Ever been blamed for something that felt... oddly specific?

Welcome to projection — the psychological pastime where someone hands you their emotional baggage and then gets mad when you don’t carry it with a smile. In this episode, we dive deep (and a little sarcastically) into how projection hijacks your relationships, distorts reality, and makes you think your date is your dad.

We’ll cover:

• What projection really is (spoiler: it’s not intuition)

• Why people hand you their wounds with a bow on top

• How to stop playing the villain in someone else’s therapy story

• Because when you stop accepting parcels that aren’t yours, your whole life gets lighter.

  Disclaimer:

  This podcast is for entertainment, educational, informational, and reflective purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, or therapeutic advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Listening to this podcast does not create a therapeutic relationship with the host or any guests.

  If you are in crisis or experiencing mental health distress, please seek immediate support from a qualified healthcare provider, your GP, or local emergency services.

  All views expressed are personal, based on clinical experience, psychoanalytic theory, and professional reflection. They do not constitute individual psychological assessment or advice. Any resemblance to real-life clients is coincidental; examples are complete fiction.

  Please use discretion and self-responsibility when engaging with content that may evoke strong emotional or psychological responses. By listening, you agree to hold the host harmless from any liability arising from the use or interpretation of content presented.

  
  

What if the person you built a life with no longer feels like home?

In this episode, we unravel the quiet heartbreak of choosing between love and loyalty — the deep ache of growing beyond someone you once couldn’t live without. We explore the grief of outgrowing a relationship that still holds history, but no longer holds you. This isn’t about blame. It’s about becoming.

Whether you’re the one holding on or the one letting go, this is your permission slip to tell the truth about your heart — and to stop mistaking time served for love received.

Because you don’t owe forever to the person who can’t meet who you’ve become.

Disclaimer:

This podcast is for entertainment, educational, informational, and reflective purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, or therapeutic advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Listening to this podcast does not create a therapeutic relationship with the host or any guests.

If you are in crisis or experiencing mental health distress, please seek immediate support from a qualified healthcare provider, your GP, or local emergency services.

All views expressed are personal, based on clinical experience, psychoanalytic theory, and professional reflection. They do not constitute individual psychological assessment or advice. Any resemblance to real-life clients is coincidental; examples are complete fiction.

Please use discretion and self-responsibility when engaging with content that may evoke strong emotional or psychological responses. By listening, you agree to hold the host harmless from any liability arising from the use or interpretation of content presented.

You’re not that nice — it’s just Reaction Formation.

In this episode of Freud Made Me Do It, we unpack one of the sneakiest defence mechanisms on the block — Reaction Formation — where your unconscious flips the script and turns forbidden feelings into their chirpy, overcompensating opposite.

Ever gushed over someone you secretly can’t stand?
Ever been super moral about sex while secretly watching porn six times a week?
Ever smiled sweetly while your insides screamed murder?

That’s not virtue. That’s your ego doing damage control.

Today I take you behind the mask of forced niceness and fake moral high ground - showing how this defence shows up in relationships, politics, parenting, and yes… your sex life. Expect brutal clarity, biting humour, and examples so accurate you’ll laugh, cringe, and maybe even confess.

Learn how to spot it, stop it, and stop being so damn 'nice'.

Disclaimer:

This podcast is for entertainment, educational, informational, and reflective purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, or therapeutic advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Listening to this podcast does not create a therapeutic relationship with the host or any guests.

If you are in crisis or experiencing mental health distress, please seek immediate support from a qualified healthcare provider, your GP, or local emergency services.

All views expressed are personal, based on clinical experience, psychoanalytic theory, and professional reflection. They do not constitute individual psychological assessment or advice. Any resemblance to real-life clients is coincidental; examples are complete fiction.

Please use discretion and self-responsibility when engaging with content that may evoke strong emotional or psychological responses. By listening, you agree to hold the host harmless from any liability arising from the use or interpretation of content presented.

Welcome to Freud Made Me Do It episodes where your defence mechanisms finally get called out… with love, sarcasm, and surgical precision.

Ever wondered why you sabotage love, ghost good people, or scream at strangers in traffic because your barista looked like your mother? Yeah - Freud saw that coming.

In this intro episode I pull back the curtain on the subconscious - that shadowy inner boardroom where all your bad decisions get made in the name of “protection".

This isn’t therapy but it might save you a few sessions.

Expect:

• Brutally funny takes on defence mechanisms

• Real-life examples that’ll make you laugh and cringe

• Zero TikTok fluff - just the psychodynamic gold you were never taught in school

• A clear roadmap out of emotional self-sabotage

• And unapologetic homage to the man himself — cigar, libido, and all.

Let’s make the unconscious conscious — before it wrecks your next relationship.

Disclaimer:

This podcast is for entertainment only, light educational, informational, and reflective purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, or therapeutic advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Listening to this podcast does not create a therapeutic relationship with the host or any guests.

If you are in crisis or experiencing mental health distress, please seek immediate support from a qualified healthcare provider, your GP, or local emergency services.

All views expressed are personal, based on life experience psychoanalytic theory, and professional reflection. They do not constitute individual psychological assessment or advice. Any resemblance to real-life clients is coincidental; examples may be fictionalised or combined to protect confidentiality.

Please use discretion and self-responsibility when engaging with content that may evoke strong emotional or psychological responses. By listening, you agree to hold the host harmless from any liability arising from the use or interpretation of content presented.

Ghosted: The Disappearance You Never Deserved

They mirrored your words. Matched your energy. Shared playlists, dreams, and late night voice notes that felt like secrets. And then-vanished. No warning. No closure. Just silence.

Welcome to ghosting: the modern nervous system ambush dressed up as “nothing serious".

In this episode, we rip the veil off the polite excuses and go straight into the psychodynamics of vanishing acts — who ghosts, why they do it, and what it really does to the ones they leave behind.

You’ll learn: Why ghosting isn’t rejection — it’s emotional incapacity.

• The subtle flags most people miss before the fade begins.

• How grief gets frozen in the body when there’s no goodbye.

• What to do when your brain wants answers but the other person is a human dead-end.

This isn’t just an episode — it’s a reclamation.
A permission slip to grieve what no one else saw.
And a call to stop shrinking for people who can't speak.

If you've ever stared at a silent phone wondering what you did wrong — this one’s for you.
Not to get them back.
To get you back!!!

Disclaimer:

This podcast is for entertainment, educational, informational, and reflective purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, or therapeutic advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Listening to this podcast does not create a therapeutic relationship with the host or any guests.

If you are in crisis or experiencing mental health distress, please seek immediate support from a qualified healthcare provider, your GP, or local emergency services.

All views expressed are personal, based on my life experience, psychoanalytic theory, and professional reflection. They do not constitute individual psychological assessment or advice. Any resemblance to real-life clients is coincidental; examples I've given are completely fictional.

Please use discretion and self-responsibility when engaging with content that may evoke strong emotional or psychological responses. By listening, you agree to hold the host harmless from any liability arising from the use or interpretation of content presented.

This isn’t just about porn — it’s about the parts of you that learned to hide.

You think this is about porn? It’s not. It’s about your nervous system. Your soul. Your ability to be present in your own body.
Because right now, you’re split. Disconnected. Ghosting yourself in private while pretending everything’s fine in public.
This episode tears the curtain off.

We’ll show you what porn is really doing to your arousal system -how it hijacks dopamine, dulls desire, and leaves you chasing ghosts.
But more importantly - we’ll give you the roadmap out.
Not just “stop watching.” Not just “get more willpower.”
Real steps to come home to your body, your power, and the kind of sex and intimacy that actually feels good.

If you’ve ever felt ashamed of what turns you on, or numb in the presence of someone you love - this one’s for you.

It’s time to stop watching and start living. Let’s go

Disclaimer:

This podcast is for entertainment, educational, informational, and reflective purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, or therapeutic advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Listening to this podcast does not create a therapeutic relationship with the host or any guests.

If you are in crisis or experiencing mental health distress, please seek immediate support from a qualified healthcare provider, your GP, or local emergency services.

All views expressed are personal, based on my life experience, psychoanalytic theory, and professional reflection. They do not constitute individual psychological assessment or advice. Any resemblance to real-life clients is coincidental; examples I've given are completely fictional.

Please use discretion and self-responsibility when engaging with content that may evoke strong emotional or psychological responses. By listening, you agree to hold the host harmless from any liability arising from the use or interpretation of content presented.

You think it’s about sex. It’s not.
In this episode,we go deep; not into porn addiction, but into what your porn habit might really be about. Control. Loneliness.The need to be wanted without risk. If you’ve ever watched and then felt empty, numb, or ashamed...this is why.

We’re unpacking the psychodynamic core of porn use:
How it acts as emotional anaesthetic.
How it replays early attachment wounds.
How it replaces intimacy with fantasy.
And why, for many men, porn becomes the only place they feel safe being vulnerable.

This isn’t a moral rant.
This is - the truth under the habit.
And once you see it - it can never become unseen!

Annie O'Brien M.Sc. Psychotherapist & Clinical Hypnotherapist

Disclaimer:

This podcast is for entertainment, educational, informational, and reflective purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, or therapeutic advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Listening to this podcast does not create a therapeutic relationship with the host or any guests.

If you are in crisis or experiencing mental health distress, please seek immediate support from a qualified healthcare provider, your GP, or local emergency services.

All views expressed are personal, based on my life experience, psychoanalytic theory, and professional reflection. They do not constitute individual psychological assessment or advice. Any resemblance to real-life clients is coincidental; examples I've given are completely fictional.

Please use discretion and self-responsibility when engaging with content that may evoke strong emotional or psychological responses. By listening, you agree to hold the host harmless from any liability arising from the use or interpretation of content presented.

You’re not crazy. You’re chemically attached to someone who trained your nervous system to mistake pain for love.
This isn’t romance - it’s a trauma loop. And you’ve been stuck in it for years.

In this episode, we expose the brutal mechanics of trauma bonding: the intermittent reward cycles, the childhood imprinting, the neurochemical addiction, and why you keep calling manipulation “connection.”
We’ll walk through why you chase people who hurt you, how your past programmed you to tolerate chaos, and what happens when your need to be chosen outweighs your sense of self.

If you’ve ever begged for clarity from someone who thrives on confusion…
If you’ve ever felt high when they come back and sick when they leave…
If you’ve ever called that love -

This episode might be your wake-up call.

Disclaimer:

This podcast is for entertainment, educational, informational, and reflective purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, or therapeutic advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Listening to this podcast does not create a therapeutic relationship with the host or any guests.

If you are in crisis or experiencing mental health distress, please seek immediate support from a qualified healthcare provider, your GP, or local emergency services.

All views expressed are personal, based on my life experience, psychoanalytic theory, and professional reflection. They do not constitute individual psychological assessment or advice. Any resemblance to real-life clients is coincidental; examples I've given are completely fictional.

Please use discretion and self-responsibility when engaging with content that may evoke strong emotional or psychological responses. By listening, you agree to hold the host harmless from any liability arising from the use or interpretation of content presented.

Music Credit - Grand Project - Majestic Sky