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Understanding the Family Scapegoat: Healing, Identity, and People Pleasing

Today I am joined by Elle Boone, host of The Family Scapegoat Chronicles. Elle dives deep into a role that many empaths and highly sensitive people unknowingly carry—that of the family scapegoat—and how it shapes identity, people-pleasing tendencies, and emotional well-being.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• What it means to be the family scapegoat and how this role is assigned in dysfunctional and narcissistic family systems.
• The three key dynamics of scapegoating: blame, shame, and rejection, and how these affect long-term emotional health.
• The concept of “family mobbing” and how siblings and other family members may unconsciously or consciously participate in scapegoating.
• Differences between the scapegoat, golden child, and lost child roles—and how these roles can rotate over time.
• How scapegoating contributes to people-pleasing, overgiving, and identity confusion.
• Signs that you might have been scapegoated, including minimized successes, silent treatment, backhanded criticism, and heightened responsibility for family dysfunction.
• Practical strategies for healing: observing patterns, pacing your recovery, and reclaiming your personal identity.
• Recommended resources, including Rejected, Shamed, and Blamed by Rebecca C. Mandeville, and the documentary The Wisdom of Trauma by Gabor Maté.

Challenge for the Week:
Take a compassionate pause to observe your patterns. Notice how often you apologize, overgive, or seek approval. Write down at least three recurring behaviors and reflect on where they might have originated. This is the first step toward reclaiming your identity and untangling the people-pleasing and scapegoating patterns in your life.

Work With Me:
If you’re ready to start identifying the roles that hold you back and learn to set healthier boundaries, you can book a free clarity call with me here: https://calendly.com/maryannwalkerlife/freeconsult

Don’t Forget to Subscribe
Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss future episodes. Each week, we dive deeper into the practices that help recovering people pleasers create balance, self-worth, and authentic connection.

🎯 email me now at maryann@maryannwalker.life to work with me!

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Links Mentioned in This Episode:

• Elle Boone’s podcast: The Family Scapegoat Chronicles https://thefamilyscapegoatchronicles.podbean.com/e/the-family-scapegoat-chronicles-i-true-stories-of-survival-and-healing-after-narcissistic-and-family-scapegoating-abuse/
• Elle Boone on Substack:https://thefamilyscapegoatchronicles.substack.com/
  
  
• Book: Rejected, Shamed, and Blamed by Rebecca C. Mandeville – https://a.co/d/7kLN3lG
  
  
• Documentary: The Wisdom of Trauma by Gabor Maté – Watch here https://thewisdomoftrauma.com/
  
  

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Choosing Joy: How intention, presence, and gratitude can transform your life.

Today, I’m thrilled to talk with Natalie King, British transformational coach, speaker, and podcast host of One Precious Life. We explore how to find joy intentionally, even during stressful or challenging times, and why it’s so important to prioritize joy as part of your emotional well-being.

Whether you’re struggling to feel happiness during a busy holiday season, or you want to cultivate more joy, gratitude, and self-love in your daily life, this episode is packed with practical strategies and empowering insights for empaths and highly sensitive people.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• How to Catch Joy Daily: Recognize and savor joyful moments, even in the small, ordinary experiences of life.
• Permission to Be Happy: Why giving yourself permission to experience joy is an act of self-love and self-care.
• Daily Practices for Emotional Well-Being: Simple habits like dancing, walking in nature, laughing, or meditating that boost mood, reduce overwhelm, and enhance resilience.
• The Power of Gratitude: How cultivating gratitude creates more joy, presence, and appreciation in everyday life.
• Joy as a Lifestyle for Highly Sensitive People: How consistent practice can make joy a natural part of your temperament and overall emotional health.
• Avoiding Regrets Later in Life: Why allowing yourself to be happy is one of the most common regrets of the dying, and how to prevent it by prioritizing your joy today.

Challenge for the Week

Create your “joy list”—a small collection of activities that consistently make you feel happy, fulfilled, or playful. Pick one thing from your list today and notice how it shifts your energy, mindset, and emotional resilience.

Work With Me

If you’re a highly sensitive person or recovering people-pleaser ready to create more joy, set healthy boundaries, and take up your space fully, let’s connect. Book a free clarity call here: https://calendly.com/maryannwalkerlife/freeconsult
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Links Mentioned in This Episode

• Natalie King’s Podcast: One Precious Life. Listen now on your favorite platform!
  
  
• Natalie’s Women’s Circle: Message Natalie on Instragram to learn more!
  
  
• Follow Natalie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/this.one.precious.life/

Don’t Forget to Subscribe

If you enjoyed this conversation about finding joy, emotional well-being, and intentional happiness, subscribe to Inner Work with MaryAnn Walker on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.

• MaryAnn Walker coaching: https:maryannwalker.life
• Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maryannwalker.life/
• Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maryannwalker.life
• Follow on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@maryannwalker.life
• Join my email list and get a FREE GIFT! https://maryannwalker-life.ck.page/3da1fd88a9

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The Fear Disappointing Others: Healing The Need to be Liked

The fear of disappointing others is so often invisible, yet it drives so many of your choices—what you say yes to, what you stay silent about, and how you show up in your relationships. If you’ve ever worried that someone’s disappointment might cost you connection, safety, or love… this episode will feel like exhaling.

This isn’t an episode about fixing the pattern—this is about finally seeing it with compassion and clarity.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why so many HSPs and people pleasers fear disappointing others—and why it makes perfect sense.
• How this fear subtly impacts your boundaries, your energy, and your authenticity.
• The emotional toll of over-functioning, overexplaining, and absorbing other people’s feelings.
• How fear of disappointment shows up differently in friendships, romantic partnerships, and work environments.
• The deeper nervous system roots behind people-pleasing and why it feels so scary to say no.
• Real stories (Sarah, Ben, and Maya) that will help you see these patterns in your own life with more compassion.
• The surprising way avoiding disappointment often causes resentment, burnout, disconnection, and self-abandonment.
• A gentle mindset shift that can help you move from chasing approval to honoring your truth.

Challenge for the Week

Notice the moments—big or small—when your choices are driven by the fear of disappointing someone.
Don’t fix them.
Don’t change them.
Just notice.
Awareness is the first step toward healing this pattern.

Work With Me

If this episode hit home and you’re ready to break free from the exhaustion of people-pleasing and learn how to take up space without fear, I’d love to support you.

Many people choose to gift themselves a more empowered, authentic life for the holidays—and if that’s you, I invite you to book a free clarity call with me.

This is a 20-minute conversation to explore what you’re struggling with and whether coaching might be your next step.

Spaces are limited—so if your heart is nudging you, listen.
Book your free clarity call here: https://calendly.com/maryannwalkerlife/freeconsult

Don’t Forget to Subscribe

Be sure to follow the show so you don’t miss new episode. Staying connected helps to ensures you never miss a topic that could support your healing.

Links Mentioned in This Episode

• Book your free clarity call: https://calendly.com/maryannwalkerlife/freeconsult
  
  
• MaryAnn Walker coaching: https:maryannwalker.life
• Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maryannwalker.life/
• Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maryannwalker.life
• Follow on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@maryannwalker.life
• Join my email list and get a FREE GIFT! https://maryannwalker-life.ck.page/3da1fd88a9