i don't speak from a textbook. I speak from the trenches.

---

 My father’s name was Keith Playford. 

In 1971 he was at the centre of the UK’s first ever legal battle 

over a Jehovah’s Witness blood transfusion refusal 

— a landmark moment in British medical and legal history

 documented by The Sunday Times, The Guardian, The Independent and Eve Magazine. 

He died at 28. I was two. 

I have spent 26 years as The Original ExJW Therapist helping people heal from exactly this. 

You can find my specialist ExJW practice at exjwcounseling.com

Recovering your identity after a cult or a high-control marriage isn't a theory for me—it’s how I stayed alive.

At 16, I ran away with nothing but the clothes on my back. 

My family and that entire community shunned me. They still do. 

Because I was alone and targeted, I became prey.

 I spent years with a narcissist who stole all that I loved and tried to break my spirit.

Then my body handed me the bill. I’ve fought cancer twice. 

I know that chronic pain, inflammation, and exhaustion are the physical symptoms of narcissistic abuse and self-abandonment.

Three decades ago, I decided to turn all this pain into power.  I went to British university and gained degree-level qualifications and beyond. 

I needed the clinical data to explain the madness I had survived.

 I needed specialist narcissistic abuse recovery to understand the mechanics of how people 

like us are programmed to self-sacrifice.

But qualifications in psychology, counseling and therapy weren't enough to fix a soul that had been through war. 

To heal the parts of me that clinical data couldn't reach, I went deeper. 

I studied the esoteric to enhance my intuitive reading skills, became a Reiki Master and an Angel Therapy Practitioner.

 I studied the work of Louise Hay to understand emotional health after cancer and how our thoughts manifest as disease. 

I mastered Celestial Strategy because I realised we aren't just fighting our pasts—

we are moving within a cosmic clock.

I have earned my stripes.

 I stood in the wreckage of my own life and decided I was done with auditioning for approval. 

 I established boundaries  and made my own health—emotionally, spiritually, and financially—my priority.

Today, my life is mine. I live on my boat—my boho cottage on the water. 

It’s filled with my 3 cats, my dog, my houseplants, and the sound of Stevie Nicks. 

I found the love of my life, but we don’t pretend it’s easy. 

We navigate the clash of our traumas with raw honesty.

 I am at peace because I stopped betraying myself to keep others comfortable.

If you are tired of being the human safety net, there is a way out. 

This is clinical therapy for self-sabotage.

 It isn't a "journey"—it’s a decision to look at the facts and act on them.

You’ve been a world-class fixer for everyone but yourself.

 It stops here. 

I’ve got the grit to hold the line for you until you’re strong enough to hold it for yourself.

Whenever you're ready, I'm here.

Lisa Magdalena