Why Self-Awareness is Crucial When Healing After Abuse
The importance of recognizing the person in the mirror
If you are a survivor of any type of abuse, but especially if that abuse came at the hands of a narcissist, then you know what a beast the healing journey is. The reason it’s so difficult is because of the path we must take to find ourselves again after having lost ourselves within the confines of an abusive relationship. And yet this is also the most crucial part of our healing journey if we are to be successful.
An abusive relationship relies on an imbalance of power. An abuser must maintain control, or the illusion of control, in order for them to carry out their abuse. One of the ways this is done is by separating a victim from their intuition while also creating an environment where they doubt their own reality. Using tactics such as gaslighting and projection, abusers (especially narcissists who are masters at it) maintain control by planting seeds of mistrust in their victims.
We begin to doubt ourselves. We stop listening to our inner voice and no longer believe our gut instincts. We question our thoughts and in place rely on what our abuser tells us about ourselves.
Essentially, we are conditioned to disappear.
