Why do women stay in toxic relationships? In this powerful episode of Surviving Toxic Relationships, Nikki Allen shares her personal story of emotional abuse, physical violence, trauma bonding, identity loss, and the long journey toward healing and self-love.

Nikki is the author of Loved You, Hated You, a bold novel inspired by real-life heartbreak. What began as a song became a screenplay and then a gripping work of fiction rooted in betrayal, emotional captivity, and the power of choosing yourself. In this conversation, Nikki opens up about abusive relationship patterns, why women stay, how childhood wounds can shape adult relationships, what healing really looks like, and how healthy love can feel unfamiliar after toxic love.

We also talk about:

• toxic relationships and emotional abuse
• trauma bonds and why leaving is so hard
• domestic violence and reactive abuse
• self-worth after abuse
• triggers in healthy relationships
• boundaries, healing, and self-love
• how creativity can help process heartbreak and trauma
• Nikki’s book Loved You, Hated You

If you have ever asked yourself, “Why did I stay?” or struggled to trust healthy love after surviving abuse, this episode is for you.

Find Nikki Allen and her work at NikkiAllen.com

Subscribe for more conversations on toxic relationships, narcissistic abuse, healing, boundaries, faith, and emotional recovery.

🎙️ Stay Connected with Us!
📺 Subscribe on YouTube: @survivingrelationships12
🎵 Follow us on TikTok: @survivingtoxicrel
🌐 Visit our website: survivingtoxicrelationships.org

Looking to be a guest or host a guest for your podcast?

https://www.joinpodmatch.com/deanalizzie

📘 Our book is available on Amazon: Love With Eyes Wide Open: Teaching Our Daughters to Recognize Red Flags and God's Voice in Relationships

Not sure what you’re noticing yet?
↓ Get your FREE Discernment Checklist ↓ https://the-matadoras.kit.com/survivingtoxicrelationships

Contact us anytime at our email: care@survivingtoxicrelationships.org

📘 Join our Facebook community: Surviving Toxic Relationships

Can scripture be misused in marriage?

In this honest and faith-centered conversation, Lizzie and Deana explore a difficult but important topic many Christian women quietly wrestle with: what happens when Bible verses are quoted without context and used to justify control, silence, or emotional harm.

This episode discusses spiritual confusion in marriage, the misapplication of scripture, and the difference between biblical submission and spiritual manipulation.

Many women have been told to submit more, pray more, endure more—yet instead of finding peace, they experience guilt, confusion, and spiritual fog.

Lizzie shares personal experiences from a spiritually abusive marriage, while Deana discusses how spiritual confusion can develop when isolated verses are used without the full context of scripture.

This conversation is not about attacking marriage or promoting divorce. Marriage is sacred and covenant matters deeply. Instead, this discussion seeks to bring clarity, discernment, and healing to women who may feel spiritually trapped or confused.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Spiritual confusion in Christian marriages
• When scripture is used to justify control
• The difference between submission and manipulation
• Misapplied Bible verses in toxic relationships
• How spiritual abuse creates guilt and confusion
• The role of discernment in faith and relationships
• Why endurance is not always holiness
• Questions women can ask when seeking clarity

If you’ve ever wondered:

“Am I sinning if I leave?”
“Is this conviction from God… or pressure from someone else?”

This episode invites you to explore those questions prayerfully and thoughtfully.

Because loving with eyes wide open means we seek truth, peace, and discernment.

🎙️ Stay Connected with Us!
📺 Subscribe on YouTube: @survivingrelationships12
🎵 Follow us on TikTok: @survivingtoxicrel
🌐 Visit our website: survivingtoxicrelationships.org

Looking to be a guest or host a guest for your podcast?

https://www.joinpodmatch.com/deanalizzie

📘 Our book is available on Amazon: Love With Eyes Wide Open: Teaching Our Daughters to Recognize Red Flags and God's Voice in Relationships

Not sure what you’re noticing yet?
↓ Get your FREE Discernment Checklist ↓ https://the-matadoras.kit.com/survivingtoxicrelationships

Contact us anytime at our email: care@survivingtoxicrelationships.org

📘 Join our Facebook community: Surviving Toxic Relationships

What if your burnout, sexual dysfunction, anxiety, or confusion isn’t a hormone problem… but a coercive control problem?

In this powerful episode of Surviving Toxic Relationships, we sit down with naturopathic physician, author of The Pink Canary, and host of The Pleasure Principles, Dr. Jordin Wiggins.

Jordin works with high-achieving women who appear successful on the outside but are secretly struggling in sexless marriages, emotionally abusive relationships, or rebuilding after divorce.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• What coercive control actually looks like
• Why “super traits” make women more vulnerable to abuse
• The connection between toxic relationships and sexual dysfunction
• Why traditional therapy often misses power dynamics
• Why abuse escalates after separation
• How burnout, binge eating, libido loss, and anxiety may be trauma responses
• Why “hurt people hurt people” can excuse abuse

Dr. Wiggins shares her personal story of unknowingly being in an abusive relationship, the medical symptoms she developed, and how awareness changed everything.

If you have ever felt confused, blamed yourself, or wondered why nothing you tried “fixed” the relationship, this episode is for you.

Because sometimes the problem isn’t you. It’s the system you’re living in.

Links to Dr. Wiggins’ book, podcast, and quizzes are below.

Subscribe for more faith-centered conversations on discernment, emotional health, and healing from toxic relationships.

🎙️ Stay Connected with Us!
📺 Subscribe on YouTube: @survivingrelationships12
🎵 Follow us on TikTok: @survivingtoxicrel
🌐 Visit our website: survivingtoxicrelationships.org

📘 Our book is available on Amazon: Love With Eyes Wide Open: Teaching Our Daughters to Recognize Red Flags and God's Voice in Relationships

Not sure what you’re noticing yet?
↓ Discernment Checklist ↓ https://the-matadoras.kit.com/survivingtoxicrelationships

Contact us anytime at our email: care@survivingtoxicrelationships.org

📘 Join our Facebook community: Surviving Toxic Relationships