Welcome back to Unapologetic Parenting, the podcast where we say the quiet parts out loud about high-conflict co-parenting, blended families, and the family court system—and then talk about what actually works. In this episode, host Carl Knickerbocker dives into one of the most maddening (and, when you step back, genuinely hilarious) realities of dealing with high-conflict, narcissistic co-parents: if there’s anything they can mess with, they will. Big things. Small things. Completely unneces...
Dec 17, 2025
10 min
Welcome back to Unapologetic Parenting, the podcast where we take an unfiltered look at high-conflict co-parenting, narcissistic dynamics, blended families, and the realities of family court—without sugarcoating, and without pretending these problems resolve themselves. In this episode, Carl Knickerbocker tackles a fascinating and often dangerous phenomenon that shows up again and again in high-conflict cases: the complete inability of highly narcissistic, disordered parents to recognize how ...
Dec 17, 2025
11 min
In this revealing episode of Unapologetic Parenting, host Carl Knickerbocker tackles the all-too-common struggle of trying to co-parent with a narcissistic ex, and why it often feels utterly impossible. Co-parenting typically requires flexibility, shared goals, and mutual respect – qualities a narcissistic ex may refuse to engage with, prioritizing control and conflict instead. Carl delves into the traits that define narcissistic behavior in co-parenting situations, explaining how a narcissis...
Oct 29, 2024
10 min
We hear mixed messages about leaving relationships all the time. If only you were stronger, you would have left sooner. If only you were stronger, you would have stayed longer and tried harder. Weak people focus on themselves too much...and weak people don't focus on themselves and their needs enough. Such messages are unhelpful and often get us nowhere except bogged down in shame and self-doubt. The better path is to focus on what's ahead and to pour our energy into movin...
Apr 5, 2023
3 min
Hypothesis: the heart of so many of the family court’s judgment errors boils down to the emotional illiteracy of the lawyers, judges, therapists, and other paraprofessionals attached to the system. The family court system is not trauma informed. The judges are not therapists and spend the least amount of time learning about the case out of all the players. The therapists attached to the system are often opportunists to make matters worse for their own gain. Facilitators an...
Mar 30, 2023
6 min
Court-ordered coparenting is pretty much doomed to fail when one of the parents is highly narcissistic. When the courts take a one-size-fits-all approach to coparenting expectations and standards, they end up creating a sure-to-fail situation where everyone involved loses. That is, everyone except those who directly profit from the increased conflict, legal expenses, and court-ordered therapy work that is generated by trying to force those who are incapable of collaborative parent...
Mar 24, 2023
9 min
Narcissists seek attention, plain and simple. They thrive off of baiting others into conflict and needless interactions. The same generally goes for Borderlines and other various disordered exes. When baiting is an issue (i.e. the narcissist acts out in one of their many attention-seeking ways), the best antidote is to remain deeply focused on your own vision of what you are working to create in your life. The narcissist seeks to divert your attention away from you own life...
Apr 17, 2021
9 min
We do not teach out kids about narcissism, borderline, and other disorders because of their other parent. We teach them about high-conflict individuals and about the importance of standards and boundaries because those lessons are crucial to a good life. Whether the other parent is high-conflict or narcissistic or not, it is important to teach our kids about how to handle themselves in a real world that is populated by significant numbers of problematic people.
Apr 17, 2021
11 min
Child exchanges can be uncomfortable and tense...been there! This episode discusses several potential remedies and rules of thumb for conducting child exchanges with a high-conflict or disordered coparent.
Apr 17, 2021
14 min
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