Narcissistic Abuse Therapy (Parent/Family)

Parental Narcissistic Abuse

As a child, your parent was excessively critical and only praised you for material achievements. Your parent was charming and fun to everyone else, but to you they were mean and controlling. You learned early on that people pleasing was the safest way to avoid verbal attacks or anger as a child. You never felt good enough.

As an adult, you do your best to have a relationship with your parent, but this means you always give in. You try to set boundaries, but this makes your parent angry, accusatory, and withholding. You try to resolve conflict but they dismiss your feelings or tell you to be over it already. One day your parent is yelling at you and the next day they act like everything is fine. You feel crazy.  In daily life you are very anxious and worried about making others angry.

Symptoms of Parental Narcissistic Abuse 

People who have experienced parental narcissistic abuse may exhibit the below signs:

• Low self-esteem
• Difficulty in relationships
• Difficulty trusting own judgment
• Preoccupation with achievements
• People pleasing, struggling to say no
• Constant guilt
• Difficulty regulating emotions
• Difficulty trusting others
• Confusion

Narcissistic Family Abuse

Trying to survive in your family is like playing a game of chess. You need to be steps ahead of everyone else to prevent drama, social exclusion, and conflict.

A narcissistic family system is a dysfunctional family unit with at least one narcissistic parent. In a narcissistic family, it is common for family members to gang up on one person, compete with each other, or scapegoat one child and favor another (golden child). It is not uncommon for narcissistic family systems to have more than one narcissist in the family.

If any of the above sounds like you, it’s possible you have experienced narcissistic abuse by a parent, sibling, or family member. Parental narcissistic abuse occurs when a parent with narcissistic traits emotionally abuses and manipulates their child. If you are experiencing physical violence/abuse, please call the Domestic Violence Hotline. To report child abuse or neglect please call Child Protective Services.

How Therapy Helps with Narcissistic Abuse Recovery

You don’t have to be caught in the drama any longer. Therapy will help you feel free and at peace. I specialize in helping adult children heal from parental or family narcissistic abuse.

Through therapy you can:

• Recognize signs of a narcissistic family or parent
• Stop playing the toxic family game
• Identify manipulative and gaslighting behaviors
• Increase self-esteem and self-worth
• Feel confident to set boundaries
• Decrease feelings of guilt and shame
• Improve romantic relationships

Narcissistic Abuse Recovery Therapist

If you think you’ve experienced narcissistic abuse by a family member, I can help you. Contact me to get started with narcissistic abuse therapy, offered online in Tennessee and Georgia.