No Contact

• 

  Adverse Childhood Experiences - Boundaries - cPTSD - Emotional Abuse - Financial Abuse - Financial Stability - Gen X - Generational Trauma - Hypervigilance - Narcissistic Parent - No Contact - Recovery - Survivor - Trauma

  The Walter White Threshold: Why Reinvention Hits So Hard After 50

  December 30, 2025 - By Andrew Pumpelly

  I’ve been joking lately that hitting 50 made me feel a little like Walter White — just without the urge to build a meth empire. But the more I sit with that comparison, the more I realize it’s actually… not a joke at all. There’s something real — something psychological,…

• 

  Adult Children of Narcissists - Adverse Childhood Experiences - Boundaries - cPTSD - cPTSD Healing - Emotional Abuse - Financial Abuse - Gen X - Generational Trauma - Gratitude - Holiday Triggers - Holidays - Hypervigilance - Narcissistic Abuse Recovery - Narcissistic Parent - No Contact - Recovery - Survivor - Trauma

  A No Contact Christmas: What the Holidays Feel Like After Cutting Ties With a Narcissistic Parent

  December 25, 2025 - By Andrew Pumpelly

  For most of my life, Christmas came with a low-grade dread I didn’t have language for. On the surface, it looked like a normal holiday — lights, food, family photos. Underneath, my nervous system knew better. Holidays weren’t about joy or connection. They were tests. Performances. Emotional obstacle courses where…

• 

  Adverse Childhood Experiences - Boundaries - cPTSD - Emotional Abuse - Narcissistic Parent - No Contact - Recovery - Spirituality - Substance Abuse - Survivor - Trauma

  Faith & Trauma — Part 4: Why I Chose No Contact — And Why I Still Pray for Her

  December 21, 2025 - By Andrew Pumpelly

  There’s a version of the No Contact story that gets told a lot. It’s the anger version. And don’t get me wrong — I absolutely have every right to be angry. What was done to me was despicable.The lies.The manipulation.The threats.The decades of deception.The refusal to tell the truth even…

• 

  Adverse Childhood Experiences - Boundaries - cPTSD - Emotional Abuse - Financial Abuse - Hypervigilance - Narcissistic Parent - No Contact - Recovery - Survivor - Trauma - Triggers

  Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back: The Part of Healing No One Warns You About

  December 18, 2025 - By Andrew Pumpelly

  Been rereading Pete Walker’s Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving, and one line hit me harder than it ever has before: he says cPTSD healing often looks like three steps forward, two steps back — and that grieving a lifetime of trauma commonly takes 2–3 years. I don’t know who…

• 

  Adverse Childhood Experiences - Boundaries - cPTSD - Emotional Abuse - Financial Abuse - Financial Stability - Gratitude - Hypervigilance - Narcissistic Parent - No Contact - Recovery - Spirituality - Substance Abuse - Survivor - Trauma - Triggers

  Faith & Trauma — Part 3: When Faith Stops Being a Performance

  December 14, 2025 - By Andrew Pumpelly

  I was raised in an extremely conservative expression of Christianity — the Church of Christ. I’m not here to bash that tradition. There are good people there.Sincere people.Faithful people. But inside my family system, church didn’t feel like refuge. It felt like performance. Who I Thought I Was Performing For…

• 

  Boundaries - cPTSD - Generational Trauma - Narcissistic Parent - No Contact - Recovery - Survivor - Trauma

  Three Boundaries, Three Outcomes — And Why They’re All Good

  December 11, 2025 - By Andrew Pumpelly

  Boundaries used to feel like punishment to me. Growing up in a narcissistic family system, boundaries were treated as: Nobody taught me that boundaries are actually the conditions required for growth — not just for me, but for the other person, too. Lately, I’ve been reflecting on three major boundaries…

• 

  Adverse Childhood Experiences - Boundaries - cPTSD - Emotional Abuse - Financial Abuse - Gen X - Hypervigilance - Invalidation - Narcissistic Parent - No Contact - Recovery - Spirituality - Substance Abuse - Survivor - Trauma

  No Contact Isn’t a Trend — Some of Us Bled Into It

  December 9, 2025 - By Andrew Pumpelly

  On the internet lately, No Contact gets discussed like a hashtag.A concept.A brand of liberation.A generational identity marker. And listen — I’m genuinely grateful for that shift. I truly am.Language saves lives.Early awareness changes trajectories. But it’s important to say this clearly: No Contact didn’t begin with Millennials or Gen…

• 

  Adverse Childhood Experiences - Boundaries - cPTSD - Emotional Abuse - Narcissistic Parent - No Contact - Recovery - Spirituality - Substance Abuse - Survivor - Trauma

  Faith & Trauma — Part 2: When Boundaries Become Biblical Integrity

  December 7, 2025 - By Andrew Pumpelly

  After everything in my life finally came into the light — the lies, the manipulation, the emotional chaos — I had to face a hard truth: I had confused patience with permission. And Scripture never called me to confuse the two. Peace Has Limits in the Bible One verse used…

• 

  Adverse Childhood Experiences - Boundaries - cPTSD - Emotional Abuse - Financial Abuse - Hypervigilance - Narcissistic Parent - No Contact - Recovery - Survivor - Trauma

  No Contact: What It Is — and What It Is Not

  December 6, 2025 - By Andrew Pumpelly

  “No Contact” is one of the most misunderstood concepts in the trauma-recovery world. Some people think it’s: Others romanticize it as: Neither of those views is accurate. No Contact is neither a weapon nor a miracle cure. It is a boundary of last resort — and sometimes, it is the…

• 

  Adverse Childhood Experiences - Boundaries - cPTSD - Emotional Abuse - Narcissistic Parent - No Contact - Recovery - Spirituality - Substance Abuse - Survivor - Trauma

  Faith & Trauma — Part 1: Honor Does Not Mean Enduring Abuse

  November 30, 2025 - By Andrew Pumpelly

  I come from a family where faith runs deep. On my biological father’s side especially, Christianity isn’t just a belief — it’s a way of life. And like many people raised around Scripture, one verse came up again and again growing up: “Honor your father and mother.” — Exodus 20:12…