Living with or recovering from narcissistic abuse
Do you need help to escape from narcissistic abuse within your relationship, help with recovery/healing after being in a relationship with a narcissist, or help in coping/managing within a relationship with a narcissistic partner?
If so, I can help you.
Narcissistic abuse may be emotional, psychological, physical, financial or sexual, – and any combination of these abusive behaviours.
Victims of narcissistic abuse often experience symptoms similar to PTSD, including panic attacks, anxiety, flashbacks, intrusive, invasive, or unwanted thoughts, feelings of despair, inadequacy, helplessness, loneliness and isolation, avoidance and feeling hyper-alert and hyper-vigilant.
A narcissist’s ultimate aim is to control their victim’s behaviour and they do this by manipulating and controlling in a subtle, slow and deliberate way. They will try to control your thoughts and desires and you may also be manipulated into disengaging from friends and family (so that you will have only the ‘support’ of your narcissist), staying at home, not going to work, engaging in sexual acts, and spending your money on the narcissist.
Narcissists are masters of manipulation and their most common strategy is gaslighting. Emotional and psychological manipulation causes emotional pain, confusion, low self-esteem, anxiety, shame, and guilt.
Experiencing narcissistic abuse is a form of trauma and you may feel physical symptoms, such as headaches, digestive problems, bodily aches and pains and stress from feeling on edge all the time.
During narcissistic abuse (or after surviving narcissistic abuse), you may experience any of the following:
- Anxiety and panic attacks
- Hypervigilance, intrusive/negative thoughts, confusion
- Withdrawal and/or avoidance
- Depression
- Emotional problems like fear, guilt, or irritability
- Increased alcohol consumption or substance abuse
- Low self-esteem and low self-confidence
If you have now reached the point where you realise that you need professional help, in order to protect/salvage your own mental health, a counsellor/psychotherapist can help you to exit the relationship (if you have made the decision to leave) and to process the grief attached to ending that relationship.
If you are unable to leave the relationship, a counsellor/psychotherapist can help you to learn how to set boundaries and communicate effectively with the narcissist to reduce the pain and suffering within that abusive relationship.
Healing from narcissistic abuse is not an easy process, but you can heal and live a full happy life.
A counsellor/psychotherapist will be able to help you to:
- Understand your feelings
- Overcome self-harming behaviours
- Reclaim your identity
- Build new coping skills
- Challenge your negative thoughts and feelings
- Deal with depression, anxiety or panic attacks
- Fight the urge to contact or to get back with the abuser
- Forgive yourself
Recovering from narcissistic abuse is not easy and it is not something you have to do alone. You can seek help from a professional counsellor/psychotherapist, such as myself.
Please feel free to contact me via the contact form on my website or you can phone me on my mobile (07913 979561) for an initial chat, if you prefer.
I offer a free 20-minute initial telephone consultation.
Call me now and get the help that you need!