Gaslighting is one of the most dangerous types of emotional abuse, yet gaslighting examples can be difficult to spot in everyday life. Why? It’s a covert form of abuse.  It only works because it’s invisible.  No one comes out and says they’re gaslighting you. Unlike more blatant forms of abuse, such as verbal abuse, the abuser can deny they are doing something harmful to you. This is why gaslighting is so effective.  If we have any emotional investment at all in a person who frequently gaslights us, this manipulation can create an almost insurmountable threat to our own ability to...

A childhood spent being raised by narcissistic parents who are self-absorbed, manipulative, and have little to no empathy can lead to serious adult life struggles. Narcissism is a broad term that describes not just a clinical diagnosis. It’s also a set of behaviors, attitudes, and language that involves a sense of entitlement, grandiosity, aggression toward others, and shallow emotions.  If this description already reminds you of one of your parents’ behavior, continue reading to check if your adult emotional issues result from parental narcissism. What is Parental Narcissism?  As J.N. Leggio, Ph.D., states in his doctoral thesis, parental narcissism is...

Healing from narcissistic abuse is a process, and the journey to recovery has many stages.  We can only begin to heal when the realizations we have about our narcissistic ex-partner lead us to an enlightened view of the relationship.   Yet, we can get stuck before we have these realizations if we do the wrong things. Below are seven things we should try not to do so we don’t get stuck on the way to a full recovery.  What to Avoid as You’re Healing from Narcissistic Abuse It’s tempting to fall into the traps below. Sometimes not doing them can...

If you’re with a narcissist, you may be dreading the holidays. You may already be familiar with some of the ways they try to ruin any festive or fun plans you’ve tried to make.  [Read: How Narcissists Ruin Holidays: It’s Not Your Imagination] Here are some ways to survive the narcissist during the holiday season and make it through to the next year with your sanity intact. Even if you’re in no-contact, it’s important to keep in mind that holidays are a prime season for trying to pull ex-partners back into the web. Therefore, I’ve included a special section on how...

A native of Ontario, Canada the author enjoys being a cat mom, a full time freelancer and fiction writer. She has written for plenty of blogs: The Canadian Stutter Society, The Haven, Aroga Yoga, The Hisdoryan, Women Writers Women's Books, Visibly Affirming, Rebelle Society, Historic UK, A Tribe of Women, The Good Men Project, and Elephant Journal. She has also contributed to the No Shame Mighty newsletter and the pandemic made website View From My Window.

There are ten things I’d like to put in a letter to the narcissist who destroyed me. These are things I never thought I would be able to say when our relationship first ended. Once upon a time, I thought the emotional hell of breaking up and going no-contact with a narcissist would scald me alive.  Then the intensity faded to a slow burn and now the entire relationship feels almost like a fever dream.   Was that actually me back there? Yes… and no. Oh, if he could see me now. Too bad for him — he never will. A...

My name is Chelsie and I'm 36 years old. I was born and raised in Denver, Colorado, I have no kids or pets and I like to scrapboook and write on my free time. I'm the oldest of 5 kids, I grew up in foster care and I am a survivor of narcissistic abuse.