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Finding the Right Therapist After Narcissistic Abuse
The difference between a validating and invalidating therapist
There is something deeply disturbing in knowing that the one who should support you chooses to hurt you. This sums up my relationship with my narcissistic ex. And ironically, it sums up my brief session with the therapist I went to see to help me get over the trauma of it.
The first (and with him the only) therapy session I went to was a disaster. And I didn’t see it coming. I was freshly out of a relationship with someone with a narcissistic personality disorder. I was trying to catch my breath and wrap my head around what just happened. And I didn’t have any motivation to go on, to pretend that I am okay, to hope.
The psychologist I scheduled a session with was suggested by someone — they told me that he was a bit weird but very good. I thought that I had my fair share of weird, but I wanted the very good part.
I was lifeless, hopeless and unable to find anything to cling to — I desperately needed some help. I sat down across him, wringing my hands anxiously and he was looking at me with a cold expression, asking me what he could help me with. I saw the same uninterested neutral expression when I went to report my ex for my slashed tires and broken car mirror. They weren’t…
