🆘 Gaslighting is a tactic used by people to control and confuse another person. Gaslighting is a term taken from a 1944 movie “Gaslight,” where the husband isolates his wife, makes her think she is crazy, and verbally abuses her. Gaslighting occurs in intimate relationships and leaves the partner being gaslit reeling in pain, confusion, hurt, disbelief, and leads them to blame themselves. It is not unusual for gaslighting to be present in verbal abuse or when there is an active addiction happening in at least one of the partners. When one partner tries to control another, they might engage in gaslighting tactics that include denying, attacking, reversing the roles of victim and offender. We also see gaslighting in abusive work environments, and family abuse, or sexual abuse or assault. In these examples, the offender denies involvement, attacks the other for bringing up an issue, and blames the victim. 

The scars from gaslighting last months and years, and you no longer feel safe in the world. You have difficulty trusting friends and family, hide the abuse, and isolate yourself. You worry that people are out to get you, and you blame yourself. You have shaming thoughts and negative self talk running through your mind. 

If you suffered verbal abuse and gaslighting, you feel immense pain and wonder if you can ever trust anyone in the world again. You feel empty, as though your abuser stole a part of your being and a part of your heart. You wonder if you will ever feel whole again. This can change, and you don’t have to feel empty and defeated forever.

EMDR Therapy and the Flash Technique can help you process past verbal attacks and gaslighting attacks and redevelop your self-esteem and improve your relationships. Therapy can help you process the past pain, hurt, shame, and guilt, develop healthy coping skills for anxiety and depression, and build lasting, fulfilling, and trusting relationships. Therapy can help you resolve symptoms of PTSD, hurt, and pain, and give you the freedom to love and live your life again.