4 Predictable Phases When You Leave a Narcissist

Lori Moulton 💗
5 min readJul 8, 2024

Not necessarily in any particular order.

Woman, with her back to the camera, walking down a city street.
Urbazon for Getty Images on Canva

After wavering for many months, maybe even years, you’ve finally left the narcissist. It was difficult, because they are so loving sometimes, but you left because they can be so mean at other times. There are four predictable phases that happen after you leave the narcissist, and they do not necessarily happen in a predictable order, but you can be sure that all four will happen at some point.

They Blame You for All the Problems in Your Relationship

Often the first phase after you decide to leave, the narcissist blames you for all the problems you are experiencing in your relationship. You are the cause of their behavior. You are the reason they drink too much. You are the reason they cheated. If you hadn’t done this, or that, the narcissistic partner wouldn’t have had to react the way they did.

The narcissist can be very convincing, and you may even wonder if you were the problem. You know you’re not perfect, and it’s normal in a highly empathic and conscientious person to wonder whether you could have done something different.

Heck, you probably did lose it a few times. Any normal person would, under the circumstances a narcissist puts you through. However, you cannot control a…

--

--

Lori Moulton 💗
Lori Moulton 💗

Written by Lori Moulton 💗

Certified Transformational Coach, Masters in School Counseling, Teacher, Author

Responses (2)