Julie supports survivors of narcissistic abuse in healing from gaslighting, trauma bonding, emotional manipulation, love bombing, and codependency. She helps clients rebuild a sense of safety, reclaim their voice, and develop boundaries in the aftermath of narcissistic parents, partners, or professional relationships. Her work integrates nervous system repair, EMDR, and parts work to support long-term relational healing.

Julie Sliga, LPC is a trauma-informed therapist in Portland, Oregon offering evidence-based, mind-body therapy for chronic pain, chronic illness, trauma, anxiety, and work stress and burnout. Her approach integrates EMDR, Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), CBT, and somatic and polyvagal-informed practices. Julie also incorporates attachment-focused therapy and parts work rooted in relational neuroscience and attachment-based care. She provides in-person sessions on Fridays and telehealth across Oregon. Julie provides trauma-informed career counseling through a trauma-informed lens, supporting clients facing burnout, work stress, neurodivergence, and complex relationships with productivity and identity. Julie is in-network with PacificSource and CareOregon (OHP/Medicaid), and offers a limited number of sliding-scale therapy sessions based on availability.

Healing After Narcissistic Abuse

Release the unspoken stories that shaped how you see yourself.

Your Story, Finally Yours to Tell

You don’t have to carry their voice in your head anymore.

It may feel like you’ve been tangled in a web of thorns—learning to move carefully, to minimize your pain, to protect yourself even from your own needs. Narcissistic abuse can be hard to name—especially when you’ve spent years being told your pain isn’t real. That you’re too sensitive. Too emotional. The harm often happens quietly, over time. It can leave you questioning your worth, your memories, even your very sense of self.

You may find yourself doubting your instincts, questioning your reality, or bracing for harm even when things feel “fine.” That’s not weakness. That’s your nervous system primed to protect you.

These patterns often settle deep into the body—showing up as people-pleasing, emotional numbing, hypervigilance, or the sense that you’ve lost your voice.

Even if the relationship has ended the impact can linger.

Through trauma-informed, body-aware, and compassion-focused therapies—including EMDR —we’ll begin to untangle those responses. We’ll work to reestablish safety, rebuild trust in your perception, and reconnect to the parts of you that were silenced or shaped by survival.

Often, the voice that lingers is theirs—internalized as self-criticism, shame, or the belief that you’re never enough. Therapy helps you unlearn those echoes and begin listening for something truer.

You don’t have to live in a world of abusive barbs anymore. You get to listen to your own voice.

What I’ve Learned From Listening

I’ve sat with people who’ve experienced narcissistic abuse from romantic partners, parents, siblings, bosses, and even entire family systems. The common thread isn’t just control—it’s the erosion of self.

I’ve learned that this kind of harm doesn’t always leave obvious scars. It can live in the nervous system as hypervigilance, perfectionism, people-pleasing, or an ever-present sense of walking on eggshells. narcissistic abuse can make boundaries feel unsafe, rest feel unearned, and self-trust feel out of reach.

There’s no one “right” way to heal from these experiences. But with steady support and gentle witnessing, I’ve seen people reclaim their voice, reconnect to their intuition, and begin to live with more ease in their bodies and their relationships.

You were taught to question your reality.
In therapy, you learn to trust it.

Begin the Inquiry Process.

What We Talk About in Therapy

Therapy brings us into conversation with the many layers of being human. These are some themes that often emerge.

Abandonment Wounds • ACEs • Anxiety & Hypervigilance • Attachment Trauma • Boundaries (and Boundary Backlash) • Chronic Self-Doubt • Cognitive Dissonance • Complex PTSD • Covert & Overt Control • Decision Fatigue • Difficulty Trusting Yourself • Emotional Flashbacks • Fear of Conflict • Fawning & People-Pleasing • Gaslighting (and Its Lingering Effects) • Grieving the Relationship You Wanted • Guilt & Obligation • Identity Confusion • Internalized Blame • Isolation & Loneliness • Loss of Voice • Narcissistic Family Systems • Parentification • Perfectionism • Reclaiming Your Reality • Relearning Safety • Self-Trust as Recovery • Shame Spirals • Speaking Up (and Staying Safe) • Trauma Bonding