5. Was He Safe or Is It Toxic Hope?

What happens when the ‘safe parent’ lets you down?

In this episode, Lucy joins host Helen to explore the painful realisation that the parent she once saw as kind, gentle and safe – may never have been that at all.

After going no contact with her emotionally abusive stepmother, Lucy began speaking to her dad about what she’d lived through. But what followed was denial, gaslighting and invalidation – not just from her stepmother, but from the man she thought would be in her corner.

Together, Helen and Lucy explore toxic hope, the idolisation of the “good dad”, and the heartbreak of seeing someone clearly for the first time.

If you’ve ever been made to feel too sensitive, too difficult, or like you’re remembering it all wrong – this one’s for you.

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