For many scapegoated adults, the difficult reality is that repair and reunion with their family simply isn’t possible. For some, it is a conscious choice to stay away from their toxic family system as attempting to re-integrate would result in further psycho-emotional injury. Others were unceremoniously ‘ejected’ from their family-of-origin when they began to assert boundaries or call out the abuse, making any type of reconciliation both undesirable and impossible.
To recover from something, you need to understand what you’re trying to recover from. In this week’s article, I discuss the clinical consequences of being scapegoated by your family that I have identified via my research on what I named ‘Family Scapegoating Abuse’ (FSA) and in my trauma-informed Coaching and Psychotherapy practices. If you would prefer to access my video discussion on FSA clinical signs, scroll down to the end of this article (I also include video chapters beneath the video).
Announcing my inclusion in the new YouTube Health Partner Program and the release of Affirmations for Scapegoat Recovery, Volume Two…
It’s been very rewarding to see that therapists and Mental Health clinics are now adopting the term family scapegoating abuse and releasing articles on FSA to educate others. I will continue to speak out on family scapegoating abuse whenever I am asked as I advocate for those whose psycho-emotional health has been negatively impacted by this form of systemically-driven psycho-emotional abuse. Below are my answers to five questions I am frequently asked about FSA:
This end-of-year digest includes the complete ‘Adult Child’ podcast interview I recently did, as well as an interesting abstract and holiday resources.
This was a busy week: I participated in two podcast interviews and shot two new videos for my new YouTube channel, Beyond Family Scapegoating Abuse…
This week on Beyond Family Scapegoating Abuse (YouTube) I address two topics pertaining to family scapegoating abuse (FSA): Family Empaths and Sibling Estrangement.
Welcome to all of our new subscribers! We have a wonderful community forming on my new YouTube channel, Beyond Family Scapegoating Abuse – nearly 600 new subscribers since publishing my first video last month and I appreciate the comments and positive engagement as we explore a difficult subject. ‘This note is to alert you that…
Healing from Family Scapegoating: Family scapegoating abuse (FSA) is a horrific form of ‘invisible’ (psycho-emotional) abuse fueled by an insidious family projective identification process. Unfortunately, even psychoanalytically-oriented therapists may not be familiar with the family projective identification process unless they have received in-depth training in Family Systems theory; hence, they will not be able to provide this critical piece of psycho-education to clients suffering from symptoms of FSA. In this article, I explain the family projective identification process, and why understanding this form of systemic projection can bring relief to the adult survivor of FSA.
If you’re in the ‘family scapegoat’ role and in contact with family members who continue to subject you to mental and emotional abuse, manipulation, gaslighting, and narcissistic behaviors, this checklist will aid you in protecting your emotional and mental health.
