Faith, Freedom & Finding Yourself: Lisa Croke’s Journey Beyond Narcissistic Abuse

In this episode, Laura speaks with Lisa Croke, an ICF ACC Empowerment Life Coach and Leadership Consultant with over two decades of experience. She is powered by authenticity, non-judgment, and empathy and creates a safe, empowering space for her clients to reframe their challenges into their superpowers.

In her life coaching and leadership consulting work, her mission remains the same: Empowering individuals to achieve their highest potential! Lisa's journey has been one of resilience and reinvention. At 42, she emerged from a 20-plus-year abusive marriage. Faced with the loss of her career, community, possessions, and a year of stalking at the hands of her abuser, she went through the court system and relocated 2,000 miles away to rebuild her life. Lisa has since worked tirelessly to transform her personal hardships into a powerful narrative of resilience and transformation.

Lisa is dedicated to helping other trauma survivors, particularly high-achieving, accomplished women who have experienced relationship trauma, tap into their superpowers and move from surviving to thriving. Grounded in real-life experience, her warm, empathetic approach validates her clients' experiences and provides practical tools for reframing their stories, claiming their superpowers, and building a thriving life. In addition to her coaching and consulting work, she is available for keynote presentations, workshops, podcasts, and collaboration opportunities.

Today, Lisa shares her journey from being a children's pastor and pastor's wife to recognizing and escaping narcissistic abuse within her marriage and religious community. She discusses how the church often fails abuse survivors through inadequate support and harmful messaging about forgiveness and reconciliation.

Tune in now!

Key Highlights

[00:00] Lisa's initial approach to church leadership about marriage concerns

[01:33] Lisa's background as an empowerment life coach and leadership consultant

[03:39] How domestic abuse affects high-achieving women

[06:27] Lisa's religious background and early marriage at age 19

[09:24] Church leadership and ministry roles and how this affected Lisa's marriage

[15:32] Experience with jealousy and control in ministry positions

[20:05] When Lisa started noticing abusive patterns

[29:02] How most Christian women in leadership struggle with the stigma of divorce

[38:16] The biblical perspectives and the church's inadequate response to abuse

[41:23] Why you need therapy rather than relying solely on prayer for guidance

[45:31] Lisa's personal growth and achievements post-divorce

[59:03] Perspectives on forgiveness and healing

[01:05:21] Final thoughts and how to connect with Lisa

Notable Quotes:

• When you exist in that space and have that very loud voice, when that voice goes away, the freedom I felt because there wasn't someone criticizing everything. Even if you're beat up and you're not sure head to tail what's going on, you survived that.
• Our relationship with God doesn't fit in a box. And so many times church does market that. And those of us who have had trauma, we don't fit in the box, and we question the box, and we question the methods. And so we are the ones that are the instigators
• The words that have been spoken over you, the actions that have been done to you, they don't define you. You are enough, and you are so loved.
• If God loves him, and if you believe that God loves him, then he is God's to care for; it is not your responsibility.
• We become shells of ourselves, right? Like, well, when we're married so young, we don't know who we are. But, I would argue that we are empathetic and we're gentle. There are reasons why narcissists attac