The Healing Lounge with Marcia
Welcome to The Healing Lounge — the podcast where survivors of narcissistic abuse can finally exhale.
Hosted by licensed therapist, author and survivor Marcia Williams, this show offers raw honesty, expert insights, and heartfelt stories to guide you from surviving to thriving. Whether you’re still in the relationship, freshly out, or rebuilding your life afterward, you’ll find the clarity, tools, and community you need here.
Each week, Marcia blends her 22 years of clinical experience with the wisdom of her own 30-year marriage to a narcissist. Expect a mix of real talk, taboo conversations (yes, even the ones no one else will touch), practical strategies for healing, and inspiring guest interviews — from survivors, coaches, and loved ones impacted by abuse.
The Healing Lounge is more than a podcast. It’s your safe space to reclaim your voice, rebuild your confidence, and protect your peace.
Honest conversations. Expert insights. Survivor strength.
The Healing Lounge with Marcia
7 Steps to Leave a Narcissist (and How I Did It) — Part 1
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Leaving a narcissist isn’t about packing a bag — it’s about reclaiming your mind, your power, and your peace.
If you’ve ever asked yourself, “Why can’t I just walk away?” — or if you’ve left but still feel that emotional pull that keeps you wondering if you made the right choice — this episode is for you.
In this first part of the series, Licensed Therapist and Narcissistic Abuse Recovery Coach Marcia Williams walks you through the first three steps that helped her move from confusion to clarity, from fear to freedom:
- Step 1: The Wake-Up Call — Seeing the truth through the fog and recognizing emotional abuse for what it really is.
- Step 2: Emotional Detachment — Letting go of the fantasy and beginning to separate emotionally before you ever leave.
- Step 3: Safety First — Quietly planning your exit, starting in your mind long before you ever walk out the door.
Marcia continues to pull back the curtain on her own story — the tears, the fear, the phone bills, the kids, the basement, and the slow climb back to peace.
These are the same steps she now uses to help hundreds of survivors break free from narcissistic abuse and rebuild their lives.
So grab your journal, take a deep breath, and settle in.
By the end of this episode, you’ll know this truth: you can leave, you can heal, and you can rebuild your life one courageous step at a time.
Stay tuned for Part 2, where Marcia continues with the final steps — protecting your kids, releasing the need for closure, surviving the withdrawal, and reclaiming your peace.
Resources Mentioned:
- Book: Groomed: Life Married to a Narcissist and How I Overcame Narcissistic Abuse
- Join the 7-Week Passage to Peace Program → www.thepassagetopeace.com
- Free resource: The Trauma Bond Breaker Checklist
For 30 years, Marcia Williams lived in silence inside a marriage with a narcissist. In her powerful memoir GROOMED: Life Married to a Narcissist and How I Overcame Narcissistic Abuse, she shares the raw truth of that journey and the courageous steps she took to reclaim her peace.
This book is more than a survivor’s story. It’s a message of hope, resilience, and empowerment for anyone trapped in the cycle of narcissistic abuse.