You are not crazy. You are recovering from narcissistic abuse.
Healing From Narcissistic Abuse
If you've spent months—or even years—questioning your own memory, apologizing for things you didn't do, feeling like you've lost yourself, or wondering whether you're the problem, you're not alone. These are common experiences after prolonged narcissistic abuse.
Understanding Narcissistic Abuse
Narcissistic abuse is much more than a difficult relationship or frequent arguments. It is often a pattern of manipulation that slowly erodes your confidence, your trust in yourself, and your sense of reality.
The Experience of Narcissistic Abuse
You may have been subjected to gaslighting, coercive control, intermittent reinforcement, chronic self-doubt, trauma bonding, flying monkeys, hoovering, emotional, psychological, physical, financial and spiritual abuse
You may wonder whether you're "too sensitive" or even whether you're the abusive one. These reactions are incredibly common after prolonged narcissistic abuse and are often the result of the manipulation itself—not evidence that you're the problem.
Whether your relationship involved a romantic partner, parent, sibling, adult child, or coworker, healing is possible.
If you're here, someone probably told you that you're "too sensitive," that you're "remembering it wrong," or that it "wasn't that bad." The gaslighting is real but you're not imagining what happened to you. And you're not crazy.
Narcissistic abuse is real, it's calculated, and it leaves marks that don't always show — even years later. If any of this feels familiar, you're in the right place:
You were charmed and love-bombed early on, then slowly pulled away from the people who supported you
You've started to doubt your own memory of events, even when you know what you saw and felt
You feel like you're constantly walking on eggshells, trying to prevent an explosion you can't predict
You've lost pieces of yourself — your confidence, your ambition, your sense of safety, maybe your reputation, your money, or your health
When you've tried to hold them accountable, they turned it around and made themselves the victim
You've felt trapped by fear of what happens if you push back or leave
You May Be Experiencing Narcissistic Abuse If...
You find yourself thinking:
✓ Maybe I'm overreacting.
✓ Maybe I'm the narcissist.
✓ I don't know what's real anymore.
✓ I apologize even when I haven't done anything wrong.
✓ I feel guilty for setting boundaries.
✓ I miss someone who repeatedly hurt me.
✓ You are questioning what trauma bonding is and if it is what you’re experiencing.
✓ I can't stop thinking about the relationship even though I know it wasn't healthy.
✓ My friends or family have turned against me after hearing only one side of the story.
✓ I feel like I've completely lost myself.
If these thoughts feel familiar, you are not alone. They are incredibly common among survivors of narcissistic abuse and often reflect the effects of prolonged emotional manipulation—not personal weakness.
Why Does the Person Who Hurt Me Keep Wanting My Attention?
One of the most confusing parts of narcissistic abuse is realizing that someone can treat you badly while still seeming to need your attention, your reaction, or your emotional engagement.
You may find yourself asking:
“If they don't love me, why won't they leave me alone?”
The concept of narcissistic supply can help explain some of this dynamic. It refers to the attention, validation, emotional reactions, admiration, or sense of control that someone with strong narcissistic traits may seek from others. And it isn't always positive attention — anger, fear, arguments, and attempts to defend yourself can also keep you emotionally engaged.
Understanding this can change the question from “Why are they doing this to me?” to the far more powerful and empowering “Why am I still giving this person so much of my emotional energy?”
That shift can be an important part of healing.
Learn More About Narcissistic Supply →
A Client's Experience of Narcissistic Abuse Recovery
For many people, understanding what happened is only the beginning. Healing means learning to trust yourself again, reconnecting with your body, and finding tools that actually help you move forward.
One client described her experience this way:
What brought me to therapy was the end of a relationship with a narcissist and the difficulty I was having processing the pain that came with it. I needed help making sense of what had happened.
When I began, I was struggling with my internal world. I kept questioning a decision I knew, on some level, was right — and I had lost the ability to simply live in my body. My trauma was rooted in childhood, and my body had truly kept the score, holding onto what my mind couldn't fully process.
I've been on a therapeutic journey my whole life having grown up with a narcissistic mother and have worked with many therapists along the way. What set Francesca apart was that she offered me tools I had never encountered before — ones that quieted the noise in my head and, for the first time, let me sit with my body without checking out.
I feel stronger and more resilient than I ever have.
Amino acid support, in particular, has been life-changing in helping me work through trauma that had been living in my body for years.
To anyone trying to understand why they were with a narcissist, or struggling through the aftermath of leaving: good therapy, paired with self-education and the right tools — amino acid support, EMDR, spirituality — can change your life. It did mine.
— Linda B.
Healing from narcissistic abuse IS ABSOLUTELY POSSIBLE
Whether the relationship is with a spouse or romantic partner, parent, sibling, adolescent or adult child, or coworker, narcissistic abuse can be controlling, manipulative, traumatizing, and deeply damaging to your emotional and psychological well-being.
Narcissistic Abuse Doesn't Only Happen in Romantic Relationships
When most people hear the words narcissistic abuse, they think of a romantic partner or perhaps a narcissistic parent. But narcissistic abuse can happen in many different relationships — and the impact can be just as profound.
You may have grown up with a narcissistic parent and are only now beginning to understand how deeply that relationship shaped you. You may be struggling with a narcissistic sibling, adult child, or another family member.
Or you may be experiencing narcissistic abuse at work.
A narcissistic boss, colleague, business partner, or other person in a position of power can use many of the same patterns: manipulation, gaslighting, triangulation, blame-shifting, reputation attacks, intimidation, and attempts to undermine your confidence and credibility.
The circumstances may look different, but the experience can leave you feeling remarkably similar: confused, hypervigilant, depleted, angry, ashamed, afraid to trust your own judgment, or constantly questioning what actually happened.
A Real Example: Narcissistic Abuse in the Workplace
One of my clients came to me while in the midst of what she described as a targeted narcissistic attack in the workplace. She was spiraling, afraid of losing her job and her credibility. Together, we worked on helping her get grounded, recognize the manipulation, protect herself, and rebuild her confidence and position as a leader.
She ultimately chose to stay and fight for her job — and therapy helped her do exactly that.
“I first met with Francesca when I was in the midst of what can only be described as a targeted narcissistic attack in the workplace. I was spiraling, in fear of losing my job and my credibility. Francesca helped me to identify whether I wanted to stay at the job or leave and committed to supporting me either way. Once I decided to stay and fight for my job, Francesca gave me the tools to get grounded and reestablish my position as a leader. She offered techniques to protect myself from the vicious attacks and helped me to rebuild.”
“When I faltered or fell into self-doubt, Francesca would not allow revisionist history; she reminded me of my expertise and credentials and propelled me forward.
I was able not just to survive the toxic situation, but I thrived.”
“To say that I could not have done this without Francesca is an understatement.”
— J. Wilson, August 2026
Narcissistic Abuse During Divorce and Custody
Divorcing or separating from a narcissistic partner can be one of the most difficult experiences you will ever face. What should be a process of separating your lives can become another arena for manipulation, control, intimidation, and emotional warfare. You may find yourself being blamed for the very things they are doing, watching them portray themselves as the victim, or feeling as though every attempt to protect yourself or your children is being turned against you.
When children are involved, the stakes can feel even higher. Narcissistic abuse can continue long after the relationship ends through attempts to manipulate the children, damage your reputation, create conflict, or maintain control over your life. You may feel exhausted, frightened, angry, and constantly on guard. For these reasons, many people are too afraid to take steps towards ending the marriage or partnership. I have had clients end marriages of several months up to 40 years.
Therapy can help you understand these patterns, stop getting pulled into the cycle of manipulation, rebuild your confidence, and develop healthier ways of responding so that you can protect your peace and move forward with greater clarity. I am also adamant you can begin to heal and get stronger before making any decisions about separation or divorce - and for some people this is safest way to proceed.
Please note: I do not take on cases where there is not a custody order in place.
Learn More About Why Divorce From a Narcissist Can Feel So Different →
The patterns of narcissists are very consistent and once you learn to not only identify them, but also anticipate them, you can begin to protect yourself from further abuse and manipulation. In therapy, I incorporate EMDR to dissolve the trauma, trauma bonding and learned responses to enable you to take back both your power and your sense of self.
The narcissist’s drug of choice is control - control over your life, your peace of mind or lack thereof, your health, your mental health, your finances, your reputation… the list goes on. Once they’ve gotten their hooks into you they have no intention of letting go because that sense of power is so intoxicating - and because they have such a fragile sense of self. It is time to learn how to free yourself and NEVER get hooked again. Along with healing the damage they have inflicted, it is critical that you learn how to change your energy so they cannot plug into you and control you. Together we'll help you reclaim your life, rebuild your confidence, and develop the tools to recognize manipulation early so that you can create relationships that feel safe, respectful, and authentic.
My Approach to Healing Narcissistic Abuse
I combine trauma-informed psychotherapy, neuroscience-based techniques to repair and regulate the brain and nervous system, and — when appropriate — targeted amino acid therapy (orthomolecular psychiatry) into an individualized treatment plan built around you. Alongside this, I draw on the clinical intuition that comes from years of working directly with survivors — recognizing patterns before a client can always name them themselves. Rather than relying on any single method, I address the trauma holistically, treating the mind, brain, and body as connected parts of the same healing process.
EMDR for Narcissistic Abuse Recovery
Narcissistic abuse can leave you carrying more than memories. It can leave behind trauma, deeply ingrained beliefs about yourself, emotional triggers, and learned responses that continue long after the relationship has ended. Narcissistic trauma harms the brain, impairing the neurotransmitters that keep us regulated. As a result, people get stuck circling the same neural pathways — and feelings — over and over again. For this reason I believe that incorporating neuroscience -based techniques into the therapy is essential for healing and freedom from the abuse.
I incorporate EMDR into therapy to help you process traumatic experiences and the emotional responses connected to them, rewiring the brain's response in the process. Rather than simply talking about what happened, EMDR can help you work through experiences that still feel emotionally present, so that the past no longer has the same power over how you feel, think, and respond today.
For survivors of narcissistic abuse, this work can be an important part of learning to feel safe again, trust yourself again, and respond from a place of confidence rather than fear.
Learn More About EMDR for Narcissistic Abuse →
Intensive support when you need it most
During the first two weeks after beginning therapy, I provide text support because this is often the most emotionally overwhelming period.
Clients frequently need reassurance in the early stages of learning how to protect yourself from the narcissist, how to identify and avoid the traps and manipulation and how to start feeling safe.
You don't have to navigate those moments alone.
Imagine waking up and...
trusting yourself again
feeling calm
no longer obsessing over what happened
setting boundaries without guilt
recognizing manipulation immediately
enjoying relationships that feel safe
My goal isn't simply helping you survive narcissistic abuse.
It's helping you become someone a narcissist can never control again.
Survivors of narcissistic abuse often experience trauma bonding, gaslighting, coercive control, and profound self-doubt. Many wonder whether they were emotionally abused at all or if they're somehow "the narcissist." Understanding these common patterns is the first step toward reclaiming your sense of self.
Reach Out Today To Get Started