Recovering from NPD abuse, or any form of domestic violence.
It is important to find a skilled therapist that understands NPD abuse, as well as one who is skilled in PTSD and/or C-PTSD as an UNskilled therapist can actually do MORE damage.
I am not the trained professional, but my "title" as Narc Raider Educator finds me in a position of always wanting to live up to my name; therefore, I am humble enough to know that I cannot be a master of anything other than allowing members to vent, and maybe helping in putting some of this in perspective since I've walked the walk - SO since I am not planning a thesis on PTSD but I believe I've gotten myself under control...I shall provide a few links that will help members better understand what they're up against to the best of my ability. Please do share, discuss and ask questions as if I don't have the answer or can't find it - I remain hopeful that those who have walked this walk might be able to share some of their experiences in an effort to help those recently injured make some sense of all of it.
Ultimately the decison in terms of treatment rests with the victim; however, without knowledge it is difficult to take a front row seat in your recovery. At best, a therapist as a facilitator in your recovery is there to listen and help you find your own answers - they don't hold any magic key other than a script for some meds that will help take the edge off if that is the route you elect to go. The responsibility lies on the victim to advocate in their own best interests. The only way to do that is to be armed with a general knowledge so that one can make informed decisons about their treatment plan.
To keep things simple, I think it best to break this down into a few discussion threads keeping in mind that in the early stages, it is hard to focus and concentrate. I acknowledge I am long winded at times, so I will try to keep it short and digestible. With that in mind, here is a link which describes symptoms of PTSD in a very simple fashion. You can access that link HERE. (*Note: there is no religious agenda at Narc Raiders and while I realize that this particular link did have a religious affiliation, I am simply endorsing the list - should you desire to explore that site further it will be at your own discretion, the link was simply provided as a means of providing members a simple to digest thumbnail sketch of PTSD) I will be sure to include other sources of information, but if you can identify some of these symptoms, it might be possible you are suffering some from of trauma, and might wish to investigate the subject further. Remember, the key to healing is learning enough about NPD to own that you do not deserve to own any blame in what has happened to you, or feel shame, but if we're going to get obsessed about anything, it should not be every detail of NPD but rather, obsess about healing from debilitating after effects. Recovery IS possible...
