HOW PSYCHOTHERAPY CAN HELP
Many daughters of narcissistic mothers spend years trying to understand why they struggle with self-doubt, people-pleasing, perfectionism, shame, anxiety or difficult relationship patterns.
They often know something is wrong, but find themselves repeatedly asking the same questions:
Why do I find it so difficult to trust myself?
Why do I feel guilty when I set boundaries?
Why do I put everyone else's needs before my own?
Why do I keep finding myself in relationships that leave me feeling unseen, criticised or emotionally depleted?
The answers often lie in early attachment experiences and the family environments in which we grew up.
Psychotherapy provides an opportunity to explore these experiences in a safe, compassionate and thoughtful way.
Together we can begin to understand how your past continues to influence your present relationships, emotional life and sense of self.
The aim is not simply to understand what happened.
It is to help you develop greater self-awareness, self-compassion, emotional resilience and trust in your own perceptions and feelin
In Session
My approach is attachment-based, trauma-informed and relational.
As we talk, I will help you develop a deeper understanding of yourself, your emotional experiences and your patterns of relating to others.
Many of the difficulties people experience in adulthood are not simply problems to be solved. They are often adaptations that developed in response to difficult early experiences.
In therapy we explore these patterns with curiosity rather than judgement.
Over time, greater self-awareness can lead to meaningful change.
You may begin to:
- Trust yourself more.
- Set healthier boundaries.
- Develop greater self-compassion.
- Feel less responsible for other people's emotions.
- Improve your relationships.
- Build a stronger and more authentic sense of self.
Therapy is not about becoming someone different.
Often it is about reconnecting with parts of yourself that have been overlooked, criticised or hidden for many years.
The therapeutic relationship provides a safe space for reflection, emotional exploration and growth.
My role is to support you as you develop the understanding, confidence and emotional resources needed to create lasting change in your life.
I understand that it can be hard to talk about issues that are distressing. That is why I will make sure you are ready and that you can feel safe sharing your thoughts and feelings.
By remaining a compassionate and empathetic presence in the face of difficult emotions, I allow you to experience yourself as whole - and at the same time, more separate, helping you to develop good boundaries and the ability to tolerate others' emotions as well as your own.
As part of the process of therapy, I will help you improve your self-knowledge and your ability to manage anxiety and other more challenging emotions. This is particularly important for those with Complex Trauma, people who have BPD and those who are self-harming.
I understand the challenges of therapy and the fears that we all have around becoming vulnerable and revealing our vulnerabilities to others. I will prioritise building trust to help you to feel comfortable in opening up the space of reflection and emotional exploration. I will also support you in becoming temporarily dependant on the therapeutic relationship - something that is necessary if the therapy is to work. So I will encourage you to look after yourself and to manage the breaks between sessions, even though, at times, separation may cause distress. As you develop these self-soothing and self-awareness skills you will need therapy - and your therapist, less and less.
And so my aim, and the aim of most therapists is to make themselves redundant - slowly!
These are all qualities that can be nurtured through psychotherapy and counselling.
