What is Narcissistic Abuse?
Narcissistic abuse is a form of emotional, mental, physical, financial, spiritual, and/or sexual abuse perpetrated by someone who suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
Abuse perpetrated by a narcissist may include emotional, mental, physical, financial, spiritual, or sexual abuse.
There are extensive psychological tests that can be done to determine if someone has narcissistic personality disorder, but because one of the hallmarks of a narcissist is a BIG ego, they don’t actively seek out help and if they do end up going to a therapist or working with a coach.
A narcissist usually only agrees to attend therapy for one or two sessions, unless they feel they can manipulate that coach or therapist.
One of the more common ways then that targets of abuse confirm that their abuser was in fact a narcissist is through the nine (9) signs and symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
These nine symptoms from the Mayo Clinic are the same criteria according to the diagnostic manual (DSM-5), which is what psychologists/therapists use to diagnose mental health conditions.
In order for someone to be diagnosed with NPD, they only need to display five (5) of the nine (9) symptoms.
- A grandiose sense of self-importance
- Preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
- The belief that one is special and can only be understood by or associate with special people or institutions
- A need for excessive admiration
- A sense of entitlement (to special treatment)
- Exploitation of others
- A lack of empathy
- Envy of others or the belief that one is the object of envy
- Arrogant, haughty behavior or attitudes
Keep in mind someone can be abusive even if they are not a narcissist. Abuse is abuse, no matter the abuser’s diagnosis.
Do the following symptoms sound familiar?
If you have suffered psychological and emotional abuse at the hands of a narcissist/psychopath then these will sound all too familiar:
- Low self confidence
- Doubting yourself and your sanity
- Mood swings
- Insomnia
- Extreme weight loss or weight gain
- Uncharacteristic jealousy/ insecurity
- Feeling like you don’t know the difference between right and wrong
- Extreme paranoia (obsessive detective)
- Repetitive, obsessive thoughts (ruminating)
- Constantly trying to find explanations for what has happened
- Helplessness
- Despair
- Self isolating
- Feeling desperately misunderstood
- Overwhelming feelings of loss and grief
- Extreme bouts of rage
- Codependency
- Strange dreams
- Anxiety
- Depression
The list goes on….
Such experiences set you up for self-defeating beliefs and patterns that may be affecting every aspect of your life—
- Your self-concept
- Your emotional state
- Your physical health
- Your relationships
- Even the work you do in the world!
You may be experiencing:
- Hypervigilance
- Emotional reactivity
- Compulsive self-doubt
- Harsh inner critic
- Depression and anxiety
- Avoidance
- People-pleasing tendencies
- Compulsive guilt and shame
- Perfectionism
- Self-sabotage
- Dissociation
- Large memory gaps
- Addictions
- Poor self-care
- Panic attacks
- Nightmares and flashbacks
- Fear of judgment or criticism
- Confused relationship boundaries
- Insomnia
- Unexplained chronic pain/illness
Self-Love After Narcissistic Abuse & Other Toxic Relationships: Teachable
Self-Love After Narcissistic Abuse & Other Toxic Relationships course includes more than 12 hours of guided instruction, coaching, and homework on topics including:
- What is Narcissistic Personality Disorder & Narcissistic Abuse
- Different Types of Abuse – Emotional, Physical, Sexual, Financial, Spiritual, Psychological
- Dysfunctional Family Roles
- Sibling Bullying
- Codependency
- Green Flags vs Red Flags in Relationships
- Cycles of Abuse & Addiction
- Changing Your Mindset & Inner Narrative
- Avesa Breathwork
- Mirror Work
- Shadow Work
- Inner Child Healing
- Quantum Healing Journal Prompts
- And so much more!
Why Hire a Coach Instead of a Therapist?
Therapy has an important role to play in healing, but because many therapists are not trained in personality disorders or in treating narcissistic abuse trauma, some survivors do not find the help they need when seeking therapeutic support. Not having your traumatic experience validated by a therapist essentially leaves you further traumatized.
How can you be further traumatized?
When your therapist wrongfully dismisses something the subtleties of narcissistic abuse as you being too sensitive or imagining things, they are essentially gaslighting you on behalf of your abuser. And in truth, many of the therapists who do this are narcissists themselves. They can’t validate that the behavior is harm or wrongful because it’s their behavior too.
elevated aura’s online self love after narcissistic abuse course includes seven (7) modules and more than 12 hours of guided instruction, coaching, and homework on topics including:
- What is Narcissistic Personality Disorder
- What is Narcissistic Abuse
- Dysfunctional Family Signs and Roles
- Sibling Bullying
- What Happens When the Scapegoat Speaks Up
- No Contact, Low Contact, Estrangement
- Toxic Relationship Signs vs Healthy Relationship Signs
- Cycles of Abuse and the Use of Intermittent Positive Rewards
- Changing our Familiar, Our Inner Narrative, with Self Love
- Mirror Work, Shadow Work, Inner Child Healing
- Quantum Healing Journal Prompts and Assessments
- And so much more!
Once you purchase the course it’s yours for life!
This means you can go back and take this course again and again whenever, wherever you need it! I personally have taken this course a handful of times and I get something new out of it each time.
Module #1: What is Narcissism? What is Narcissistic Abuse? (105:30)
In this module, we’ll measure your satisfaction in multiple areas of your life from your career, family, friendships, hobbies, and money, to how you feel about yourself. Are you smart? Are you resilient? Are you strong? Are you worthy?
Once we have your base measurements, we’ll go over personality disorders, narcissism, narcissistic personality disorder, narcissistic abuse, the different forms of abuse (verbal, physical, sexual, financial, neglect), sibling bullying, and more. This helps you get a better understanding of who in your life may have more toxic traits and coping mechanisms, and give you an idea of why you may have acted or reacted the way you have in the past.
Awareness is a HUGE part of the recovery journey.
Module #2: Family Roles & Attachment Styles (105:13)
In this module, we’ll discuss attachment styles, what they look like, how they form, what it looks like when your caregivers didn’t show you the love and nurturing you needed, and how you can heal your attachment style in adulthood.
We’ll also discuss why your experience growing up may feel completely different from your siblings, and share ways for you to start to heal based on your family role, as well as boundaries. What they are, what they look like, how to use them, and what happens if someone disrespects your boundaries.
Module #3: Toxic vs Healthy Relationships (124:09)
In this module, we’re getting into the nitty gritty of trauma responses. What the different trauma responses look like, how our abusers can keep us suck in a cycle of abuse that’s as addictive as heroin, what a healthy relationship looks like, signs of healthy love vs toxic love, tips to heal based on your trauma response, and more.
Module #4: Changing Our Inner & Outer Narrative (113.47)
In this module, we’re talking about healing our core beliefs. Our subconscious beliefs and our conscious beliefs really dictate a lot of our outer experience, but we can change our beliefs to create a life that feels good to us. First we must get honest about what it is we want, what is we need, and what we need to heal. We also have to take accountability for what we feed our mind, body, and soul.
Module #5: Codependency (133:15)
In this module, we’re diving deep into the abandonment wound, highlighting common symptoms and issues for those who suffer from the abandonment wound, what is self love, how to release feelings of judgment, shame, guilt, and more, and allow yourself to love yourself unconditionally.
Module #6: Financial Abuse (44:02)
In this module, we’re talking about money. What is financial abuse? How do adverse childhood experiences affect our ability to handle money? Save money? Spend money? Even earn money? We’ll also discuss some basic personal finance tools and work on our money mindset.
Module #7: Self Love After Narcissistic Abuse (54:14)
In this module, you’ll re-take the self-assessment from Module #1 to measure your progress during the course. We’ll also share information on the chakra system, how to know if you have a specific chakra blocked, how to unblock your chakras, grounding techniques, and journal prompts designed to help you heal on the quantum realm.