this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2026
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My mother goes to therapy but just to rant about how my brother cut ties with her because he is hen-pecked by his wife and mother-in-law, while my therapist tricked me into thinking that I was abused both physically and psychologically.
The logical leaps they have to make to justify their warped world views are truly worthy of Olympic medals. How would you even trick someone into believing that they were physically abused? Physical abuse is, in most cases, pretty cut and dry. Sure some people might be wrong about the definitions, like proponents of spanking not viewing that as abusive, but that doesn't really change reality.
I suppose in situations where people have been worn down psychologically, getting them to recognise the physical abuse as abuse, and not justify the behaviour of their abuser is actually quite tough. I was that person too, and it's really only in recent years that I've by and large worked past it.
Couple of years back my mother sent me an email out of the blue, talking about how I'm miserable and blah-blah-blah. It came as news to me as I'd been having the best year of my life that far. The levels of projection were laughable. She finally clocked that when I cut contact, I cut contact. She moaned and wailed about how I was cold and abusive like my father, the same person I'd never met because she'd hid his existence from me, and lied about him to my face for 25 years.
Sorry to say, mother dearest; if I'm a monster, I'm a monster of your making. But most people actually find me quite pleasant.
Selectively focusing on past incidents where a parent was neglegent or forceful, then extrapolating some broad theory of hostile intent. Mischaracterizing social non-conformity with grooming or humiliation or violence. Straight up incepting false memories by insisting they occurred and you just forgot about them.
The Satanic Panic cases of the 80s was a good example of all of these in use. Young kids were then turned out to repeat lines they were trained to say, in order to press cases against their parents. And it took decades to undo the damage.
I can't imagine that's a very widespread practise.