Karleigh’s Favorites
Books
When it comes to healing from abuse as a mom, it’s incredibly important to learn not only about yourself, but also your kids. Understanding your child’s development and how their brain works is crucial to your brain pulling away from fight or flight and stepping into the mama you dream of being. Below you’ll find some of my favorites for learning about both your kids’ brains and yours.
This book is a wonderful intro into the child’s brain and how it works at each stage. It’s very approachable with advice you can act on today.
Even if you’re not a screamer, read this book. This book is very approachable and nonjudgmental. You’ll learn a lot about both yourself and your kids and walk away with a whole new understanding of parenthood.
Written by the authors of The Whole Brain Child, this book piggybacks off of it. In it you learn how to speak so your child will listen and discipline in a way that brings you closer together.
Trigger warning: this book gets INTO IT. This book addresses how trauma is stored in the body and the author pulls no punches. However, if you’re able to tolerate very uncomfortable scenarios, it breaks down exactly why we do what we do after experiencing abuse and how to heal.
It’s taken me over a year to finish this book because I have to keep taking breaks. It’s a lot, so please keep that in mind.
Geared toward family of alcoholics, this book addresses the not-talked-about-enough aspects of codependency. Even if you haven’t experienced alcoholism in your family, I highly recommend. A lot of the same struggles impact us as survivors of abusive relationships. This book will help you come to terms with and work through a lot of it.
Podcasts
Virtual Couch with Tony Overbay. In this psychology-focused podcast, you’re going to learn more about yourself and those around you. Tony does an incredible job taking high-level psychological ideas and breaking them down so they make sense. He’s also the host of the Waking Up to Narcissism podcast, which you’ll also find when you click the link above.
The Mother Like a Boss Podcast with Kendra Hennessy. Kendra is, hands down, the best motherhood podcaster out there. She talks about the things most of us avoid and helps us to actually make changes so we can be the mamas we want to be.
Your Parenting Long Game with Rachel Bailey. This podcast is focused around what Rachel calls long game parenting. She teaches you how to better understand your kids (and yourself) so you can stop reacting and start responding. She focuses on helping parents with kids with big emotions, but I truly believe every parent can learn a lot from her.