Emotional abuse therapy in Denver
Recover from emotional abuse. Rebuild your self-esteem. Rediscover what’s real.
What is emotional abuse?
People often think of emotional abuse and domestic abuse in similar ways, but emotional abuse can take many forms. It generally involves someone using emotional manipulation to criticize, blame, shame, or insult another person, and there’s usually a pattern to the behavior that can grow over time.
While it’s most common in relationships and marriages, which can include narcissistic abuse, emotional abuse can also happen between friends, at work, and even between family members, and it happens to millions of people each year. Many people grew up in homes where they felt constantly criticized and belittled, where they experienced emotional abuse but didn’t know it had a name.
While relationships of any kind can have their challenges, a consistent pattern of negative communication, condescending behavior, and dismissive actions can become abusive when it damages how you feel about yourself. Emotional abuse affects your self-esteem in lasting negative ways, which can lead to anxiety, depression, and stress as you try to determine what, if anything, is real because it might feel like your opinions and experiences don’t matter. Studies have even shown that the long-term effects of emotional abuse can be worse long-term than physical or sexual abuse.
People who emotionally abuse others usually want to psychologically control them, and it’s often found in cases of domestic abuse. This usually manifests in the person isolating, gaslighting, and silencing another, which can happen in specific moments or subtly over long periods of time. Because emotional abuse can start small, it’s often hard to tell it’s happening in the moment. When you’re experiencing emotional abuse, it can make you question who you are, your relationships, and your place at home, at work, or in a group—leaving you feeling lost, trapped, or scared to escape an unhealthy situation because of the abuse you’ve experienced.
When you go to therapy for emotional abuse, a trained therapist will listen to you, help you process what’s happened, understand reality, and rediscover your voice. Our emotional abuse therapists in Denver can help you process trauma, rebuild your self-esteem, and provide a safe space to share what’s happened and explore your journey back to feeling like yourself.
If you’re in an unhealthy relationship or want to move emotional abuse you’ve experienced, whether it’s from your childhood or happening now in your adult life, we have therapists in Denver, Lone Tree, and Greenwood Village who are here to help you heal, grow, and thrive.
Signs of emotional abuse
Emotional abuse is real and happens in all types of relationships. The effects can be damaging and lost-lasting on your identity and lead to low self-esteem. If you feel like you might be experiencing emotional abuse, t’s important to know some of the signs:
- Control and isolation: Emotionally abusive people often are narcissists who believe that the way they act is ok or justified. They insult others, blame everyone but themselves, and use a condescending tone to make you feel guilty for being you or having feelings. This can lead to them controlling you, your emotions, and even isolating you from your friends and family. They might become paranoid about who you’re talking to, what you’re doing, and take control of the way you spend your time.
- Not accepting your feelings: When you’re in an emotionally abusive situation or relations, it can feel like none of your thoughts, feelings, or observations are valid. You might be told that you’re overreacting, or that you exaggerate situations, which makes you question your reality. The way you feel should matter, but emotionally abusive situations can make it feel like it doesn’t.
- Chaotic and unpredictable behavior: If your relationship with someone consistently feels chaotic, or like you never know what to expect from them, you could be in an emotionally abusive relationship or situation. Arguments might spring out of nowhere, from trivial things, or it might feel like you can’t go a day without being criticized or told that what you’re doing is wrong.
- Unreasonable expectations: One of the most common signs of emotional abuse is when someone has unrealistic expectations of you, expecting you to meet all their needs, demanding all of your time, and being critical of everything you do. Emotional abuse can take away your power by making you feel like you can’t have your own opinions and thoughts.
- Sharing your emotions backfires: Emotional abuse usually includes what’s known as “emotional blackmail,” where you feel guilty for having feelings or being who you are. Your feelings and experienced are used against you. Abusers will point out your flaws or use what they know about you to make you feel small. They’ll often gaslight you to make you feel crazy for sharing your experience.
Remember: Your feelings are valid. If you recognize these patterns in your relationship, reaching out for professional help from a therapist can be the first step towards healing and reclaiming your life.
Emotional abuse red flags
No matter the type of relationship you’re in, emotional abuse can start slowly and be difficult to spot. Something small can build over time and turn into an emotionally abusive situation that creates long-term damage to your identity and self-esteem.
- Constant criticism: It might feel like you can't do anything right, or like everything you do creates problems.
- Possessive behavior: If you're not allowed to talk to certain people or feel like you're being monitored. You might not feel like your time is allowed to be yours.
- Verbal abuse: This can take form as insults, condescending comments, or being told you're crazy or wrong. You might be constantly told that everything you're doing is wrong.
- Pattern of blame: You might feel like everything is your fault, or that you're the reason why the person is acting the way they are towards you. Blame-shifting can make you feel like you're the cause of the abuse.
- Never feeling validated: When you never feel heard, or like your opinions don't matter, it takes away from your identity and your place in the world.
- Constant arguments: You might feel scared to communicate because anything and everything can feel like the start of a fight. Conflict is common in many relationships, but constant fighting and one-sided arguments can be a sign of emotional abuse.
Emotional abuse has lasting negative impact
Studies have shown that emotional abuse can lead to higher levels of depression, stress, anxiety, and neurotic personalities compared to people who have experienced physical abuse, sexual abuse, or both.
How therapy helps survivors of emotional abuse
When you’ve experienced emotional abuse, therapy can help. An emotional abuse therapist can provide perspective into your abusive relationship and provide tools that help you cope and move forward with your life.
With the help of a therapist, you can validate the experience you’ve had so that you can start healing. You can rediscover what it means to feel like you matter, rebuilding your identity, self-esteem, and view of the world.
Emotional abuse can make you feel like you don’t matter, or like you can’t do anything right. Contact one of our therapists today, and we’ll help you see what’s real so that you can rediscover yourself.
We can provide psychiatric medication management
At My Denver Therapy, our in-house psychiatric nurse practitioner Shannon Keane (PMHNP-BC) can provide medication management and prescriptions to help treat behavior, mood, and mental health issues. As a board certified psychiatric nurse practitioner, Shannon is dual certified in family medicine and psychiatry, and she strives to provide patients with comprehensive strategies to improve and maintain their mental health.
By combining therapy with medication management within one therapy private practice, we’re able to provide a deeper level of support and an integrated approach to mental health for clients who have depression, anxiety, ADHD, bipolar disorder, trauma, or are looking into Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. Instead of searching for a therapist and a psychiatrist in Denver separately, we can save you time and create an integrated plan for your mental wellness by offering both in our Denver area offices.
Other Specialties
Healing may not be so much about getting better, as about letting go of everything that isn’t you – all of the expectations, all of the beliefs – and becoming who you are.
Rachel Naomi Remen
Meet our Denver therapists
My Denver Therapy is one of the largest woman-owned therapy private practices in Colorado with many of the best, most requested therapists in Denver.
As a therapist-owned practice with decades of combined experience, we care about seeing our clients heal, grow, and thrive. We’re one of the only therapy practices in Colorado with licensed professional counselors, marriage and family therapists, addiction counselors, social workers, and psychiatric nurse practitioners who actively see new clients. Whether you’re an adult, teen, young adult, couple, or family, our inclusive therapist team is built to specialize in you.
Our practice started with one therapist in a shared office suite, but we’ve grown to help thousands of people in Colorado by providing in-person therapy at our conveniently located Denver Metro area counseling offices in Denver, Greenwood Village, and Lone Tree, plus online therapy for clients throughout Colorado. Because of the way our team works, our therapists provide consultation for other therapists and private practices in the Denver Metro area.
Our inclusive therapists provide some of the most innovative, effective, and in-demand forms of therapy available today, including EMDR, Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, CBT, and IFS. We also have more therapists trained in Ketamine-assisted therapy and more teen therapists and young adult counselors than nearly every other private practice in Denver.
We know that clients want to find the best therapists in Denver, so our team includes therapists with different backgrounds, specialities, and experiences to help you find the right fit. We’ll match you with one of our therapists who is the best for your goals, location, budget, and schedule to help you get started quickly.
We’re out of network for insurance, Tricare, and are unable to take Medicaid, but most of our therapists’ rates are lower than the local and national averages for therapy.
All of our therapists take a client-focused approach to counseling and approach each session with a commitment to your progress and growth.
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- With therapists and counselors in Denver, Greenwood Village, and Lone Tree, My Denver Therapy provides in-person counseling for adults, teens, couples, and families in Colorado.
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Please note: We’re unable to accept Medicaid or insurance.
Our rates are listed on our website. MDMA and Psilocybin-assisted therapy aren’t available yet. We are out of network for all types of insurance, including TRICARE.