Admirable survivor appeared on ITV’s This Morning to bring narcissistic abuse into mainstream media
An admirable survivor appeared on ITV’s This Morning, with the hope of starting an important conversation around narcissistic abuse in the mainstream media.
Caroline Strawson, from Northampton, had her home repossessed 11 years ago and was left in £70,000 worth of debt from financial abuse. She was left with nothing while juggling being a mother.
Now, after healing and learning from her experiences, she is an award-winning trauma therapist, coach and entrepreneur – and the author of three best-selling books and another that was recently released.
Caroline’s podcast, The Narcissistic Abuse & Trauma Recovery Podcast, has had more than 4.5 million downloads.
To top it all off, she has gained more than two-and-a-half million views on YouTube, 250,000 followers on Instagram, and has a free support group on Facebook with tens of thousands of women from more than 80 different countries.
Caroline founded a School of Trauma Informed Positive Psychology, with healing and education programmes – and the world’s only trauma-informed coaching certification that is the equivalent to a masters degree.
Caroline appeared on This Morning last Wednesday (August 21) following the release of her latest book, ‘How to Heal After Narcissistic Abuse’.
Appearing alongside Rochelle Humes and Joel Dommett, she described the appearance as a “whirlwind morning” and explained how her social media platforms blew up afterwards.
With just eight minutes to discuss such a vast topic, there was so much more that Caroline could have said – and even Rochelle and Joel agreed.
Caroline took to social media following her television appearance and said: “I must’ve spoken to so many in the studio who had been affected by the devastating impact of narcissistic abuse.
“This needs to be talked about because it’s a hidden abuse and we need to use the word correctly. I wanted to say so much more and my wish is that it was either validating to anyone watching, or a lightbulb that it is not you but the abuse.
“It can happen to anyone, any gender and any relationship. I would love to go back and do a phone-in or longer. This needs to be spoken about more in a professional way, and not a parody.”
Talking to the Chronicle & Echo, Caroline said she believes This Morning did not realise how many people needed to hear what she had to say – and the “Pandora's box” that has now been opened.
The best-selling author believes the word ‘narcissistic’ is often overused and this diminishes the experiences of those actually going through this type of abuse. It was important to her to address the topic in an educational way.
“It was amazing,” said Caroline. “I wasn’t nervous about appearing on TV, it was more that I felt a weight and responsibility. We don’t talk about narcissism on mainstream television without it being a parody or overused.
“It is real for those who have felt silenced or disbelieved. I went on there carrying the voices of the hundreds of thousands in my community who have felt unheard.”
Caroline, who provides a platform for silenced voices in everything she does, felt emotional sharing that she wanted to do a good job for those in her community.
An important message she wanted to send is how nuanced narcissistic abuse is, and that what makes it abuse is when behaviours happen again and again over a period of time.
“People don’t understand what psychological and emotional abuse is,” Caroline added. “It happens behind closed doors and you don’t see the wounds.”
Caroline has been “inundated” with positive feedback, and she would love to see a regular slot on toxic relationships, which does not focus on just physical abuse, introduced on This Morning.