Self-trust is the ability to rely on your own thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and judgment. It’s the sense that you can listen to yourself, believe what you’re seeing and feeling, and handle what comes next. Losing trust in your own perceptions happens when someone you trust keeps telling you your reality is wrong. Betrayal and gaslighting […]
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Cutting ties with an abusive or toxic parent is never an easy choice. Navigating holidays and special occasions when you’re estranged brings its own set of challenges — sadness, guilt, anger, even longing for what could’ve been — even when you know you made the right decision. This article will help you untangle the complex
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Going no contact with parents isn’t a decision anyone makes lightly. Yet when someone chooses this path to escape abusive or toxic family dynamics, they’re often met with judgment, disbelief, and harsh criticism. Western society tends to view these decisions as impulsive, selfish, or evidence that someone hasn’t tried hard enough. In reality, it’s far
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An emotionally abusive or toxic relationship can make you feel trapped, small, and deficient. It can feel like an anchor weighing you down, suffocating you. People who grew up in dysfunctional, chaotic, or unsafe families, develop a set of coping skills that helped them deal with the chaos and dysfunction in their families. Although these
