You Ditched the Narcissist, EMDR can help!

It can be tough to be in a relationship with someone who has a narcissistic personality; then again, it can be just as hard to leave that person and end the relationship. However, if you experience trauma or emotional abuse in your relationship, then I congratulate you on ditching them!

It’s normal that Following a traumatic relationship, you will have some emotional baggage that needs to be worked through before you can feel happy and complete again. EMDR is one of the best ways to help your brain recover from trauma by talking through some of the issues.

PTSD

Narcissists have an inflated sense of self-importance and a lack of empathy; they usually have charismatic personalities and good looks as well. While there are many reasons to be initially attracted to a narcissist, it shows courage to draw a line and end things if you have experienced abuse.

Relationship abuse can be mental, emotional, physical, or a combination of things. If you’ve persevered with a narcissist for some time, you may be suffering some PTSD from your experience. This can be resolved with CBT, exposure therapy, and stress reduction training.

Toxic Relationship Recovery

All relationships have their ups and downs, but when the downs start to outweigh the ups, you might have slipped into a toxic relationship. Toxic relationships can be defined as lacking support from your partner, not trusting them, and feeling controlled. If your partner is narcissistic then they will be the more important person in the relationship over time.

Recovering from a toxic relationship takes time and attention. The first thing you need is time and space; depending on your personality, you might also need some talking therapy. If your last partner was a narcissist, you might have self-esteem issues. We have helped people just like you like you build back their confidence.

Surviving Emotional Abuse

There are a lot of similarities between toxic relationships and relationships with emotional abuse. That said, there are some differences. Emotional abuse is the practice of using someone’s emotional weaknesses against them; it involves blaming, shaming and manipulating.

If you’ve been in a relationship with a narcissist, you should be aware of emotional abuse. A narcissist will take any opportunities to elevate themselves in relation to you. This often involves insults, egotistical behaviour and manipulation. If someone is violating your healthy boundaries you should develop an exit strategy.

EMDR

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing; it is an effective therapy treatment for PTSD, anxiety, trauma, and distressing life experiences. For example, if you feel damaged following a relationship with a narcissist, EMDR therapy helps you to bounce back.

Unlike other forms of therapy, EMDR does not require you to talk through the distressing event or events in detail. Instead, it works to change the traumatic event’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviours by using attention strategies to help the brain to process trauma and recover.

How can I move forward?

Living with a narcissist may have created mental and emotional issues for you, such as PTSD, toxicity, emotional issues, and more. Please be aware that Trauma is not a weakness; it’s a brain process that exists for a reason. We’ve all experienced trauma on some level and our brains can help us overcome it.

We Can Help in the Denver area

We invite you to call us at 720-551-4553 for a free 20-minute phone consultation with a marriage specialist. You can schedule your appointment via phone, email, or the contact page on our website. We offer both in-person and online anxiety counseling with offices in Lakewood & Longmont Colorado. We’re open to whichever option you feel more comfortable with.  We look forward to hearing from you!