If you’ve been the victim of a narcissistic partner, ending your marriage is unlikely to be easy, especially when children are involved.
Unfortunately, your soon-to-be narcissistic ex may likely make this already difficult situation even more complex with tactics that are meant to persuade you to change your mind about divorce – or to simply control you as you move forward regardless.
One tactic they may attempt is parental alienation; in trying to turn your own kids against you, they may hope to make you stay in the toxic situation or punish you for insisting on divorce.
What is parental alienation?
A narcissistic partner knows that children are impressionable, and they can easily believe what they’re told even if they have proof that it isn’t true. Furthermore, your partner probably knows the kids as well as you know them and the strings to pull to get them to dislike, or worse, hate you.
As the name suggests, parental alienation is when one parent manipulates the kids into rejecting the other parent without legitimate justification. For your narcissistic partner, their motivation will be the need to maintain control over you indirectly. Your partner knows how much you love your kids and hopes they can hurt your feelings when they inexplicably reject you.
Unfortunately, this behavior can not only break your heart but might also damage the relationship your kids have built with you. What’s worse is that your narcissistic partner won’t know when to stop due to their lack of empathy. Therefore, you should look out for this behavior and intervene before it’s too late.
Dealing with parental alienation initiated by a narcissistic partner during a divorce that took you great courage to finally pursue can be disheartening. It’s true what they say: when dealing with a narcissist, manipulation never ends. However, you shouldn’t give up. By working with an experienced legal team, you can move away from this toxic situation and help protect your beloved kids from manipulation moving forward.