Abuse
From our home office in Fort Worth, Texas, we at Same Time Next Week? Counseling & Consultation, take great care to offer support for and treat clients who have suffered from abuse in the many forms it presents itself.
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Abuse can leave deep and lasting wounds that affect every part of a person’s life. Whether physical, emotional, verbal, or psychological, it doesn’t always arrive with obvious warning signs. Often, it's like boiling a frog slowly: the harm doesn’t come all at once. It creeps in gradually. By the time you recognize how much pain you’re in, the damage has already taken root.
Emotional and psychological abuse, including narcissistic abuse, can be especially disorienting. Often beginning with warmth, admiration, or charm, the relationship shifts and takes negative roots with a dynamic of control, manipulation, or devaluation.
Being in a relationship with an abusive partner, especially one with narcissistic traits, can feel like getting sunburned from standing too close to someone else’s sun. At first, it feels comforting. It may even feel special. However, over time, you're left raw, hurting, and invisible while they continue to shine without concern for your pain.
In abusive environments, people often describe the experience as living in a house where the floor keeps shifting. There is no steady ground. You learn to walk carefully while anticipating danger and suppressing your own needs to avoid setting off another collapse. This constant vigilance wears you down and makes it difficult to relax, sleep, or focus. With prolonged exposure, abuse can lead to anxiety, depression, hypervigilance, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Survivors often struggle with decision-making, emotional regulation, and a persistent sense of self-doubt.
Narcissistic abuse may resemble being caught in a spider’s web. From an outside glance, it looks delicate, harmless, and beautiful. But once you’re entangled and trapped in the web, the confusion, gaslighting, and loss of identity can feel nearly impossible. The abuser may alternate between affection and cruelty or praise and criticism, keeping you emotionally off-balance and dependent.
The effects of abuse extend beyond emotional well-being. Many survivors experience physical symptoms such as chronic pain, gastrointestinal issues, and sleep disturbances. Victims often withdraw, isolate, or live in fear of being judged or misunderstood. This can cause work, school, and social relationships to suffer. Financial control is also common in abusive relationships. This creates further obstacles to independence and safety.
Recovery from abuse is not about forgetting or pretending it didn’t happen. It’s about reclaiming your sense of safety, rebuilding trust in yourself and others, and learning to navigate life on your terms. This process can be challenging, but with support, it is possible.
Therapy provides a safe and compassionate space to explore your experiences, understand the patterns that have shaped you, and begin healing. Utilizing trauma-informed approaches, including mindfulness, somatic work, and nervous system regulation, we help clients regain a sense of agency and inner calm. Legal resources, community support, and therapeutic tools like Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) may also be part of a comprehensive healing plan.
If you feel lost, exhausted, or unsure of how to move forward, know that you don’t have to do it alone. Healing from abuse takes time. You deserve support, safety, and a life that feels your own again. We're here to help you take those first steps to regain control of your world.
When you are ready to address your concerns related to these and many other related mental health issues, please contact the counselors at Same Time Next Week? Counseling & Consultation, PLLC. We have counselors with immediate openings and are ready to help.​