The Legacy of Growing Up with a Narcissistic Parent

Growing up in a family with a narcissistic parent (or grandparent or sibling) has a profound impact on your personal identity development, relationships with other family members, belief in your own worthiness, and ability to trust yourself to make important life decisions in adulthood.

Loving a narcissistic parent creates an internal dilemma for children: How do I keep my parent happy with me (so that I can be safer and perhaps get some of my needs met) and also be my true self? With this impossible dilemma comes a legacy of feeling not good enough, and also not quite knowing who I am.

Healing from narcissistic parenting is a journey that begins with clearly seeing the truth about the impossible dilemma you had to navigate as a child, holding space for the grief (yes anger, too) that comes with allowing yourself to know what you missed out on, and cultivating a compassionate, loving connection with your inner child in the present moment, protecting and nurturing them as you continue to grow and heal. 

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