lift the mental fog, conquer self-doubt, and reclaim your power
Therapy for Narcissistic Abuse in Lansing, MI
You Deserve to Trust Yourself Again
It often doesn’t start with the words “narcissistic abuse.” Instead, it starts with confusion. A constant sense that something feels off, even when you can’t quite explain why. You may find yourself replaying conversations, questioning your memory, or wondering if you’re being “too sensitive.” One moment things feel calm or even loving, and the next you’re walking on eggshells, trying to avoid saying or doing the wrong thing. Over time, this emotional whiplash can leave you feeling drained, destabilized, and unsure of what’s real anymore.
Maybe you’ve noticed yourself apologizing constantly, even when you’re not sure what you did wrong. You may feel like nothing you do is ever good enough, or that your needs somehow turn into problems. In public, the person you’re dealing with may appear charming or generous, while behind closed doors, you feel criticized, dismissed, or subtly controlled. You might feel isolated, unheard, or deeply misunderstood. Especially if others don’t see what you’re experiencing.
If Only There Were a Way to Trust Your Own Judgment Again and Stop Feeling Like You’re Losing Yourself.
For many people, narcissistic abuse shows up in close relationships with partners or parents, but it can also exist in families, friendships, or even the workplace. Over time, these dynamics can erode your confidence, self-worth, and sense of identity. Feeling stuck in survival mode becomes the new normal, where you're constantly scanning for emotional safety. It's common to find yourself second-guessing or feeling trapped in patterns you don’t know how to break. All you want is to feel like yourself again, without having to work so hard to keep the peace.
At Forward Outlook Counseling, Therapy for Narcissistic Abuse in Lansing, MI, offers a space to slow down and make sense of what you’ve been carrying. Working with a therapist for narcissistic abuse isn’t about labeling or blaming. It’s about understanding, validating your experience, and helping you reconnect with your sense of clarity, safety, and self-trust.
Healing begins with knowing that what you’re feeling makes sense, and that support is available as you begin finding your way back to yourself.
Therapy for Narcissistic Abuse can help.
What Is Narcissistic Abuse?
Narcissistic abuse is a pattern of emotional harm that often happens within close relationships. It occurs when one person consistently prioritizes control, validation, or power over mutual respect and your personal safety. It’s not always loud or obvious. In many cases, it’s subtle, confusing, and hard to name. This is especially true because moments of warmth or charm are often woven together with criticism, dismissal, or emotional withdrawal. Over time, this inconsistency can leave you questioning yourself and feeling unsure of what’s real.
Rather than feeling supported or seen, you may feel blamed, minimized, or made to feel responsible for the other person’s emotions. Your needs might be treated as inconvenient, “too much,” or used against you later. Boundaries may be ignored or punished, while affection, approval, or attention is given and taken away unpredictably. These dynamics can slowly erode your confidence and sense of self, even if you entered the relationship feeling secure and capable.
Narcissistic Abuse Can Show Up in Many Types of Relationships — Not Just Romantic Ones.
Some people experience it with a partner or ex-partner, while others grow up with a narcissistic or emotionally immature parent. It can also occur with siblings, friends, extended family members, or in the workplace with a boss or authority figure. Regardless of where it happens, the impact is often similar: chronic self-doubt, emotional exhaustion, and a feeling of walking on eggshells to avoid conflict or rejection.
One of the most painful parts of narcissistic abuse is how it affects your relationship with yourself. You may begin to distrust your instincts, minimize your feelings, or feel disconnected from who you are. If you’re wondering whether what you experienced “counts,” it’s important to know that abuse doesn’t have to look extreme to be damaging. If a relationship has left you feeling confused, small, or unlike yourself, that experience deserves care and support.
Common Signs of Narcissistic Abuse
Narcissistic abuse often isn’t obvious at first. It tends to unfold gradually through small, repeated interactions that are easy to dismiss or explain away. You may sense that something feels off, but struggle to name exactly what’s happening. Rather than one clear event, it’s usually the ongoing pattern (subtle shifts, contradictions, and emotional inconsistencies) that begins to affect how you see yourself over time. Some common signs people notice include:
Feeling consistently confused, doubting yourself, or questioning your memory after conversations or interactions
Noticing that kindness, attention, or affection feels conditional or unpredictable
Feeling like your needs, boundaries, or feelings are minimized, dismissed, or turned into problems
Walking on eggshells to avoid criticism, withdrawal, or emotional backlash
Experiencing subtle comments, “jokes,” or expressions of concern that leave you feeling smaller or ashamed
Feeling isolated because others don’t see the same version of the person you experience privately
Over time, these patterns can create a sense of emotional instability, low self-worth, and a loss of trust in yourself. You may begin to prioritize keeping the peace over expressing your needs or feelings, even when it leaves you feeling depleted or disconnected. These responses are not signs of weakness. They often develop as ways of staying safe in relationships where emotional dynamics feel unpredictable or controlling.
If these patterns feel familiar, therapy can help you gently name what’s been happening and begin rebuilding clarity, confidence, and self-trust at a pace that feels supportive and manageable.
How Do I Know If I’m Experiencing Symptoms of Narcissistic Abuse?
People who have experienced narcissistic abuse often notice changes in how they think, feel, and relate to themselves over time. These shifts can be subtle at first and may build gradually, especially in relationships where emotional dynamics feel confusing or unpredictable. You may recognize some of the following experiences:
Constant self-doubt or second-guessing your thoughts, reactions, or memories
Feeling like you’re “walking on eggshells” or carefully monitoring what you say or do
Apologizing frequently, even when you’re not sure what you did wrong
Feeling emotionally drained, foggy, or overwhelmed after interactions
Struggling to trust your own judgment or instincts
Feeling isolated or misunderstood, especially if others don’t see what’s happening
Noticing a loss of confidence or sense of identity
Feeling responsible for keeping the peace or managing someone else’s emotions
Experiencing anxiety, hypervigilance, or fear of conflict or rejection
You may also notice that the person causing harm appears kind, reasonable, or charming to others, which can make it harder to speak up or feel believed. Over time, this can leave you feeling invisible, confused, or unsure of what’s real. These responses aren’t signs of weakness or failure. They often develop as ways of staying safe in emotionally unpredictable or controlling relationships. Therapy can help you slow things down, put words to what’s been happening, and begin rebuilding trust in yourself. It's a space where you can heal without the pressure to confront, explain, or have everything figured out right away.
I Want to Help You Reclaim Your Sense of Self
I want to help you feel steady in who you are again. Many of the people I work with have spent years questioning themselves, minimizing their needs, or adapting to relationships where love, approval, or safety felt conditional. You may be intelligent, capable, and deeply caring, yet feel disconnected from your instincts or unsure how you ended up feeling so lost in a relationship that once felt important to you. I want you to know that this didn’t happen because you weren’t strong enough; it happened because you were doing your best to survive emotionally complex dynamics.
At Forward Outlook Counseling, I work with people who have experienced narcissistic abuse in relationships with partners, parents, or other close figures. Often, these dynamics have shaped how you relate to others and yourself, leading to people-pleasing, difficulty setting boundaries, fear of conflict, or a constant need for reassurance. I help you slow down and begin making sense of these patterns without judgment. Together, we work toward rebuilding self-trust, strengthening boundaries, and reconnecting with the parts of you that were overshadowed by gaslighting, criticism, or emotional control.
My role isn’t to tell you who you should be or push you toward confrontation before you’re ready. It’s to offer steady, compassionate support as you learn to trust your perceptions, honor your needs, and recognize manipulation when it shows up. Over time, many people begin to feel more grounded, confident, and clear-headed. They start to feel less controlled by fear or self-doubt and more able to show up as themselves, not by trying harder, but because they finally feel safe enough to do so.
My Approach to Therapy for Narcissistic Abuse
At Forward Outlook Counseling, my approach to working with narcissistic abuse centers on helping you rebuild clarity and trust in your own experience.Many people come to therapy feeling unsure of what’s real. They question their memories, emotions, or instincts after years of emotional invalidation or manipulation. My first priority is creating a space where your reality is taken seriously. You don’t need to prove what happened or explain it in the “right” way for it to matter. In our work together, we focus on understanding patterns rather than assigning blame. This often includes gently naming dynamics like gaslighting, emotional control, and conditional approval. We'll explore how these experiences have shaped the way you relate to others and to yourself. We take time to understand how certain coping strategies developed and why they made sense in the context you were in.
The Goal Isn’t to Analyze You, but to Restore Context and Self-Trust.
When helpful, I may draw from approaches such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Attachment-Based Therapy, and mindfulness-based strategies. These tools are used thoughtfully and flexibly, always guided by what feels supportive and manageable for you. Therapy moves at a pace that respects your readiness, especially if trust and vulnerability were repeatedly undermined in past relationships. Over time, many people begin to feel more grounded in their perceptions and more confident setting boundaries. They start to recognize manipulation more clearly and respond from a place of self-respect rather than fear or self-doubt. This work isn’t about fixing you or changing others — it’s about helping you reclaim your sense of agency, clarity, and identity.
Frequently asked questions about narcissistic abuse Therapy
Considering therapy for narcissistic abuse can bring up a lot of uncertainty. Many people arrive with questions because what they experienced was confusing, subtle, or hard to put into words. You may still be wondering whether what happened was “really that bad,” why you feel the way you do now, or what therapy would even focus on. The questions below reflect common concerns I hear from people exploring Therapy for Narcissistic Abuse in Lansing, MI, and are meant to offer clarity as you decide whether this kind of support feels right for you.
FAQs
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Many people who come to Forward Outlook Counseling aren’t sure how to name what they’ve been through. Rather than identifying it clearly from the start, they often notice ongoing confusion, self-doubt, or a feeling that they can’t trust their own judgment anymore. You may replay conversations, question your memory, or feel responsible for keeping the peace in relationships. Over time, this can show up as anxiety, people-pleasing, emotional numbness, or feeling disconnected from who you used to be. These patterns often develop gradually and can feel hard to explain. Therapy for narcissistic abuse in Lansing, MI can help you understand how these experiences have affected you and begin rebuilding clarity and self-trust.
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Narcissistic abuse from a parent is often subtle and deeply confusing. It may involve emotional invalidation, conditional love, criticism, or being made to feel responsible for a parent’s emotions. You might have grown up feeling unseen, dismissed, or only valued when you met certain expectations. Over time, these dynamics can shape how you relate to others, often showing up as people-pleasing, difficulty setting boundaries, fear of conflict, or feeling unsafe expressing your needs. Many people don’t realize how much this has impacted them until similar patterns begin repeating in adult relationships. Working with a therapist for narcissistic abuse in Lansing, MI can help you understand these early experiences and how they continue to influence your sense of self.
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An emotionally immature parent often struggles to respond to emotions in a consistent, supportive way. This can look like defensiveness, lack of empathy, emotional unpredictability, or prioritizing their own needs over their child’s. Growing up in this environment can teach you to suppress your feelings, stay hyper-aware of others, or take on caretaker roles early in life. As an adult, this may show up as anxiety, self-doubt, difficulty trusting, or feeling responsible for other people’s emotions. In therapy at Forward Outlook Counseling, I help you gently explore how these dynamics shaped you and begin building healthier ways of relating to yourself and others.
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Many people benefit from therapy long after narcissistic abuse has ended or changed. Even when contact is limited or no longer ongoing, the emotional impact often remains. You might notice ongoing self-doubt, fear of conflict, difficulty trusting, or a sense that you’re still carrying the relationship with you. Therapy for narcissistic abuse in Lansing, MI isn’t about reliving every painful detail. It’s about understanding how those experiences shaped the way you relate to yourself and others. Therapy offers space to process, rebuild self-esteem, and begin feeling more grounded in your own reality again.
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Narcissistic abuse is not always well understood, especially because it often involves subtle manipulation, gaslighting, and emotional control rather than obvious harm. At Forward Outlook Counseling, these dynamics are taken seriously and approached with care. You don’t need to prove or justify what you experienced. As a therapist specializing in narcissism, my role is to help you make sense of what happened, validate your reality, and support healing without minimizing or questioning your experience.
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Therapy for narcissistic abuse begins by creating space to slow down and talk about what you’ve been carrying in a way that feels safe. Early sessions focus on understanding your experiences, emotional responses, and patterns that may have developed over time. Many people come in unsure how to explain what happened or where to start, and that’s completely okay. As a therapist for narcissistic abuse in Lansing, MI, I work at a pace that feels manageable, helping you rebuild clarity, strengthen boundaries, and reconnect with your sense of self without pressure or judgment.
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My work is grounded in a person-centered approach and may include elements of talk therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Attachment-Based Therapy, and mindfulness-based strategies. These tools are used flexibly rather than as a rigid structure, guided by what feels most supportive for you. At Forward Outlook Counseling, your healing journey always moves at your own gentle pace. We focus on helping you rebuild self-trust, find emotional balance, and make sense of the relationship patterns shaped by your experience.
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It’s common to wonder whether therapy will help, especially if you’ve spent years questioning yourself or minimizing your experiences. Narcissistic abuse therapy isn’t about quick fixes or forcing insight. Many people begin to notice small but meaningful shifts, such as trusting their instincts more, feeling less reactive to guilt or manipulation, and becoming more confident setting boundaries. Working with a therapist for narcissistic abuse in Lansing, MI means therapy can shift alongside you, supporting healing at a pace that feels right for you.
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Healing often shows up gradually rather than all at once. You may notice that you’re questioning yourself less, setting boundaries with less guilt, or recognizing unhealthy dynamics more quickly. Emotional reactions may feel more manageable, and relationships may feel less confusing or draining. Healing doesn’t mean forgetting what happened — it means feeling more grounded, clearer, and more connected to yourself. Therapy supports this process by helping you integrate your experiences rather than remain stuck in survival mode.
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When you’re ready to begin therapy for narcissistic abuse in Lansing, MI, the first step is reaching out to Forward Outlook Counseling by email at sarah@forwardoutlookcounseling.com or completing the contact form. We’ll schedule an initial consultation to talk through what you’re experiencing and make sure therapy feels like a good fit. If we move forward, you’ll receive a link to complete initial paperwork before your first session. Sessions are available both in person and virtually, allowing you to begin in a way that feels most comfortable and supportive.
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At Forward Outlook Counseling, therapy for narcissistic abuse is a place to slow things down and regain a sense of clarity. This work focuses on helping you make sense of experiences that may have left you doubting yourself, minimizing your needs, or feeling disconnected from who you are. If you’re exploring Therapy for Narcissistic Abuse in Lansing, MI, this process isn’t about confrontation, fixing yourself, or reliving every detail. It’s about creating enough steadiness to understand what you’ve been carrying and begin reconnecting with your own perspective again.
Many people begin this work unsure of where to start or how to explain what they’ve been through. That’s okay. You don’t need to have the right words or a clear label for your experience. Working with a therapist for narcissistic abuse in Lansing, MI can begin by talking about what feels confusing, draining, or hard to trust right now. Over time, therapy becomes a space where clarity, self-trust, and a stronger sense of self can gradually take shape. If you’re ready to explore next steps, you’re welcome to begin in a way that feels manageable:
Reach out by email or through the contact form to schedule an initial consultation
Learn more about me and how I approach work with narcissistic abuse
Begin therapy in a space that respects your pace, boundaries, and sense of control
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Narcissistic abuse therapy is one area of focus at Forward Outlook Counseling, but it’s not the only type of support available. Many people find that different concerns come into focus at different points in their lives, and therapy can shift as your needs change. What feels most important to work on now may evolve over time, and that flexibility is an intentional part of the process.
In addition to healing from narcissistic abuse, I offer a supportive space through therapy for women and college students in Lansing, MI. I am also here to walk alongside you as you navigate anxiety, relationship concerns, and the weight of ongoing emotional stress. These experiences often overlap, especially for those navigating complex family dynamics, people-pleasing, or long-standing patterns shaped by emotionally difficult relationships. Therapy isn’t limited to just one topic; we work with what’s showing up for you and adjust the focus as your understanding and needs develop.
There’s no single timeline or “right way” to heal. You’re welcome to explore services that feel aligned with where you are right now: emotionally, relationally, and within the rhythms of your daily life. Therapy is meant to meet you where you are and continue adapting as your goals and priorities take shape.