Ep 41 | 5 Ways to Help Release Guilt and Self Blame After Narcissistic Abuse

But Still, She Thrives - Narcissistic Abuse, Toxic Relationships, Grey Rock Method, Healthy Boundaries, Childhood Abuse, Trauma Healing

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This week, let's talk about 5 Ways to Help Release Guilt and Self Blame After Narcissistic Abuse

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TRANSCRIPT:

Speaker 1: (00:00)
Hello, beauties. Hope everyone is having a fabulous summer so far, or winter if you're across the world. For me, I'm in summer mode. I'm in vacay mode. Life is good. And it just makes me realize that we truly can create a life we want, even when we've been through some. So today we're gonna talk about five ways to stop self blame and guilt after narcissistic abuse. And I'm doing a second podcast about this because it's come up a lot lately with my clients. Some followers have messaged me about the self-blame and just feeling like ashamed and beating themselves up. And we don't have time for that. So we're gonna get into it this episode.
Speaker 1: (00:50)
Hey, Queens, welcome to, but still she thrives. Do you wanna stop getting caught up in that wicked web of a creepy crawly narcissist? You find yourself up late at night replaying the abuse you put up with and wondering how you can heal Now, do you wake up hoping for healthy relationships and peace only to feel totally exhausted? And mind ed, girl, I see you. I'm Christy. I too had to disconnect from toxic people in my life. And I wished I could undo the damage I felt ashamed, lonely, and kind of lost. But I'm a stubborn Italian and I refuse to give up. I found ways to recalibrate my mind and body more quickly than I thought and can now share them with you. In this podcast, you will find coping tools, healing methods, and confidence boosters so you can trust yourself and find peace and freedom. So shields up ladies, let's go protect our peace.
Speaker 1: (01:48)
All right, so as we know, recovering from narcissistic abuse can be very challenging, right? And overcoming the self-blame, the guilt that just, oh, you feel like, how did I let this happen? All of those thoughts can really kind of stunt your healing. So we have to kind of break through this in order to move forward. So here are five ways to help stop all those things that we just, like I said, we don't have time for. Let's move, let's move forward. And shimmy, shake, come on. The first one, really educating yourself about narcissistic abuse. Obviously in my journey I have gone very, very, very deep in understanding the dynamics of narcissistic abuse, right? It was part of my healing journey. It's how I'm here now, helping you, giving you information. But it was really essential for me to get through the guilt and everything. Like once I realized, wow, these are actually a specific type of people that do X, Y, Z, it's almost like a science.
Speaker 1: (02:54)
It becomes almost predictable. I say almost, cuz not every little nuance is always predictable, but when you really start understanding narcissists, they become pretty predictable and you kind of know they're next to move and you start to see it in a more logical slash technical way rather than an emotional way. And that is helpful for our journey in healing. So listening to podcasts like this, watching YouTube videos, there's a million TikTok videos you can watch. There's just so much information out there now, thank goodness about narcissistic abuse. That being said, some of it, you know, check your resource if there's accurate information. Sometimes people just throw stuff there, stuff out there. So if you really want to understand, it is helpful to work with a therapist or a coach like myself that has been through it and truly knows what's going on, the ins and outs of narcissism and the abuse that they cause, right?
Speaker 1: (03:55)
But understanding those dynamics can help you recognize the abuser's actions. Were not your fault. And until you really get how it all works, it's kind of hard to not feel like you had some hand in it and you didn't. So learning about the personality disorder, which is a real thing, a personality disorder that is very, I'd like to call it calculated. It's very, it's a manipulative type of abuse. Learning all of that can help provide clarity and validation to your experience. For us, I've been there, I get it. Needing that validation is essential, essential in our journey. And you, you can really get that through understanding how it all works, how they work. Number two, seeking support from a trusted network. Hopefully you have a person or two you can trust in your life. If not seeking out, like I said, a therapist or coach who truly gets it, who can validate your feelings.
Speaker 1: (05:05)
Part of what I love about my work is when I'm sitting there with a new client and they're explaining their story and talking about their history and their abuse, and when I get to tell them how it works, explain that it's not their fault. And usually in the first session or two, there's some relief that comes out of them just hearing, just feeling validated. But hearing like this isn't your fault. And sometimes it takes a little longer, honestly, for victims, survivors of narcissistic abuse to really accept that it's not their fault. That can be a journey on its own. But just having someone say it to them who's been through it and knows like, this is not your fault. You are not crazy. I know your truth. I believe you and I validate your feelings is one of the best things in my job. Because seeing that relief on someone's face and knowing what that felt like when I heard it the first time, I, oh, I might get a little emotional right now.
Speaker 1: (06:18)
It's just, it's just such a relief because you feel like you are batshit crazy or you did this somehow and it's your fault and, and you wrecked your own life. Maybe you wrecked your kids life, like all these awful thoughts that aren't true. And you get even just a little bit of relief in the first couple of calls. And then as we do more and more work, you're gonna by the end of it, be like, I'm a badass queen. I didn't do. This Emma Effa is a crazy person who made me believe all this stuff. But it's not true. And you see the real truth, and I love that journey. So yes, it's super helpful to have someone close to you that you can trust and talk about to it about it too, like friends or family and or a therapist or coach.
Speaker 1: (07:02)
Number three, and this is hard for some of us because of the dynamic that has been placed upon us by such narcissist practicing self-compassion. So be kind to yourself. Acknowledge, first of all, nobody's perfect. We were not handed a handbook on anything when we were born. Okay? Like, I mean, let's throw parenthood in there. Let's throw how to navigate relationships in general, whether you're with a narcissist or not. We have to learn and grow. It's part of life. Like nobody's born just knowing everything. And especially with these jacked up, crazy narcissistic, abusive dynamics, there's no handbook. And that would be a hell, hell of a long, crazy wild ride of a handbook if there was one. So be kind yourself. You didn't know how to navigate this. Nobody knows how to navigate a narcissistic abuse situation. Nobody, right? But what we can do is once we realize it, once we're aware enough, it's pulling yourself out of it that counts.
Speaker 1: (08:08)
And then it's saying, I want to create a different life. I see what happened. It sucked. It's not my fault. And now I'm gonna be me 2.0 and I'm gonna be a queen and I'm gonna get through this and I'm gonna heal and everything is gonna be okay. If you have to do some affirmations, you know, I'm a big affirmation person. I might mention them like every other podcast episode for a reason. Take some of those self-blaming thoughts. I want you to write 'em down. This is your homework. I want you to write three self-blaming thoughts, okay? And I then want you to flip 'em to the opposite. Okay? So if you say, let's, let's give an example. It's example time with CHristy. Okay? Let's say I stayed with someone who was abusive and that was so stupid. I'm so stupid. I want you to change that too.
Speaker 1: (09:08)
Someone was abusive to me and I'm smart enough to be trying to get out of it. If you're there or getting out of it, or I, I'm smart enough to have gotten out of the situation, give yourself props. You're not stupid. I want you to switch it around to the opposite. You are smart, you are strong. That's why you're listening to this, okay? I want you to do three of those affirmations. Write 'em down, flip the negative to the positive, stick 'em on your mirror. Say 'em every day when you wake up, say 'em every night while you're brushing your two. And tell me how it feels. So that kind of leads me to the next one, which is setting boundaries. So we've gotta build up that confidence and know we're worthy, we're okay, we went through hell, we're trying to work through it, or we're on the other side of it.
Speaker 1: (09:59)
We are climbing through the mud, but we're gonna, we're gonna do this and we're gonna start by setting boundaries with our new relationships or maybe some old relationships or family or friends that maybe are used to you being a certain way, but she's not here anymore and she has new plans and she's got plans with boundaries in 'em. , right? Like, we're not here to be taken advantage of or taken for granted anymore. So you have to prioritize your wellbeing, set those clear boundaries, and move forward and regain a sense of control over your life. You're here because your life got outta control and you don't want it outta control anymore, right? So let's take your power back, let's take your control back. And the first step of that is creating boundaries. I have a 10 part boundaries course, it's epic. And it is in my show notes.
Speaker 1: (10:55)
There is a link for it. It is extremely reasonably priced for all the content in there. And I did that for a reason because I want it to be attainable for people who can't work, uh, one-on-one with me for an extended period of time. I want you to be able to build your boundaries and it's self-paced. One will leak out, leak out, that sounds weird. One will drop every week and you have, you know, lifetime access to these videos. And it will help you learn how to evaluate what boundaries you need to set, what to do while setting those boundaries. Who to set them with all of that fun and how to have the hard conversations and what to do with those conversations don't go well. Everything about boundaries is in this course. So check it out. Go check the link after you listen to the rest of this podcast.
Speaker 1: (11:45)
So you got your boundaries set, you're ready to go. And then number five, you focus on those personal growth and healing aspects. Engage in activities that promote your healing, your personal growth. That could be, if you're into reading and journaling, do that. If you're just wanting to take a new course, do something new for yourself. Like what is something you have not done that you want to do? There's gotta be one thing. Do that thing you need. You might need to distract yourself while you're healing. That's okay. I hear all this. I'm sorry. This may be different from other things you've been told. I hear often, like you don't wanna distract yourself from healing. You have to dive in and go deep and, and don't just distract yourself. I, I call on that. I did some distracting, I don't think of it as distracting.
Speaker 1: (12:37)
I think of it as part of the healing. I think doing something that lights you up in the midst of some hard stuff is absolutely necessary. So if I wanna go pursue a new hobby, take an art class, take a photography class, go dancing my butt off, I'm gonna do that. I don't think it's escaping. I think it is a part of growing as a person and that's part of healing. Discovering the new you, this new identity. Figuring out what do I like as this new person? Who am I now besides a bombass queen? Okay, so by investing in your personal development, any and all of that things, there's a lot of free resources out there too. But investing that time, maybe some of it is money, maybe it takes some money to take some courses, whatever it is. But you can rebuild that self-esteem and sense of self-worth.
Speaker 1: (13:28)
And that, I'm sorry, is huge in the healing process. So don't listen to those people who tell you don't distract yourself. You gotta dive in and Uhuh, we don't need to sit crying on a couch 12 hours a day. We need to shine a light on what needs to be healed, work on the healing, not obsess over the healing and live our lives and discover who we are and enjoy life. Right? Right. Yeah, that sounds so much better than like the deep dark healing and the shadow work and oh, it's all too much. That's too much. Mm-hmm. Positive vibes. And I'm not saying, what's the whole word they say like bypassing now, I can't think of it, but like bypassing healing and just kind of like, oh, yay. Life is butterflies and flowers only. I'm not saying that, but I am saying again, we highlight the things we need to work on.
Speaker 1: (14:20)
We work on them in a reasonable amount of time in our weekly schedule. We do, it's good to focus on the meditation or the therapy, but also there's a hell of a beautiful, joyful life out there that has a peaceful aspect, joyful happiness, all those things. I know you wanna feel, you can feel them in parallel to doing the work. So I'm, I'm just not all about that life where you dive into the dark and you spend seven months straight really, you know, taken that shovel and digging and digging and, and everything's so dark and at the end you're gonna have this bright light. That's not how I do things. If you're here with me, you probably are like-minded to me. You have to do what's right for you. If you wanna go dig and get deep and dark for a couple months and really do all that stuff that and that feels like you, that's your prerogative.
Speaker 1: (15:13)
Cool. I'm here to tell you my experience, what worked for me and what seems to work for my clients, right? So there's a balance and we mostly like to lean on the positive side and the growth side and the discovering who the f we are after abuse side. I'm all about that. So remember, healing from this abuse is a process that takes time, but that process can still be enjoyable. And that's what I want you guys to get. And I think so many people are scared of healing or just like, oh, I have to do this and that and it feels heavy. I'm not here for you guys to have to feel heavy. I want to lift you up and make your lives brighter. And that's what I've done with my clients. I would love to do it with you. There is also, besides my boundaries course, if you wanna work one-on-one with me, I have different options. Go click on the little linky link in my show notes if you wanna do one-on-one coaching sessions. I love doing them. They are my jam. So go sign up and let's chat and I will see you. Oh, oh, I'm sorry. Are we forgetting something? Are we forgetting? Little affirmation. Action. All right. Hands to heart. Not if you're driving. Okay, let's see. What's a good theme for today? Hmm. The guilt, right? Okay, let's take a deep breath. Hands on heart.
Speaker 1: (16:38)
I am releasing my guilt. My abuse was not my fault. I am ready to have peace cause I'm a queen. Yeah, you are. Yes you are. I will see you in the next episode. Smooches and Oches and all that stuff. Love you. Talk to you soon.