The Narcissist’s Battered/Broken Self

Childhood abuse of any sort creates a fracture in the self. With extreme abuse as with narcissistic abuse, the child will be unable to build a sense of self resulting in the need to build a false self to avoid the true, battered, shamed, and even annihilated self. Lack of empathy, attunement and consistency by abusive, addicted, or narcissistic parents distrusts the foundation of the child and the ego is bruised and broken. Children and eventual adults will be unable to have healthy connections with others as this entails having a sense of self which is sorely lacking in narcissistic abusers. In order to heal, the broken self needs to be built up much like a child would with healthy attuned parents. This is very possible but must be done with an individual who can mirror and help the injured person rebuild from within and undo the developmental emotional impairment.