Understanding Narcissistic Abuse:

Where Healing Begins

An 8-Week Online Group for Women

Led by Chelli Pumphrey, MA, LPC, NATC

October 19-December 8, 2026

 

If you've been in a relationship with someone whom you suspect or know is narcissistic or showing traits of a personality disorder, is abusive, controlling, or simply cruel, confusing, or simply toxic, you may find yourself questioning everything- including yourself.

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Maybe you're still in the relationship and trying to understand what's happening. Maybe you're struggling with whether to stay or leave. Or maybe the relationship has ended, but you're left trying to make sense of what happened and wondering why you still don't feel like yourself.

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This intimate, closed (meaning no new participants can join after the start) 8-week group combines education, professional guidance, and the support of other women who understand the unique and often confusing experience of narcissistic abuse.

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This Group Is For You If:

• You are a woman who has experienced narcissistic, antagonistic, or pathological abuse from an intimate partner. You don't need to know your partner's diagnosis. You may simply suspect that narcissistic or other problematic personality traits played a role in the relationship.

• You are currently in a relationship and feel confused, stuck, or afraid about what to do next.

• You have left the relationship and are trying to understand what happened and begin healing.

• You've tried therapy but struggled to find a therapist who really "gets it."

• You've worked with a therapist who was helpful in other ways but lacked specialized training in narcissistic abuse and relational trauma.

• You want the support and connection of other women who understand this experience.

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More Than a Support Group

This is a structured, professionally facilitated group that combines education with conversation, questions, reflection, and connection.

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Each week, I'll teach about a different aspect of narcissistic abuse and recovery, while leaving plenty of time for discussion and for you to apply what you're learning to your own experience.

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The group is intentionally limited to approximately 8–10 women, and enrollment closes once we begin. You'll meet with the same women throughout the eight weeks, creating greater opportunity for safety, trust, and genuine connection.

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Topics We'll Explore:

Understanding Narcissistic Abuse 

How to recognize and understand narcissistic, antagonistic, and pathological personality traits and the patterns of manipulation and coercive control that can develop around them.

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Making Sense of the Relationship

Gaslighting, DARVO, projection, blame shifting, idealization and devaluation, intermittent reinforcement, and other dynamics that can leave you confused and questioning your own reality.

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Trauma Bonds & Traumatic Cognitive Dissonance

Why can it be so difficult to leave, even when you know the relationship is hurting you? Why can you still miss someone who harmed you? We'll explore the powerful psychological and emotional processes that can keep you attached, doubting yourself, and struggling to reconcile conflicting realities.

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What Happened to Me?

Understanding the effects of chronic relational trauma, PTSD, and Complex PTSD, including hypervigilance, anxiety, rumination, grief, loss of confidence, difficulty concentrating, nervous system dysregulation, and the feeling that you've somehow lost yourself.

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Understanding Your Own Patterns- Without Blaming Yourself

We'll challenge the stigma of "codependency" as we explore personality traits, attachment patterns, boundaries, conditioning, and relational experiences that may have made certain dynamics harder to recognize or leave. The goal isn't to figure out what was "wrong" with you. It's to understand yourself more deeply and recognize how your strengths and vulnerabilities may have been used against you.

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Attachment, Attraction & Relational Patterns

How your attachment style influences trauma bonding, attraction, fear of loss, and the difficulty of letting go- and how understanding these patterns can help you make different choices moving forward.

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Rebuilding Trust in Yourself

Narcissistic abuse can profoundly disrupt your ability to trust your perceptions, intuition, and decisions. We'll work on reconnecting with yourself, strengthening boundaries, and learning to recognize red and green flags without living in a constant state of hypervigilance.

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Healing & Moving Forward

We'll bring everything together with practical strategies for managing trauma symptoms, regulating your nervous system, navigating grief and cognitive dissonance, strengthening boundaries, and beginning to create a life that is no longer organized around the abusive relationship.

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**Topics and timing of delivery may shift slightly, depending on the needs of each group.