Toxic Bonds: Why We Stay, How We Heal

🎧 In This Episode: Toxic Bonds – How They Start, How They Show Up, and How to Heal

What is a toxic bond, and how do you know you're in one? In this raw and honest conversation, Eisve and Karolina open up about their personal experiences with toxic relationships—romantic, familial, and even with food and adrenaline.

Karolina shares how her childhood shaped her adult patterns and how therapy helped her untangle the emotional cords tying her to her mom. Eisve speaks openly about emotional addiction and being in a narcissistic relationship that felt like a drug.

Together, they explore:

• Why toxic bonds feel so familiar and hard to leave
• How trauma, abandonment, and childhood roles play into adult dynamics
• The sneaky ways toxicity can show up—even in seemingly “normal” relationships
• How to begin healing and rewire your patterns
• Why listening to your body and setting energetic boundaries is key

This is an episode for anyone ready to confront uncomfortable truths, feel seen in their journey, and take the first steps toward true emotional freedom.

🧠 It all starts with the relationship you have with yourself.

👇 Comment below: Have you ever realized you were in a toxic bond? What helped you break free?

00:00:00 – Intro & What Are Toxic Bonds?
Eisve and Karolina introduce the episode and define toxic bonds: unhealthy attachments to people, substances, food, or patterns.

00:01:00 – Karolina’s Story: Toxic Bond with Her Mom
Karolina shares how her relationship with her mom blurred boundaries. As a single mom, her mother leaned on her for emotional support, which created a dynamic where Karolina played the role of a partner, not a child.

00:03:30 – Therapy & Realization
She talks about starting therapy during a personal crisis and realizing the relationship with her mom wasn’t emotionally healthy, even though there was love.

00:05:10 – Cutting the Cord & Gaining Strength
She describes learning to set boundaries and “cut the umbilical cord” emotionally, becoming more independent and improving her relationship with her mom as a result.

00:08:40 – Changing Patterns, Letting Go of Friendships
Eisve reflects on how personal growth sometimes means outgrowing certain friendships that no longer align with who you’re becoming.

00:10:14 – How Do You Know a Bond Is Toxic?
Discussion on patterns of neediness, emotional dependency, and how repeated experiences in relationships (especially romantic ones) mirror earlier wounds from childhood.

00:13:40 – Narcissistic Relationships & Emotional Addiction
Eisve opens up about her past toxic relationship with a narcissist and the withdrawal-like symptoms she experienced. She explains how the highs were addictive and blinding.

00:18:43 – Karolina’s Experience with Emotional Abandonment
Karolina shares how her abandonment trauma kept her stuck in a 14-year marriage. Even with emotional neglect and avoidance from her partner, she stayed due to fear of being left.

00:23:46 – The Importance of Asking for Help
They both stress how hard it is to leave toxic bonds alone. Therapy, support, and safe spaces are key. You can’t pull someone out—they need to recognize it themselves.

00:25:50 – Toxic Bonds with Food, Adrenaline & Substances
Beyond people, they discuss toxic patterns with food or adrenaline. The body often gives signs, and ignoring them leads to burnout or breakdowns.

00:29:00 – Listening to Your Body & Boundaries
Karolina shares how she learned to listen to her body’s signals. Setting energetic boundaries, even with loved ones, helped her regain control of her life.

00:32:03 – Reconnecting with the Feminine & Body Work
She talks about retreats, feminine energy practices, and womb connection as part of her healing journey—learning to feel again, not just thi