Subscribing to Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) Education™
A Trauma-Informed Publication With International Support Community for Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) Survivors
Facilitated by the researcher and clinician who coined the term ‘Family Scapegoating Abuse’ (FSA)
Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) Education is proud to be a Substack Best Seller in 2024 and 2025 thanks to the support of our paid subscriber community.
Visit my Substack from a browser (versus the Substack Mobile App) to access my Navigation Menu and Site Directory (which lists free and paid subscriber features with links) at https://familyscapegoathealing.substack.com.
To learn more about my research on Family Scapegoating Abuse and my introductory book on FSA, visit my website at https://scapegoatrecovery.com.
In a hurry? Scroll down to learn about my Free and Paid Subscriber Benefits
“Thank you for providing a place to share the truth, a place to “tell” the until now hidden stories of our lives. A place where it’s held in a respectful manner for us so we can see it in the light and so we can objectively learn about it from a different perspective.” - Paid Subscriber
"Rebecca's work helped me understand years of isolation and gave me words for pain I couldn’t explain. ‘Rejected, Blamed & Shamed’ is the most comprehensive resource on dysfunctional family dynamics I’ve found. It captures the torment of scapegoating with clarity and validation—I never realized there were so many of us out there.- Paid Subscriber
Remember to find and read your ‘Welcome’ email after subscribing so that you understand how to navigate Substack and access my paid subscriber content.
Understand What Happened to You in Your Family
Welcome to a space where your journey is honored, your voice is heard, and your path to healing is supported by a community of compassionate peers. Together, we can navigate the complexities of recovery and celebrate the power of community connection. My Substack offers free and paid subscriber benefits to help survivors of Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) understand the type of insidious abuse they were impacted by, because to heal, we need to know what we are wanting to recover FROM.
On my Substack, I combine clinically valid education; relevant research (my own qualitative research on FSA as well as peer-reviewed FSA-focused quantitative research studies I contribute to); my 20-plus years of professional experience as a clinician specializing in family abuse and complex trauma; and my own lived experience as an FSA adult survivor to provide a unique online space that is proven to benefit subscribers.
Your paid subscription (or FSA Research patronage) allows me to devote more time to these endeavors as I seek to publicize the painful lived reality of FSA within clinical and academic settings to benefit child victims and adult survivors. Via this financial support from my paid subscribers, I hope to realize my vision of one day working ‘full time’ for my Substack so I can create an even fuller spectrum of FSA Recovery-related content for those who are seeking this type of targeted and dedicated support.
The Power of Being Heard, Validated, and Believed…
Recovering from family scapegoating abuse (FSA) is a courageous and often solitary journey, but it doesn’t have to be walked alone. Embracing active community participation and taking the leap to connect with other survivors can play a crucial role in your healing process. Engaging with a supportive community that understands FSA and its effects provides not just a sense of belonging, but also invaluable opportunities for shared experiences, mutual understanding, and collective empowerment.
Scapegoating typically isolates the victim, creating deep emotional wounds that affect self-identity and self-worth. By incorporating transpersonal principles and theory into my Substack offerings, such as mindfulness, connection to a more expanded sense of self, connection to community, and a focus on healing beyond the ego, survivors of FSA may transcend the limiting beliefs and emotional patterns resulting from negative childhood conditioning associated with being in the ‘family scapegoat’ role.
I VALUE AND PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY: ALL Chat threads are protected by a paywall, allowing for private community discussions on sensitive material, such as our Ask the Community Chats. Your Chat replies or comments are not accessible to search engines nor are they accessible anywhere else on Substack. I also block AI Training on my Substack.
Scroll down to learn more about our Community.
Free vs. Paid Subscriptions
My Substack is not right for everyone.
It’s okay to start out as a free subscriber to test the waters; however, you will not be immersed in the Community experience, which for the most part takes place behind a paywall to protect members’ privacy.
It’s also okay to subscribe at the monthly rate and then end your subscription after a month if my paid offerings don’t seem right for you.
If you’re feeling confident about joining, I recommend you purchase the annual subscription as you save a bit of money that way.
Free subscription:
You’ll be able to watch my live video streams where I cover various FSA topics and do collaborative videos with others. This is a new Substack feature that was rolled out in March 2025. If you miss the live stream, you can play it back later via a Post I’ll send out the same day.
You’ll receive a post from me at least once a month addressing Family Scapegoating Abuse and recovery as well as my FSA Monthly Newsletter and have access to past public posts in my archive as well as occasional public previews of my paid subscriber content.
Examples of my public posts include:
Sibling Estrangement in Families That Scapegoat
Understanding Structural Dissociation and the Value of Noticing 'Parts'
Paid subscription (monthly or annual):
In addition to my public posts and unlimited access to my entire archive, you’ll also receive the below exclusive Paid Subscriber content several times a month:
Practical ‘How to’ posts like this one addressing how to respond to ‘no contact’ questions from people who don’t understand FSA.
Tools and tips like this list of Journal Prompts specific to FSA recovery.
Worksheets that are carefully designed to help FSA survivors move beyond the damaging scapegoat narrative imposed upon them by family - Here’s an example: https://familyscapegoathealing.substack.com/p/reclaiming-your-worth-after-family-scapegoat-abuse
Paid subscribers also enjoy the following exclusive benefits:
Access to Community features such as our weekly and monthly topic-themed private Group Chats, as well as an Ask the Community feature. Comments and replies you make in Chat are paywall-protected and won’t be picked up by search engines.
Live Stream Videos With the Ability to Send Live Chat Messages: You’ll receive an email and/or be notified in Chat when I initiate a new live video stream. You’ll also be able to engage in a paywall-protected live Chat during the live stream. If you miss it, you can watch the playback via a Post you’ll receive in your email and I’ll also alert you in our Chat link. I just started live streaming in March 2025 (it is a new Substack feature). I’ll be doing regular live streams and will also be participating in collaborative live streams with others.
Every Friday morning (PST) you’ll receive an email invitation to participate in our private ‘Small Gains’ Chat where community members share any FSA recovery gains they experienced during the previous week.
My popular FSA Recovery Affirmations with audio feature - emailed to you every Monday.
FSA Research Patrons
All of the above.
Advance previews of my FSA research findings before they are published independently by me or in peer-reviewed journals.
Your generous contribution helps me to spend more time researching on FSA and bringing international attention to this poorly-understood form of abuse via my publications, further legitimizing the experiences of scapegoated adult survivors.
All subscribers (free and paid) receive online access to my FSA Recovery Quick-Start Guide - the link will be included in the ‘Welcome’ email you’ll receive after subscribing.
“Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) Education with Rebecca C Mandeville, LMFT, CCTP, is a source of community support, articles and education for those struggling with controlling or abusive family relationships.
Dr. Simon Rogoff, author of Narcissism, Trauma, and Celebrity (Subscriber)
The Value of Community
Embracing community involvement and reaching out to connect with fellow survivors can be transformative for your healing. By engaging with a supportive community that understands FSA and its devastating effects as well as recovery challenges, adult survivors gain more than just a sense of belonging - they also open doors to shared experiences, mutual understanding, and collective empowerment.
Via the Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) Education Substack, our community of paid subscribers have co-created an online community that is both validating and supportive. Most of our community members are between the ages of 40 and 80 years old, and there is a great deal of wisdom to be found in our private Chat conversations. Many of these subscribers have shared they are experiencing significant forward movement in their recovery as they engage with other survivors of FSA who understand their experiences via our private Chat space where I post topic-themed threads each week.
“Misfits, outsiders, scapegoats. This is groundbreaking work.”
Kelly Thompson, author of There’s Nothing Wrong With You and There Never Was (Subscriber)
Subscription Process - READ CAREFULLY
Signing Up to My Substack and ‘Recommendations’: While signing up, you’ll be invited to follow my ‘scene’ by subscribing to other Substack’s that I recommend due to their quality content (free or paid). If you prefer not to subscribe to these Substack’s you can simply ‘deselect’ one or more of these Substack’s or click on ‘deselect all’ by unchecking the appropriate boxes to decline specific recommendations - You can also just click ‘skip’ at the bottom of the screen to bypass all of my recommendations.
Confirm Your Subscription (Double Opt-In): Once you subscribe, you’ll need to confirm your subscription via the email you’ll receive from my Substack.
After confirming your subscription, you’ll receive a very important, detailed Welcome email that you’ll want to read in its entirety to ensure you have the best experience of my Substack site. If you don’t see these emails, check your Promotions, Spam, or All Mail folders as they may have ended up there. You’ll want to then move those emails into your inbox so our emails don’t end up in those folders again.
PLEASE NOTE: Your monthly subscription renews automatically every billing period until you cancel it. Annual subscriptions are not automatically renewed.
UPGRADING FROM FREE TO PAID: If you sign up for free to my Substack but want to upgrade to a paid subscription later, you’ll want to visit my home page using a BROWSER and not the Substack Mobile App.
Important Disclaimer: The information shared on this Substack is designed for educational purposes and should not be considered a replacement for professional mental health care. While I am a therapist, this platform does not facilitate a therapeutic relationship and I am not acting as a therapist on the Substack platform. Please understand that online content cannot address individual needs. For crisis support in the U.S., please reach out to: Crisis Text Line (741741), Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (988), or Emergency Services (911).
🔴 NEED HELP NOW? Being scapegoated can be extremely traumatizing. If you feel in danger of harming yourself, this is a list of international hotlines where you can speak to someone: https://blog.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines/ You can also search for crisis support in your country here: https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/11181469?hl=enFamily Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) Education is supported by readers - not ads. To receive new posts and exclusive benefits to support you in your FSA recovery, consider subscribing today.
Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) is a trademarked term. By requiring that permissions be granted for associating goods and services with the term Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA), I have an opportunity to ensure that the planned content or group offerings(s) accurately reflect my research findings on this unique systemic phenomenon associated with dysfunctional and narcissistic family systems, thereby protecting consumers from distorted or erroneous interpretations of my original FSA research (I do not charge for the granted permissions).
