could go wrong, and preparing the body for the next threat before anything has even happened.
Over time, that constant threat detection can become exhausting. The brain doesn’t fully rest. The body stays on edge. Fatigue builds.
So how do we begin teaching the brain that it’s safe to experience something different? We discuss what it means to intentionally hardwire happiness, safety, and positive experiences back into the nervous system.
26 Jun 2026
The Most Dangerous Type of Narcissist (And Why It’s So Hard to Leave)
In this episode of Soul Recovery, we take a deeper look at malignant narcissism and why it is one of the most destructive relationship dynamics a person can experience.
We explore where these patterns begin, how malignant narcissism differs from other forms of narcissism, and why power, control, manipulation, and even sadistic behaviors can become central to these relationships. We also discuss the overlap with antisocial personality traits and how these dynamics affect both the individual and those closest to them.
Most importantly, we talk about what recovery looks like. How do you rebuild your sense of self after someone has manipulated your reality? How do you break free from survival patterns and begin trusting yourself again?
If you’ve ever questioned your reality, felt trapped in a controlling relationship, or are trying to understand narcissistic abuse on a deeper level, this episode offers insight into the patterns, the psychology, and the path toward healing.
Topics covered:
What is malignant narcissism?
Power and control in relationships
Manipulation and emotional abuse
Antisocial personality traits
Why these relationships are so difficult to leave
Healing after narcissistic abuse
Rebuilding self-trust and healthy boundaries
#narcissism #malignantnarcissist #narcissisticabuse #traumahealing #mentalhealth #selfawareness #emotionalabuse #relationshipadvice #healingjourney #psychology
3 Jun 2026
The Dark Side of Chasing Your Dreams: Mental Health, Fame, and Healing Your Inner Child
In this special episode of Soul Recovery, we sit down with actress, screenwriter, producer, and recording artist Monét Anaïs for an honest conversation about navigating the entertainment industry while protecting your mental health. From pursuing dreams in music, film, and television to dealing with rejection, unhealthy relationship dynamics, self-doubt, and burnout, Monét shares her personal journey and the lessons she’s learned along the way. Together, we explore how childhood experiences and inner child wounds can shape the way we show up in our careers, relationships, and creative pursuits. We also discuss how artists and entrepreneurs can recognize unhealthy patterns, build self-awareness, and stay connected to themselves while working toward success. Whether you’re an independent artist, creative professional, entrepreneur, or someone trying to heal while chasing big goals, this conversation offers valuable insight into what it means to pursue your dreams without losing yourself in the process. ✨ Topics discussed:
Mental health in the entertainment industry
Inner child healing and self-awareness
Navigating unhealthy relationship dynamics
Burnout, rejection, and resilience
Building a career as an independent artist
Breaking self-sabotaging patterns
Finding success without abandoning yourself
12 May 2026
Why People Pleasers Get Trapped in Narcissistic Relationships
In this episode of Soul Recovery (Therapy Podcast), we continue our conversation on narcissistic relationship dynamics and how these patterns are often created long before adulthood.
We explore how family environments shape people pleasers, why certain individuals become emotionally conditioned to abandon themselves, and how narcissistic dynamics can begin to feel familiar, normal, or even safe. We also unpack the internal thought processes that keep people stuck in harmful relationship cycles and why awareness is the key to breaking them.
Healing is not just about talking through experiences. Real change begins when unconscious patterns become conscious. Therapy becomes transformative when it helps bring awareness to the subconscious beliefs, survival responses, and relationship dynamics that have been running in the background for years.
This episode is about recognizing the pattern, understanding where it came from, and learning how to step out of it.
#narcissism #peoplepleasing #traumahealing #relationshippatterns #mentalhealth #selfawareness #narcissisticabuse #healingjourney #boundaries #innerchildhealing
28 Apr 2026
Why You Attract Narcissists (And How to Stop)
In this episode of Soul Recovery (Therapy Podcast), we break down how narcissistic patterns are formed and why they often start in early family dynamics.
We explore how emotional absence, unmet needs, or growing up around narcissistic behaviors can shape a child into people-pleasing, over-accommodating, or hyper-aware of others. These patterns don’t stay in childhood. They often carry into adult relationships, creating familiar but unhealthy dynamics.
This conversation helps you recognize the signs, understand where these patterns come from, and begin the process of breaking them. Healing starts with awareness, but it continues with learning how to reconnect with yourself, set boundaries, and shift the roles you’ve been conditioned to play.
If you’ve ever felt stuck in the same relationship patterns, this episode gives you the language and clarity to start changing them.
#narcissism (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/narcissism) #narcissisticabuse (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/narcissisticabuse) #traumahealing (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/traumahealing) #relationshippatterns (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/relationshippatterns) #selfawareness (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/selfawareness) #peoplepleasing (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/peoplepleasing) #healingjourney (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/healingjourney) #mentalhealth (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/mentalhealth) #boundaries (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/boundaries) #innerchildhealing (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/innerchildhealing)
New episodes of Soul Recovery explore trauma, regulation, relationships, and the patterns that shape our lives weekly right here @soulrecoverypodcast.
13 Apr 2026
Unlocking Healing through Sensory, Movies, Music
In this episode of Soul Recovery (Therapy Podcast), we explore how grief can be unlocked and processed through unexpected moments in entertainment like movies, music, and storytelling.
Why do certain scenes make us cry? Why do we return to specific songs during difficult times? These experiences don’t just “speak to the soul,” they also impact the brain. When we engage with music or film that resonates with us, it can help soften rigidity, create emotional release, and support the nervous system in coming back into connection.
We discuss how these moments can help bring the social engagement system back online, allowing for more openness, expression, and healing. When there is less shutdown and more expansion, the body has space to process what it’s been holding.
This episode offers a new perspective on how everyday experiences, like what we watch and listen to, can become powerful tools for healing, awareness, and reconnecting with yourself.
#grief #nervoussystem #traumahealing #musictherapy #emotionalhealing #mentalhealthawareness #selfawareness #healingjourney #mindbodyconnection #polyvagal #emotionaltriggers #memories
New episodes of Soul Recovery explore trauma, regulation, relationships, and the patterns that shape our lives weekly right here @soulrecoverypodcast.
For inquiries contact us at soulrecoverypodcast@gmail.com (mailto:soulrecoverypodcast@gmail.com).
22 Mar 2026
Why You Get Triggered So Easily
In this episode of Soul Recovery (Therapy Podcast), we explore sensory overload and trigger management, and how our nervous system responds to perceived threat in everyday life.
We talk about how the brain is constantly scanning for danger, and how even subtle cues like facial expressions can be interpreted as threat based on past experiences. For many people, “threat” isn’t always obvious. It can be shaped by trauma, environment, and what the body has learned to associate with safety or harm.
We also break down how this constant scanning is the opposite of grounding and presence, and why it can feel so difficult to stay regulated. This is where tools like grounding and somatic work come in. Learning to reconnect with your body can help interrupt these patterns and bring you back into the present moment.
A key part of healing is understanding that your brain is not your identity. Its primary role is to keep you safe, even if that means holding onto patterns that no longer serve you. Rerouting these pathways takes conscious awareness, patience, and practice.
This episode offers insight into how to work with your nervous system, not against it, so you can begin to feel more safe, present, and in control.
New episodes of Soul Recovery explore trauma, regulation, relationships, and the patterns that shape our lives weekly right here @soulrecoverypodcast. F
For inquiries contact us at soulrecoverypodcast@gmail.com (mailto:soulrecoverypodcast@gmail.com).
6 Mar 2026
Understand Your Nervous System’s Story
In this episode of Soul Recovery (Therapy Podcast), we talk about how difficult events in the world impact our nervous systems and emotional wellbeing. Using current headlines and conversations around immigration enforcement and national tension, we explore how collective stress can show up in our bodies as anxiety, overwhelm, or shutdown.
We also unpack the idea that regulation doesn’t always mean calm. Regulation is a spectrum, and learning to notice what’s happening inside your body is often the first step toward stability and awareness.
This conversation looks at how external stressors interact with personal history, trauma, and our nervous systems, and how building awareness can help us stay grounded even when the world feels uncertain.
New episodes of Soul Recovery explore trauma, regulation, relationships, and the patterns that shape our lives weekly right here @soulrecoverypodcast.
Follow Soul Recovery Podcast on all platforms:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/soulrecoverypodcast (https://instagram.com/soulrecoverypodcast)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialsoulrecoverypodcast/ (https://www.facebook.com/officialsoulrecoverypodcast/)
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@soulrecoverypodcast_ (https://www.tiktok.com/@soulrecoverypodcast_)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SoulRecoveryPodcast (https://www.youtube.com/@SoulRecoveryPodcast)
For inquiries contact us at soulrecoverypodcast@gmail.com (mailto:soulrecoverypodcast@gmail.com).
26 Feb 2026
Bad Bunny, Super Bowl, People Pleasing, Sharing Culture in America
Why do so many of us trade our truth for approval?
In this episode of Soul Recovery, we explore the quiet ways we lose ourselves in the effort to belong. From overextending, to shrinking, to becoming who we think others need us to be, we unpack how self-betrayal can look like kindness on the surface but feel like emptiness underneath.
We also reflect on the cultural reactions surrounding Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime performance and what the strong opinions revealed about identity, discomfort, expectations, and collective pressure. Why does expression trigger some people? Why do others feel fiercely protective? And how does it mirror the ways we silence ourselves to avoid rejection?
This conversation weaves together nervous system awareness, attachment patterns, and the deep human need for connection. When fitting in becomes more important than staying aligned, something inside us starts to erode.
Healing begins when we notice the moment we override our own voice.
If you’ve ever felt torn between acceptance and authenticity, this episode is for you.
Subscribe to Soul Recovery for grounded conversations on emotional regulation, childhood conditioning, relationships, and becoming more conscious in how you move through the world.
#SoulRecovery (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/soulrecovery) #TherapyPodcast (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/therapypodcast) #EmotionalHealing (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/emotionalhealing) #PeoplePleasing (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/peoplepleasing) #SelfAbandonment (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/selfabandonment) #MentalHealth (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/mentalhealth) #BadBunny (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/badbunny) #SuperBowlHalftime (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/superbowlhalftime) #ConsciousLiving (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/consciousliving)
Follow @soulrecoverypodast on all platforms
For inquiries contact us at soulrecoverypodcast@gmail.com (mailto:soulrecoverypodcast@gmail.com)
24 Feb 2026
Emotional Regulation Explained: Why We Repeat What Hurts Us
In this first episode of Soul Recovery (Therapy Podcast), we introduce the heart behind the show and explore how childhood environments shape the patterns we carry into adulthood. We unpack trauma, nervous system wiring, and why what felt “normal” growing up often becomes what we unconsciously recreate in relationships. If you’ve ever wondered why certain dynamics feel familiar, even when they don’t feel good, this conversation lays the foundation. This episode is about awareness. Because healing begins when we understand what our body learned before we had the language to explain it.
#mentalhealth (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/mentalhealth) #podcast (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/podcast) #healingjourney (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/healingjourney) #traumarecovery (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/traumarecovery)
Follow us @soulrecoverypodcast on all platforms
For inquiries contact us at soulrecoverypodcast@gmail.com (mailto:soulrecoverypodcast@gmail.com)
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Contact Soul Recovery Podcast
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of Soul Recovery Podcast?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
