Life After the Narcissist Support Group

During The Life After The Narcissist Virtual Support Group, we will help each other feel less alone by sharing experiences and working on ways that we can enhance loving self-trust, and become inner-validators of our emotional experiences. Your feelings matter and your thoughts are valid even if the narcissist cannot respect or empathize with them.

The Life After The Narcissist Virtual Support Group meets bi-weekly on Tuesdays from 7-8pm.

Registration Fee $25
Fee $20 (10$ for existing TCFG Clients who attend sessions with their individual or couples therapist at least twice a month)

To enroll in our Life After the Narcissist Virtual Support Group, call Jessica

Life After the Narcissist support group is for women who are in the process of healing from narcissistic abuse. Recovering from narcissistic abuse involves rebuilding self-esteem and getting back in touch with who you are, what you feel and what you think. Recovery is about finding your voice and sharing it without fear. Life after the narcissist is about releasing self-blame and building self-trust. Within the group, we allow for open and radical sharing about the recovery process.

Life After the Narcissist Support Group runs bi-weekly on Tuesday evenings from 7-8pm. Registration fee is $25, and support group fee is $20 per session. The Life After the Narcissist Support Group sessions are free for existing clients at The Center for Growth.

To Enroll in our Life After the Narcissist Support Group, call Jessica

Who is the Narcissist?

Although the Life After the Narcissist Support Group won’t be diagnosing the narcissist in your life, the Life After the Narcissist Support Group can look at some of the most common narcissistic traits and how they set up the cycle of narcissistic abuse.

Narcissists struggle to feel and express genuine empathy. Narcissists may be charismatic, and advertise themselves as empathic, but in time, the façade of empathy fades. This fading of empathy makes the people close to them feel devalued and confused. Narcissists are unable to take full responsibility for their actions, and often blame shift, pointing the finger at others even if it betrays common logic. Narcissists often blame their partners for their anger and rage, saying “you made me act this way!” Narcissists will not validate feelings, concerns or grievances unless there’s something in it for them. They will do everything possible to preserve their false self-image. They cannot own up or take responsibility because it’s too threatening to their self-image. Disagreements never get settled because of all the blaming, denial and shirking of responsibilities.

What is your Relationship to the Narcissist?

The narcissist could be your ex-partner who was unable to provide you with any genuine empathy. You may have never felt seen or understood in the relationship. The narcissist could be your parent, who denied that your feelings were real and meaningful. You may struggle to advocate for yourself in adulthood, questioning the value of your inner-experiences. The narcissist could be an ex-friend who blamed you for all their misfortunes. This friend may have never apologized for stealing money, wrecking your home or hurting your other relationships.

You might have spent years learning how to be in a relationship with a narcissist, and even been successful. Some people stay with narcissists because they believe narcissists can be healthy and the highs are so magical. But at this point, this is not you. You have made the decision that the narcissist isn't good for you, and you want to connect with others who can emotionally connect with your lived experience.

Get Help with Surviving Narcissistic Abuse: Individual Therapy & Support Groups in Philadelphia PA, Ocean City NJ

After experiencing abuse from a narcissist, it’s essential to get professional support from someone who will validate your experiences and understand the specifics of narcissistic abuse. Look for a therapist who specializes in individual therapy and / or support groups for healing from narcissistic abuse. Unfortunately, not many clinicians are qualified to treat narcissistic abuse. Separating from a narcissist is unique and cannot be treated like a normal break-up, or separation. If it’s treated as a normal separation the risk is that the survivor feels more confused, invalidated and the healing process takes longer. The recovery process is about building back up someone’s lost sense of themselves. It is more extreme than a typical separation experience. And when it comes to narcissist’s in the family of origin, we are looking at complex trauma issues. Unless a clinician is prepared to do this work, they can further invalidate survivors.

What Happens in The Life After The Narcissistic Support Group?

The Life After The Narcissistic Support Group does not follow a strict curriculum, but rather, allows each member to share their real life experiences and receive compassionate feedback from fellow group members who have similar experiences. This process is guided by a clinician who specializes in recovery from narcissistic abuse. If you’ve been in a relationship with a narcissist, it’s likely that your feelings have been invalidated, or put down. In this Life After The Narcissistic Support Group, we do the opposite. We become open, interested and curious about each individual’s experience. We listen, validate and support. And through this process, women have reported feeling more confident and sure of themselves, a step in the process of regaining what is lost in narcissistic relationships. When women feel safe to express themselves, they get to know themselves more fully. When you know that your feelings are valid, you become less vulnerable to abusive people.

Who the Life After The Narcissist Support Group is For

Life After the Narcissist Support Group is for women who were negatively effected by time spent with a narcissistic person. The group member must be physically in New Jersey or Pennsylvania. The relationship with a narcissist can exist in many contexts, including: romantic involvement, co-parenting, parental narcissism or in the context of professional life. Although dating a narcissist will result in different experiences than having a narcissistic parent, there is still plenty to relate to. Gaining support after being betrayed in a close relationship, regardless of the type of relationship, is paramount. When we give someone our trust and they meet us with abuse, we experience pain and confusion that requires a strong support network to allow us to feel safe again.

Time spent with a narcissist is emotionally dangerous, this group can provide the safety you need to speak your truth about what has happened, and the effect it’s had on you without being met with reactivity or invalidation. Each group member has the responsibility to keep the safe space, and we set rules in efforts to reinforce that, such as, not making assumptions about other group members and using I statements. As a group, you will be supported in your goals of moving on, dating, setting healthy boundaries and sharing your truth with empathy.

Life After the Narcissist Support Group can help compliment individual therapy.

The Center for Growth offers individual therapy in Philadelphia, PA, Ocean City, NJ, Virginia, Georgia and Sante Fe, New Mexico. What you work through in life after the narcissist support group can be further processed in individual therapy where the attention is focused on you and your recovery only. And what you learn in individual therapy can be brought into group therapy, shared with others and expanded upon with varying perspectives.

Life After the Narcissist Support Group is not for men. It’s for women only. Men too would strongly benefit from this group, and we hope in the future to offer a men's only Life After The Narcissist Support Group. This support group is not for people engaged in the acute cycles of narcissistic abuse. The support group is not for people who are actively experiencing the trauma and stress of an abusive relationship. These concerns cannot be addressed in the support group context because they require more individualized and intensive support.

Key Concepts That Will Be Explored in Both Life After the Narcissist Support Group as well as in Individual Counseling at The Center for Growth (Philadelphia PA, Ocean City, NJ, Mechanicsville VA, Santa Fe NM)

The Aftermath of Narcissistic Abuse / Healing after Narcissistic Abuse

Narcissistic abuse survivors report similar experiences in the aftermath of the abuse. We address these common experiences in Life After the Narcissists through conversation, support and open, honest sharing. Amanda might pose a question in the beginning of the group, or propose a topic, and the group members speak about their experiences and offer one another support and understanding.

Self-Blame: Healing after Narcissistic Abuse

Narcissistic people have trouble taking responsibility for their words and actions. If you’ve been in a relationship with a narcissist, it’s likely you were disproportionately blamed for the troubles in the relationship. You may have been blamed for the narcissist’s anger and reactivity. And thus, in recovery, part of the journey is to move on from self-blame (and shame), and from taking on too much responsibility in relationships. You are not responsible for another person’s poor behavioral choices. In Life After the Narcissist, you will find a community of women who will remind you to be gentle with yourself during this healing process.

Loving a narcissist can be particularly confusing because they can be so much fun, and you might secretly know that in some ways this was the best relationship you have ever had. The highs were magical.

Self-Trust: Healing After Narcissistic Abuse

Narcissistic people tend to be invalidating. If you’ve been in a relationship with a narcissist, you might have shared your feelings with them, only to be met with invalidation. Narcissists have trouble seeing things from other people’s perspectives. If you continually tried to communicate your inner experiences to the narcissistic person and were met with a lack of compassion, or chronic misunderstanding, you probably started questioning the validity of your own thoughts and feelings. In recovery, it’s important to spend time with people who affirm your feelings, and honor your perception. Your thoughts and feelings deserve the space to be explored, affirmed and understood. When you consistently express yourself in a safe setting, you will reconnect with your inner world and get to know yourself better. In recovery, you have to relearn to trust your thoughts and feelings, and eventually celebrate them as part of the unique expression of who you are. In our support group we help you identify narcissists as well as recognize when you have been love bombed.

Poor Boundaries: Healing After Narcissistic Abuse

When spending time with a narcissist, it’s likely your boundaries have been eroded. You may have entered the relationship strongly, but through the need to survive the relationship, or manage the narcissist’s reactions, your boundaries became less and less pronounced, and more permeable. This leads to a weaker sense of yourself. If you don’t know your limitations, the narcissist can take greater advantage. When you have no boundaries, you are a prime target for manipulation. In Life After the Narcissist, we talk about boundaries, where we’re struggling and how to uphold them in a way that keeps you safer and happier. In recovery, we learn that we have to tune into ourselves first and foremost, before we tune into others. We have to preserve ourselves by remembering that our limitations, needs and preferences are sacred and they were never meant to be violated.

Seeking Closure: Healing After Narcissistic Abuse

When non-narcissistic relationships end, it’s typical to expect that one day there will be an element of closure. The closure involving two adults taking responsibility for what went wrong in the relationship, and talking through what they learned from the experience. However, it is unsafe to seek closure from a narcissist. When breaking up with a narcissist, or trying to navigate healthier boundaries with a narcissist in your family of origin, closure involving the other person will not happen. Your closure has to come from within you, and be supported by people who understand what you’ve gone through and have your back in the here and now. You cannot have closure with someone who refuses to take responsibility for their words and actions. And it’s unsafe to seek closure from someone who may try to confuse you, or try and pull you back into the cycles of abuse. In recovery, we talk about how difficult it is to accept a lack of closure in the traditional sense. But we find it in ourselves.

Join our Life After The Narcissist Support Group and / or start Individual Therapy.

Life After the Narcissist is a support group for people who’ve experienced narcissistic abuse. The support group happens for 1 hour, bi-weekly on Tuesday evenings from 7-8pm. Amanda Gigante offers this group, in addition to individual sessions for people suffering from narcissistic abuse. It is essential to find a clinician who understands this kind of abuse. Therapists are not trained in this area unless they specifically seek out further education on narcissism and narcissistic abuse.

Amanda is one of the few clinicians in the Philadelphia area who specializes in narcissistic abuse recovery; she understands the effects of narcissism, and the profile of a narcissist. She will understand and be able to give you more pointed help and attention in individual therapy. If you’re stuck in the cycle of abuse and have not yet begun to separate yourself from a narcissist, you should contact Amanda for individual therapy at 267-244-1616. Life After the Narcissist will be there when you’re in recovery from the abuse.

The Center for Growth has physical offices in Philadelphia PA, Ocean City NJ, Mechanicsville VA and Santa Fe NM. We also work with clients virtually in GA and FL. 215 922 5683 x 100