Light in the Battle

Welcome back to Season 2 of Light in the Battle, a podcast for autistic women healing from narcissistic abuse — and a spacewhere we become clearer, calmer, and spiritually and legally harder to mess with. In this episode, I share the 10 most significant ways EMDR therapy changed my life, from parenting and unmasking my autism, to emotional detachment, femininity, and finally performing better in f...

PTSD and CPTSD are common in survivors of narcissistic abuse and in their recovery. We find ourselves going into fight, flight, freeze or fawn. This is not helpful in parenting, let alone solo parenting with an ASD brain. It's also not helpful during the months leading up to a court hearing, and during the hearing itself. The nervous system has adapted to keep us safe, but once the chronic threat...

This Episode I'm positioning as a transition between my long series about trauma recovery, the nervous system, and the addiction to chaos, and before I start rotating between more varied topics like family court, spiritual warfare, how the dog helps on a daily basis, etc. Maybe it's my autism but I feel the need to explain myself :) Why I'm here, whom I'm speaking to and what I can do for you. I'm...

We now need to bring the cortisol, adrenaline, dopaminelevels back to normal. In this final episode about breaking the addiction to chaos, Faustina goes over 6 steps that worked for her, when she DECIDED to LEARN to enjoy peace. With compassion and understanding, with humour and Catholic faith, with small action steps that are easy to implement, shedescribes what has worked for her to bring the le...

"Why didn't she leave", you ask. "Why does she keep dating the same types of men over and over? When will she learn? "Sounds familiar? Don't we just love that judgment coming from uneducated, well-meaning people who are not familiar with the concept of trauma bonding. Well... It's biology. Childhood trauma and/or narcissistic abuse can create a true addiction in the brain. A trauma bond. This Epis...

"Why does this keep happening to me?" "Why do I keep attracting narcissists?" You choose to stop. With 6 ASD-friendly practical tips that Faustina used repeatedly in her journey of taming peace after years of running on adrenaline and cortisol, we can slowly familiarize ourselves with our new life. Whether that's getting out of domestic violence, healing from narcissistic abuse, or winning a custo...

Through the story of winning a custody battle, despite what felt like years of legal intimidation and harassment, Faustina shows an example of what addiction to chaos looks and feels like. Winning in family court after many years of feeling unseen and misunderstood by a legal system that isn’t trauma-informed, completely stunned her and left her like a deer in the headlights. We discuss the fact t...

After gaslighting, rebuilding your intuition and body signals is the foundation for helping your child feel emotionally safe. In this episode, we talk about what gaslighting is, how to heal from gaslighting, staying honest with your overwhelm, and modeling emotional safety for sensitive or neurodivergent kids. Faustina shares relatable, personal stories and real-life examples of learning to feel t...

Staying present isn’t easy when your nervous system is already overloaded. It's easier to dissociate. In this episode, Faustina talks about what “being present” actually means for trauma survivors and neurodivergent single parents, why overwhelm shuts down connection, and how to stay grounded with an autistic child even when your body or your mind want to escape. Practical, realistic tools for sin...

Breaking generational trauma for future generations is hard — especially when you’re parenting a neurodivergent child without a roadmap. It's little things you have to notice, to catch, and to do differently - one day at a time. In this episode, we talk about how childhood trauma shows up in your parenting, why your nervous system reacts before your thoughts do, and how small, imperfect moments of...

How do you help your child calm down when you’re not calm yourself? In this episode, Faustina shares small, realistic ways to co-regulate while healing — grounding tips for overstimulation, honest scripts for connection, and a reminder that repair matters more than perfection. This can be particularly difficult for single mothers as there is no other adult to fall back on when we are not regulated...

When your mind knows you’re safe but your body doesn’t, parenting can feel overwhelming. This episode explains what trauma-triggered overwhelm actually is, and offers practical steps to calm your nervous system in real time — without pretending or forcing it. panic, trauma recall, PTSD flare-ups while parenting

Legal stress and co-parenting conflict activate the nervous system in a deep, physical way. This episode shares grounded ways to stay steady when you can’t stop thinking about court — without denying the reality of what’s at stake. Keywords: co-parenting stress, high conflict co-parent, custody anxiety, trauma-informed parenting, court stress, nervous system regulation, overwhelmed motherhood, par...

Many mothers escape because their nervous system is overwhelmed, not because they lack strength. This episode explores the difference between rest that nourishes us and escape that numbs us — and offers simple, doable ways to create calm in small moments throughout the day. Keywords: rest vs escape, parenting overwhelm, trauma-informed parenting, nervous system regulation, autistic parent, sensory...

Parenting an autistic child can be beautiful, joyful, and deeply loving — and it can also be physically and emotionally overwhelming. Especially when your child’s stimming, movement, or verbal repetition triggers your own sensory overload. This episode is about what it feels like to be stimmed out as a parent — and how to stay present without shutting down or snapping. No shame. No judgment. Just...

Sometimes peace feels wrong. After years of chaos or emotional abuse, calm can make your body panic — because silence used to mean danger. In this 12-minute reflection, Faustina explains why calm feels unsafe and how to rebuild your nervous system’s trust in quiet. With simple grounding tools and sensory-aware examples, she shows how “micro-calm” moments can rewire your sense of safety over time....

Healing doesn’t mean life gets quiet. It means you learn how to find stillness inside the noise. In this reflection, Faustina shares how she practices calm in real moments — reading court emails, managing meltdowns, or feeling her body’s old panic rise up. This isn’t about perfection or pretending to be peaceful. It’s about creating small pauses that remind your nervous system: “We’re safe now.”Fo...

When you leave an abusive relationship and become a parent, healing takes on a new shape. In this quiet reflection, Faustina shares how moving countries during pregnancy opened the door to clarity — and how her child’s emotions later became mirrors of her own unhealed pain. This episode explores the real experience of parenting after trauma: the body memories, the panic, and the gentle work of re-...

Detachment isn’t easy when your body is still in survival mode. In this reflection, Faustina talks about what it’s really like to learn emotional detachment after trauma — when PTSD and panic make “staying calm” feel impossible. Through her experience with EMDR and nervous system healing, she shares how true detachment isn’t about going numb, but about helping your body believe it’s finally safe....

When logic fails and the path disappears, faith becomes the thread that holds us together. In this episode of Light in the Battle, Faustina reflects on trusting God when nothing makes sense—learning to surrender control, find calm in motherhood, and believe that God’s presence is constant even in pain. A gentle reminder for Christian mothers walking through uncertainty, raising children after trau...

Life can feel like a battle—especially for mothers navigating co-parenting, trauma, or spiritual warfare. In this first reflection from Light in the Battle, Faustina shares gentle words on finding peace, faith, and emotional resilience when chaos surrounds you. A quiet Christian meditation for women healing from narcissistic abuse, parenting through hard seasons, and learning to let God fight for...

Welcome to light in the Battle. My name is Faustina and I am here to share my thoughts on what peace really means, when life seemingly becomes too much to handle. We have to find Light within the Battle, not wait until the Battle ends to finally catch our breath.