back from the borderline cover art

back from the borderline

back from the borderline

By: mollie adler
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About this listen


I don’t want to talk to your personality; I want to talk to your soul. Imagine if your most painful and debilitating mental health symptoms and self-sabotaging behaviors aren’t evidence of 'disorder' or 'dysfunction', but adaptive strategies that once kept you safe. My goal is to help you shift from asking ‘What’s wrong with me?’ to ‘What happened to me?’


The word ‘borderline’ in this podcast has nothing to do with psychiatric labels. It has everything to do with coming back from the inner psychological brink we all experience.


Everyone has found themselves on the edge, in that liminal space where the old self falls apart and the new Self emerges. Here, we explore what it means to undergo true emotional alchemy: that ancient and primordial process of falling apart, confronting the underworld of our psyche, and falling back together into someone stronger, wiser, and more whole.


Many highly sensitive people who identify with the seemingly never-ending list of diagnostic mental health labels contained within ‘the bible of psychiatry’ (the DSM) share the same underlying sense of being irreparably broken, disconnected from their intuition, and paralyzed by life’s existential questions. I believe the resulting—and perfectly understandable—chronic feelings of emptiness and spiritual starvation are the TRUE causes of our current collective ‘mental health crisis.’


Together, we’ll dive into depth psychology, mythology, human consciousness, critical psychiatry, and the impact of trauma to help you begin the process of emotional alchemy. This exploration will help you get to the root cause of your suffering and free yourself from the toxic shame, limiting beliefs, and mental programming that have kept you locked in the chains of your past.


In an era where mental health and spirituality are too often commercialized, I’m not here as a guru with a quick fix to sell you. I don’t believe anyone is ever truly ‘healed’ or ‘cured.’ There is no return to some mythical state of pre-trauma purity, but rather a continuous spiral of unbecoming, unlearning, and transformation. As a fellow seeker, I will be there in your ear, walking alongside you on your path toward wholeness as a sort of parasocial big sister. That, I can promise.


By integrating the concepts we explore together, you’ll begin to see that anyone—even you—can come back from the borderline.


CRAVING MORE? Visit backfromtheborderline.com to dive into my universe, connect with me, access my Patreon, and discover more about my journey and work. Don’t forget to follow Back from the Borderline so new episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays automatically drop into your podcast feed.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

mollie adler Hygiene & Healthy Living Personal Development Personal Success Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Spirituality
Episodes
  • why you’re obsessed with people who can’t love you back

    why you’re obsessed with people who can’t love you back
    Dec 23 2025

    This episode examines limerence not as a personality flaw or a trendy attachment term, but as a learned psychological strategy that begins in childhood. Rather than treating obsession as irrational, we explore how it develops as a way to survive inconsistent, misattuned, or emotionally absent parenting, and how that same strategy later shows up in adult relationships.


    This phenomenon explains why so many of us become fixated on emotionally unavailable partners and why the end of even a short relationship (or even a situationship) can feel devastating in a way that doesn’t match the actual reality of the situation. It’s why obsession often gets mislabeled as “love” or “passion.” We look at how the mind uses fantasy and idealization to stabilize itself and why emotionally unavailable people reliably trigger these patterns.


    What This Episode Covers


    • What limerence actually is (and what it isn’t)
    • Why obsession often forms around people you barely know
    • How childhood coping strategies turn into adult romantic fixation
    • The role of emotional unavailability and intermittent reinforcement
    • Why intensity gets confused with intimacy and “fate”
    • How fantasy and projection stabilize the nervous system
    • The overlooked spiritual dimension of limerence and devotion
    • What it means to finally step out of the pattern without self-blame


    UNLOCK BONUS EPISODES, VOICE NOTES & THE FULL ARCHIVE


    Join the BFTB Patreon community and become a Premium Submarine, where you’ll unlock hundreds of hours of paywalled content I’ve been building since 2021.

    ⟁ Visit backfromtheborderline.com for free resources, updates, and everything else I offer.

    ⟁ Or go straight to patreon.com/backfromtheborderline to join now.


    Once you’re in, you’ll get a private feed you can add to Spotify, Apple, or your favorite podcast app, so you can listen to every episode I’ve ever released, all in one place.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 8 mins
  • nick fuentes and the cult of irony

    nick fuentes and the cult of irony
    Dec 18 2025

    This preview of a Patreon-exclusive episode breaks down exactly how Nick Fuentes functions as a media figure and why his influence persists despite bans, persistent backlash, and public condemnation. Rather than arguing about whether or not he is dangerous, I analyze how his livestreams work in practice. We dig into the role humor plays in his persona, explore chat dynamics his his livestreams, and how irony creates commitment and shared identity among his loyal followers, the Groypers.


    The episode traces how young men who feel disconnected from institutions and the future itself get absorbed into this kind of online ecosystem and how responsibility and accountability both stay intentionally slippery when everything is framed as a joke. In the premium portion of the exploration, I also examine exit paths and what actually helps people disengage once they’ve been pulled in by these types of dynamics, as well as what this tells us about the broader culture that keeps producing figures like Fuentes.


    ✧ WANT THE FULL EPISODE? ✧

    Every week, I share these extended episodes on Patreon. If what you’ve heard here has helped or intrigued you, the full version is where the real magic happens. Your support keeps my work independent and ad-light. Support from my Patrons is how I fund my life and make sure what I do stays honest, unfiltered, and as listener-powered as possible.


    Head to patreon.com/backfromtheborderline to sign up today. Search the episode title and keep listening.


    (Tip for iPhone users: sign up through Safari or Chrome to skip Apple’s extra fees.)

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    40 mins
  • when you’re done being the good daughter

    when you’re done being the good daughter
    Dec 16 2025

    This episode examines what happens when the instinct to please, fix, and perform finally breaks down. It’s an archetypal investigation into three roles that often define women’s emotional lives: the Good Child who earns love, the Witch who learns to wield power, and the Daughter-Savior who tries to repair everyone else’s pain. Through personal narrative, cultural analysis, and depth psychology, this story uncovers how these identities form and how they can be released without bitterness. Listeners will recognize the quiet exhaustion of carrying a family’s emotional weight and the shock of realizing that love isn’t something you should have to earn through service. The end result of listening should be a kind of reflective catharsis. The experience of hearing your own pattern described clearly and the relief of imagining life beyond it.


    UNLOCK BONUS EPISODES, VOICE NOTES & THE FULL ARCHIVE


    Join the BFTB Patreon community and become a Premium Submarine, where you’ll unlock hundreds of hours of paywalled content I’ve been building since 2021.


    ⟁ Visit backfromtheborderline.com for free resources, updates, and everything else I offer.

    ⟁ Or go straight to patreon.com/backfromtheborderline to join now.


    Once you’re in, you’ll get a private feed you can add to Spotify, Apple, or your favorite podcast app, so you can listen to every episode I’ve ever released, all in one place.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 9 mins
All stars
Most relevant
This podcast saved my life, and is helping me unravel the why behind so many of the traumatic experiences I've had and continue to have in my life. Molly gets it - she has a mental health diagnosis herself. She's also dedicated to properly researching whatever information she shares on her podcast, & she doesn't shy away from uncomfortable topics. I have hope for my future again & am seeing improvements in my mental health & behaviour the more I listen to this pod. 10/10 would 100% recommend listening for anybody with a mental health diagnosis, or for anybody who loves somebody who does.

Essential listening. Healing & well researched

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