7 Powerful Things You Can do When Your Parents Gaslight You
Here are some steps to take to overcome a parent’s gaslighting.
Gaslighting is manipulating another person or group to doubt their own reality, memory, perceptions, or even experience.
“I never said that.”
“That didn’t happen.”
“Actually, you’re the one who does that, not me.”
“I won by a landslide.”
I’m a mental health therapist, and hear lots of stories from clients of parents who gaslight. My parents practiced their own versions as well. So I understand.
Dad’s gaslighting was very subtle and longterm. He completely hid who he was, which is perhaps the worst gaslighting of all.
Mother’s response to memories I shared with her, especially those I was working on in therapy, was, “That didn’t happen.” Or, “You imagined that.” My own experiences of their constant fighting, arguing, and putting us in the middle, were filtered through her experiences of it, and her ongoing decision to stay in the marriage, which I’m sure she felt the need to justify.
She did it, I’m sure, to protect her ego, and her own feelings of pain or guilt. No parent likes to be reminded of their failings. And all parents have…
