“Why don’t you just talk to them?” “I’m sure you just misunderstood them. You’ll work it out.” “Well, you must have done something wrong, otherwise that person wouldn’t have done that to you.” Do any of these responses sound familiar? To those who have dealt with narcissistic abuse, you’ve probably heard these responses when you’ve tried to get advice or […]
“Well, at least you weren’t physically abused.” For decades, we’ve heard this sentence used to invalidate those who experienced forms of emotional, verbal, or other forms of psychological abuse. This sentence told victims of abuse, “You didn’t really have it that bad if you weren’t hit”. It invalidated true abuse victims’ experiences. Any form of abuse is abuse. While physical […]
Six years ago, I made the difficult choice to go “no contact” with my mom. Those who have wrestled with navigating toxic and abusive family relationships know how hard it can be to step away. It’s easy to fall back into accepting the “known” toxic behavior of someone close to you when it’s familiar. It’s even harder to step into […]