Therapy After Emotional or Narcissistic Abuse
Support for making sense of a harmful relationship and its effects on you.
You may be questioning your own memory, feeling responsible for someone else’s reactions, or finding it difficult to explain why a relationship has left you distressed. Harmful patterns can be confusing, especially when caring moments and hurtful behavior occur together.
Therapy can help you discuss the experience, your current safety, and the effects on trust and self-worth. You do not need to establish a diagnosis for the other person to seek support.
Book a Complimentary ConsultationBased in Miami, with telehealth available across 40+ PSYPACT states.
Your experience
It can be hard to trust your own perspective afterward.
You may feel attached to someone who hurt you, struggle with boundaries, or worry that you are overreacting. Care focuses on the behavior you experienced and its impact rather than using a label as the entire explanation.
You may recognize some of these concerns and not others. What matters is how your own experience is affecting you and what you would like help with.
Self-doubt
You may repeatedly question your perceptions or decisions.
Mixed attachment
Missing someone can coexist with recognizing harm.
Limits and safety
It may be difficult to decide what contact or support you need.
Understanding your care
Your experience deserves careful attention.
Emotional abuse can involve intimidation, control, isolation, humiliation, or other harmful behaviors. Narcissistic abuse is a commonly used description, not a diagnosis of the person discussed in therapy. Assessment focuses on your safety, symptoms, and treatment needs.
At Embody Health Psychology, our clinical health psychology perspective considers physical health, emotions, relationships, and daily life together. That biopsychosocial perspective helps us understand your concerns without reducing them to a single cause.
An Integrative Approach
Our integrative approach considers how physical health, emotional experiences, relationships, and daily life influence one another. We draw from different psychological approaches to shape care around your concerns and goals.
We begin with your current situation and concerns. Therapy can address trauma-related symptoms, self-worth, boundaries, and relationship patterns. If abuse is ongoing, specialized safety planning and support may be needed alongside psychotherapy.
You do not need to arrive with a perfect explanation. Your clinician will ask questions, discuss treatment options, and help you choose goals that fit.
Depending on your needs, somatic therapy techniques may support grounding when conflict or reminders bring alarm or shutdown. Current safety, boundaries, and available support guide the work.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) may help you understand self-blame or the pull to stay connected, without diagnosing the other person or treating your coping responses as defects.
Your goals may include:
Making sense of harmful patterns
Describe what happened without pressure to excuse it.
Rebuilding confidence in choices
Explore needs, boundaries, and responses to self-doubt.
Identifying safe support
Consider trusted people and specialist resources when needed.
Addressing related distress
Discuss anxiety, low mood, or other concerns when they are part of your experience.
Finding a useful pace
Set priorities that fit your clinical needs and current circumstances.
Choosing next steps together
Review what is helpful and whether other care or support is needed.
Common questions
What you may want to know.
Do you diagnose the other person as a narcissist?
No. We cannot diagnose someone who has not been clinically assessed. Your therapy can address harmful behavior and its effects without that diagnosis.
What if the relationship is still unsafe?
Prioritize immediate safety. The National Domestic Violence Hotline can provide specialized support and safety planning at thehotline.org. Call 911 if there is immediate danger. Routine therapy is not an emergency service.
How does coordination with other providers work?
When coordination would be helpful, your clinician can discuss it with you. Sharing confidential clinical information requires appropriate authorization. Together, you can decide what is relevant to share.
Is telehealth available?
Embody Health Psychology is based in Miami, with telehealth available across 40+ PSYPACT states through appropriately authorized psychologists. Availability depends on the clinician, your location, and the service. Confirm the fit during your consultation.
A place to begin
Let’s Talk About What You Need
If you are considering therapy, a complimentary consultation gives you a chance to share what you are looking for, ask questions, and discuss whether our services may be a fit.
Book a Complimentary Consultation15-minute phone consultation