Advice Archives - Nicola Ranson

PLEASE STAY! An Urgent Message to Someone Contemplating Suicide

November 19, 2022 by Nicola Ranson

If you are right on the edge and in danger of suicide don’t read further. Instead, call 911 or the national suicide prevention hotline: 988 . If you are outside the US call your emergency number – that’s what they are there for and this is an emergency. There are people out there ready to … Read more

Toxic Relationships – support for recognizing narcissistic abuse and tips for getting out

August 15, 2022 by Nicola Ranson

CLICK HERE TO HEAR THE PODCAST: Toxic relationships can be a nightmare to disengage from – and the trauma is so harmful to the children. Brook Olsen’s work focuses on helping people disengage, and in Episode 201 of the High Conflict Coparenting podcast, he interviews me for any tips I have to contribute. In our conversation I address the cult of one-on-one and how viewing narcissistic abuse through the lens of cult dynamics can shed light on both recognizing toxic relationships, and getting out of them.

HOPE

October 22, 2021 by Nicola Ranson

Twice this past week someone gave me Mary Oliver’s “Wild Geese” poem that begins: “You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body Love what it loves.” That “only” … Read more

Survivor’s Guilt

July 23, 2021October 18, 2019 by Nicola Ranson

My young friend Emily wrote: I was walking on the street near my university when a man pulled up beside me in his car. He said he was an undercover cop and asked me to get in because he had a few questions. I remembered all my mother’s advice, refused and informed the police. Later … Read more