Being Human

Borderline personality patterns are often misunderstood and mislabeled—but beneath the surface is a painful struggle shaped by identity instability, emotional overwhelm, and the exhausting push–pull between fearing abandonment and fearing annihilation. In this episode, Dr. Greg brings clarity and compassion to this pattern, offering language and hope for anyone who recognizes these dynamics in themselves or in someone they love.
Key Topics:
Why borderline patterns are so often misunderstood
The exhausting push–pull between fearing abandonment and fearing annihilation
How identity instability fuels intense relationship dynamics
Why emotions can feel overwhelming and all-consuming
Why conflict and drama can start to feel like proof of connection
How integration and truth open the path toward healing

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Start of the Being Human series on the Dependent Defense Pattern: Ep. #265: Jerry Maguire, Gollum, and the Fear of Not Existing

Start of the Being Human series on the Narcissistic Defense Pattern: Ep. #261: Narcissism and the Terror of Being Ordinary

Stop Walking on Eggshells – A guide for navigating relationships affected by borderline personality patterns
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Even if you're Christian — even if your spouse is a genuinely good person — you can still feel deeply unfulfilled. In this episode, Dr. Greg explores how asking another person to carry your identity, security, and worth turns love into survival — and leaves both people depleted.
Key Topics:
How misplaced dependence slowly erodes love
Why identity collapses when relationships become sources of self-worth
The difference between free self-gift and anxious attachment
How to properly order your love

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Pilgrimage to Poland - Learn more about this interior journey with St. John Paul II
Summit of Integration 2026 - Sign up to learn more about this year's event!
Healing Retreat in Wyoming - Learn more about our upcoming retreat experience.
Being Human episodes on the Dependent Defense Pattern: Ep. #267: Not All Satisfaction Is Good: Understanding Codependency As Relationship Cancer
Ep. #266: You're Giving Too Much! Uncovering How Anxiety Disguises Itself as Holiness
Ep. #265: Jerry Maguire, Gollum, and the Fear of Not Existing

Gaudium et Spes - Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World by Pope Paul VI
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What if you're mistaking something emotionally dangerous for love? In this episode, Dr. Greg tackles a painful but common pattern: relationships that look close, committed, and appear to be flourishing, yet quietly trap both people in fear, dependence, and anxiety. 
Key Topics:
Why both partners can feel "happy" even as the relationship becomes unhealthy
How codependency distorts the kind of free, fruitful relationships God calls us to
Why awareness and willpower aren't enough to break these cycles – and what we can do to heal them
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Pilgrimage to Poland - Learn more about this interior journey with St. John Paul II
Being Human episodes on the Dependent Defense Pattern: Ep. #266: You're Giving Too Much! Uncovering How Anxiety Disguises Itself as Holiness
Ep. #265: Jerry Maguire, Gollum, and the Fear of Not Existing

Person and Act by Karol Wojtyla (Pope Saint John Paul II)
Love and Responsibility by Karol Wojtyla (Pope Saint John Paul II)
Discernment of Spirits - Learn more through the lens of Catholic anthropology and Catholic mindfulness
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What if the reason you feel anxious, resentful, or exhausted from "doing the right thing" isn't a lack of generosity—but anxiety hiding behind virtue? This episode explores the crucial difference between authentic Christian self-gift and giving that's really about survival, revealing how true sacrifice should expand freedom, not erase you.
Key Topics:
The difference between Christian self-gift and anxiety-driven giving
Why humility is not the same as self-erasure
How attachment wounds can fuel overgiving
How dependent and narcissistic patterns reinforce each other
Why true love always increases freedom

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Love and Responsibility by Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II)
Casti Connubii (Encyclical of Pope Pius XI on Christian Marriage)
Being Human episode on the Dependent Defense Pattern: Ep. #265: Jerry Maguire, Gollum, and the Fear of Not Existing

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Have you ever felt safer letting someone else decide—not because you didn't care, but because choosing for yourself felt overwhelming or even dangerous? Dr. Greg explores the dependent defense pattern and why giving up agency can feel like survival—until healing restores the freedom to exist, choose, and love.
Key Topics:
Why dependency isn't just fear of being alone—but fear of not existing alone
How proximity can start to feel like survival
Why some people lose touch with what they want, like, or dream about
How dependency can quietly shape marriages, families, and faith
And how healing doesn't erase need—it restores freedom

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Being Human episodes on narcissistic personality patterns: Ep. #261: Narcissism and the Terror of Being Ordinary
Ep. #262: Spiritual Narcissism: Exposing the Sneaky Way We Use Religion as a Pattern of Protection
Ep. #263: Holiness and Narcissism
Ep. #264: IFS, JP2 and Narcissism

Is Leadership of the Family a Man's Job? (Being Human, Ep. #201)
Correcting Aquinas: JP2's Truth Bomb on Gender and Human Dignity (Being Human, Ep. #197)
Being Human episodes on Parts Work:  Ep. #34: A New Theory! w/a Catholic Lens
Ep. #35: Why Do I Feel Like I Have Conflicting Thoughts? w/ Dr. Peter Malinoski
Ep. #49: Internal Family Systems & External Family Tensions 

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