Why They Couldn’t Love You: Understanding Emotional Capacity in Toxic Relationships

What happens when the person you fought so hard to love turns out to be incapable of loving you back? What do you do with the grief, the self-doubt, and the tidal wave of confusion that follows?

In this raw and deeply personal episode, I unpack what it means to love someone with traits of Cluster B personality disorders—specifically, narcissistic and borderline features—and why walking away doesn’t bring immediate peace. I share the story of how my relationship ended, the impossible ultimatum I was given, and the unraveling that came after.

We explore:

• Why you still miss them even though they hurt you
• The reality of trauma bonding and emotional addiction
• What it means to be with someone who can imitate love but not sustain it
• The devastation of being blamed for everything, including their own behavior
• The disorienting grief that follows when you're mourning the illusion, not the reality
• What healing actually looks like when you finally choose yourself

This episode is for anyone who left a relationship and still doesn’t understand why it hurts so much. For the person who can’t stop blaming themselves. For the survivor who is starting to realize: it wasn’t you. It was never you.

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Website: Emotional Abuse Coach and high-conflictdivorcecoaching.com
Instagram: @emotionalabusecoach
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{Substack} Blog About Recovering from Abuse

{E-Book} How to Break Up with a Narcissist
{Course} Identify Signs of Abuse and Begin to Heal
{Free Resource} Canned Responses for Engaging with an Abusive Partner