Events

Individual Virtual Weekend Intensives for Daughters and Sons Who Were Raised by Narcissistic Parents

Dr. McBride offers five-hour individual daughter & sons weekend intensives sessions for sons or daughters raised by narcissistic parents. These sessions are typically scheduled on a weekend and are done virtually with zoom. This is one on one time, designed to meet your individual needs in the recovery process.

The weekend intensives are scheduled from 9 to 3 Mountain Time, with an hour break for lunch at 12 noon Mountain Time.

Cost:

• $2000.00 (Payable online before the session)

To Schedule:

• Email Dr. McBride directly at karyl@drmcbride.com.

Sessions will be set at convenient dates that work for you and Dr. McBride’s schedule.

Small Group Intensives
(Now Virtual)

Dr. Karyl McBride is now offering virtual small group intensives designed to build and strengthen individual recovery work and create amazing connections within a community of support.

Next Session: TBD

If interested in scheduling, contact Dr. McBride by email at karyl@drmcbride.com.

Led by Dr. Karyl McBride, each group will include a limited number of adult children of narcissistic parents. We are inviting both men and women to join us in these virtual recovery events.

The small group intensives are a total of nine hours – five hours on Saturday and four hours on Sunday. They are always scheduled on weekends to make it easier for you to attend. The sessions are from 9 am to 3 pm Mountain Time on Saturdays with an hour break for lunch and from 9 am to 1 pm Mountain Time on Sundays.

The intensive weekend includes instruction on Dr. McBride’s five-step recovery model, group discussion and sharing, individual processing time, and Q&A with Dr. McBride depending on the needs of the attendees. Although not appropriate for crisis intervention, the small group intensive is for those who feel stuck in a certain recovery step, want to strengthen their coping strategies, uncover negative core beliefs, and address feelings of isolation and self-doubt. You will leave with a clear roadmap for your continued recovery work.

These sessions are conducted virtually via Zoom. The fee is $750 per attendee.

We look forward to meeting you for this specialized time designed to provide support of peers who are all in recovery together. We are hopeaholics and believe in recovery! With the damaging impact of narcissistic parenting, don’t go it alone…come join us if you can!

Small Group Intensive Testimonials

“This is my third intensive! My initial one was in April 2015 and I have been on my recovery journey with Dr. McBride’s outstanding guidance, support, and words of wisdom in the crazy upbringing since 2012. It has taken me 8 years to work through the model that Dr. McBride has established. I thought it was going to be a quick and easy task…I mean, after all, I am a MARY MARVEL (aka Wonder Woman). However, that did not prove to be the case. I had to stay in my own space during my recovery process and be okay with the grief, anxiety, and processing all trauma that happened in my childhood. Through working with Dr. McBride via her five-step program; it has proven to be invaluable in my adult-life recovery and personal betterment. Getting through the times of acceptance and learning to deal with my Mom were the most painful (and longest part of my recovery) that I had to endure. Now that I am “on the other side” of attempting to stop the legacy of maternal narcissism, I am in a much better…much happier place. Waking up each day, knowing that I am working hard to be the best of myself as an individual, gives me peace and happiness. Thank you, thank you, thank you Dr. McBride. I know that I would not be in the part of my life (being happy and not passing on the maternal narcissism traits to my daughter) if it were not for you and your invaluable guidance. I am forever grateful for you saving that part of me as a mother! It was SO worth trusting your process!”

–January 2020 Attendee

“I waited for too many years before finally completing this workshop.  It’s very beneficial and meeting the other “Wonder Women/Mary Marvels” with the same unfortunate vicious sibling rivalry and abandonment as well as crippling self-doubt has given me a new, hopeful sense of community within my terrible sense of loss and lack of abundance in my life.  Females in this “demographic” are at risk economically and need to overcome the hurdles with the stepped plan and that’s our homework which I am tackling by journaling and local counseling (where I can give my psychologist Karyl’s or Dr McBride’s references and worksheets so I can get guidance and follow-through).”

–January 2020 Attendee

“This was an overwhelmingly helpful process. Reading the book “Will I Ever Be Good Enough” was a great first step, but the group setting, led by Dr. McBride with her careful attention to just the right amount of detail + clinical knowledge, was the icing on the cake. Hearing from other women who had such similar experiences as I did, helped to not only validate what I went through but sort of helped form a sisterhood of ACNP’s. Dr. McBride and Michelle were both kind enough, and open enough, to share their personal journeys, which helped as well, as it’s not just “Do this and you’ll feel better”, but more of a roadmap, and a process. I felt comfortable with the group within the first 10 minutes, and I just knew I could share my deepest, darkest thoughts, and it would be ok. And it was.

I kept feeling like I was getting stuck in stages, but as it turns out, remaining in a stage until it’s fully processed is ok, and should be valued for what that part of the process is. Dr. McBride walks through each step in the process so carefully, guiding the group so that everyone has equal time to share, process, and listen. She does a great job, putting her therapist hat on, in making sure that all are comfortable enough with what they share, and allowing each person ample time to get their needs met, while helping each person individually, within the group. I felt a camaraderie, a sisterhood, guided by Dr. McBride, throughout the weekend.

Being completely honest, I wondered if there would be times during the weekend when I’d be bored, or my mind would wander, as it’s a lot of hours! Sat. 9-4, and Sun. 9-1. 11 hours total, including meal breaks? But in actuality, each minute was so valuable, my hand almost fell off from all the notes I took! It was one of those weekends where you forget what actual time it is, as you end up so engrossed in the process.

Like many women who have narcissistic mothers, I’ve done a ton of online research, as well as in-person therapy, and I’ve read a lot of books. This weekend with Dr. McBride supersedes all that I’ve read and was more helpful than a year’s worth of therapy. Unfortunately, narcissism from mother to child isn’t very well studied, understood, or talked about. So much of the therapy out there is “that’s your past, let’s move on”, or “That must make you sad”. Um, yeah, it does, lol. Dr. McBride gets to the heart of the issue, and helps you dig deep into that past, not only validating that yes, this was a terrible way to have been raised by your mother, but that there are concrete steps you can take to help you process this, and figure out how to best live your life from now on.”

— April 2019 Attendee

“It was incredibly valuable to be around women, daughters of narcissistic mothers, who have experienced the same things that I’ve experienced. Not just, “it was complicated with my mom” or “my mom’s got issues” but concrete similar experiences. I’m very grateful for this group, and for Dr. McBride’s workshop that brought us all together.”

— April 2019 Attendee

“What an INCREDIBLE weekend and group of women! Thank you so much for the life’s work that you do to support women around the world. All of us ladies have been texting since we left the workshop and the best way I can describe how I feel after the weekend together, guided by Dr. McBride, is ‘new’ AND ‘renewed’. I am confident that I will continue to work the process and it will continue to work for me and for that I am so grateful. So much peace and recovery for something I never knew was a thing and then once I did, I didn’t know what to do about it.”

— April 2019 Attendee

“The workshop and reading Dr. McBride’s book is the missing link I have been searching for to move past my painful childhood. I can’t begin to express my appreciation for the in-depth and thorough recovery steps. It is the first time I am able to apply something that is so useful and actually works! I loved the workshop and how Dr. McBride would walk us through the series of recovery steps and then provide personalized support and guidance based on our individual circumstances. Dr. McBride’s presence alone provided a sense of comfort and peacefulness. She has a soft, sweet voice and is very caring and compassionate. Dr. McBride is very special in not only does she have the professional experience, knowledge, and education with personality disorders, but can also relate to each person through her childhood and upbringing of parents with disorders. She can fully understand each one of us and is a great mentor!” ”

— April 2019 Attendee

“I am so glad I attended Dr. McBride’s workshop. Sharing my story with a small group of women who truly understood my frustrations and sadness of growing up with a narcissistic mother was very comforting and reassuring that I am not the only one. With the guidance of Dr. Mcbride and the support of the other women, I feel I have a better understanding of the narcissistic nature and how to protect my needs moving forward with my relationship with my mother. So fortunate to have found this counseling.”

— April 2019 Attendee

“I had been told that my experience growing up was not that bad, that I should be over it by now, that I was such a goodhearted person I would never be happy without an open relationship with my mother. Like coming to an oasis in the desert is how I would describe my time with Dr. Karyl McBride in this Small Group Intensive. I heard from her that my childhood experiences would not be right or meet the emotional needs of any child, that my recovery takes as long as it takes, that my relationship with my mother is based on what is comfortable for me at any given time. I am so grateful to Dr McBride for a breakthrough about internal negative messaging that I never could have gotten on my own. This was my main goal in coming to the Intensive & it has been stunning for me – I feel amazingly different inside. Thank you for your work, for your book.”

— September 2018 Attendee

“Dr. McBride is a very warm and understanding person. I appreciate the sisterhood I was able to form with the women in my weekend intensive group and felt a deep empathy that I was not able to receive in my childhood. I won’t forget this experience and will continue to work my way to recovery.” 

— June 2018 Attendee

“I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to attend Dr. McBride’s 5-step recovery weekend intensive workshop. In addition to working through the phases with Dr. McBride, I met a truly incredible group of survivors, each with different stories yet with common threads to which we could all relate. I walked away with a deeper understanding of why, for most of my life, I’ve felt so lost and alone. I got back home feeling empowered to continue my soulful, healing journey and being proud for the first time to truly owning my story through forgiveness, gratitude, and learning to love myself unconditionally. I highly recommend attending the weekend intensive, it’s a game changer.” 

— June 2018 Attendee

“After watching my dad do the victim thing and catching myself doing it and working so hard to get out of that “habit”, my biggest fear for coming to this past weekend was that it would be all victim stuff. I understand allowing myself to feel and to be and to grieve, but I so want to soar and not go back to that victim tact as a life-approach to problems. SO I want to really thank you for the approach that Dr. McBride takes, helping us soar!!” 

— June 2018 Attendee

“After participating in the group, I am finally at peace with myself and my past, and I am healing emotionally. I understand the limitations and dysfunction of my family of origin, don’t expect them to change, and separate myself from the unhealthy and toxic messages I got from them. My life has changed on many levels.” 

— May 2018 Attendee

“I thoroughly needed this event in my life to shake me up just a little bit more. Honestly I could use more of these events. Being surrounded by other women that related so well was such a let my hair down feeling one I will never forget and hold close to my heart forever. In hind sight I believe I was starting to find a new comfortable hiding spot within so I could further deny my feelings but I know now it’s urgent for me to allow my truths to breath so I can accept them and finally be free to be me.

I honestly didn’t expect this experience to make me feel so vulnerable not to that extent anyways as I am the queen of putting on a tough exterior. However having such an accepting kind group of ladies in this warm open space encouraged my feelings to rush out organically and that was awesome to feel so safe. Even though I felt bad that I wasn’t as far along as I had assumed I was it still feels right to know exactly where I am on my healing journey and to trust that it’s ok to begin again, to start over and fill in those skipped gaps because this acceptance part is crucial to the foundation of my healing journey and needs to be properly addressed.” 

–April 2017 Attendee

“I just wanted to say thank you so much! I really enjoyed the weekend and my time in Colorado. It really helped me in my processing and recovery work. I hope to come back again.” 

–April 2017 Attendee

“My feedback is super brief because on the whole I thought it was perfect… I must admit it was intense! Took me a little while to recover- hence my silence – but it was a good recovery, like I had run an emotional marathon… it was amazing to have Dr Karyl start off – and in fact throughout the session – she was so honest and gave us a deeper look in to her own personal experience… It really set the tone for everyone to open up and feel comfortable because the woman who literally wrote the book was laying her heart out on the table”. 

–February, 2017 Attendee

“Hi Dr. McBride, I just wanted to thank you for such a great weekend. I got everything I wanted out of the small group intensives. In retrospect, the most powerful moment for me was sharing my story and getting genuine responses of understanding, care and encouragement from others. I felt such a connection with these ladies and felt so good in their presence. The necklace I’m wearing reminds me that I’m courageous and connected. I left the group feeling more confident. Thank you for creating a safe place to connect and please thank Michelle for me too. I can tell you surround yourself with great people. I can’t thank you enough for your bravery in writing this book. I wish you the very best.”

–B.W.

“My take away from this weekend brought women together that share common threads of emotional scarring constructed by our narcissistic mothers in varying intensities. In my case, my narcissistic mother, always made me feel like I was a burden. I was physically and emotionally invisible to her, unless she wanted to yell at me or have me do something for her. However when I turned thirteen, my role changed dramatically after my father’s death.

In a safe and loving place with Dr. McBride, discussing the similar toxic and emotional, crazy-making languages that were fixed upon us by our narcissistic mothers was incredibly validating to me. Each of us had either engulfing or ignoring mothers, or combinations of both; and with Dr. McBride’s expertise and guidance, we were able to share our pains and coping strategies that we have used throughout our lives. The moments to even talk about these emotional issues with these brave and intelligent women, gave me an inner strength that made me feel that I wasn’t invisible anymore.

The Intensive weekend made me realize that as an adult, with due diligence, I can take charge and reset those negative childhood messages and continue on my journey to become my true and authentic self. It will be a weekend I won’t forget and will lovingly protect and honor. I will remember what you did for me Dr. McBride.”

–B.P.

“The weekend intensive brought together women from all different backgrounds into an environment where we could share openly and discover how much we all had in common. This was GOLD! Despite each of us having a different story we were all working through the process to define ourselves outside of our narcissistic upbringing. I still have a lot of work to do but was inspired by the other women who have done so much already and by how they have taken charge of their lives in such a positive way. Dr. McBride is skilled at leading a group, allowing sharing to be done at will and as each individual feels comfortable. She explains each part of the recovery process through her own personal experiences, insights from her research and participant sharing. If you are just getting started, have gotten stuck or need some new recovery strategies, I would highly recommend attending a small group intensive!”

— K.A.

“I really enjoyed the Small Group Intensive and found it to be immensely healing. Having done an individual intensive as well as now a small group, validated my experience of being raised in a narcissistic home. Hearing other daughters’ experiences, although we come from significantly different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, was uniting because we all could relate to each other’s stories. It was so wonderful and helped me to feel that I am not alone. With Dr. McBride guiding us along the way, I felt my healing and recovery reach a new level. I can’t remember the last time I felt such a deep connection to people, as I didn’t have to worry about them not understanding my perspective. The weekend was definitely one that I will treasure for a lifetime!”

— N.C.

“Thank you so much for creating a comfortable, safe, and stress-free environment for our group! I know you put a lot of effort to help all of us feel at home. Having attended my second Small Group Intensive, I think it is very important to return: at your second group, you are able to put things in a perspective, look at your experience from a different angle, and really listen to the other daughters. At my first group, I had a lot to tell and needed someone to hear my story and validate my experience; this time, I was able to listen, and learn to give others support and validation. I know I am a changed person now, more authentic, stronger, and kinder to myself and other people, including my mother. The last group was just wonderful. I am glad I met those amazing courageous women, and I am endlessly grateful to them and Dr. McBride for support, compassion, and guidance. I am looking forward to the next Small Group Intensive.”

— N.W.

“WOW!!! What an eye-opening experience. Hearing the experiences that other women had growing up with a Mother (or other family member) that was not capable of plugging into their feelings was very powerful!

I not only attended this small group intensive for myself, I attended for my own little daughter. I wanted to gain more insight into maternal narcissism so that I can better equip myself with the tools that I will need to stop this madness and not perpetuate this crazy way of relating to my own daughter.

I am slowly learning the wonderful gift of empathy and it is a task that I am trying to improve within myself each and every day…little step by every little step. Thank you, Dr. McBride for helping me pave the way for my little daughter’s emotional future!”

— M.D.

“Having participated in the group intensive led and guided by Dr. Karyl McBride has been life changing. I finally feel free of emotional chains that did not allow me to be ME.”

— E. M.

“I just can’t express my gratitude to you and the other daughters in our group. I know that I walked out the door a changed person. After so many years, I finally know what was wrong with me and how to “fix” it. I am still processing my experience in the group, and each day I feel better than the day before. I am looking forward to the next small group intensive! And I definitely recommend it to other daughters. It helped me in a way none of my other therapists could.”

— N.W.