PSYC 160 Lecture 10: Gaslighting emotional abuse.docx
Document Summary
If so, your partner may be using what mental health professionals call gaslighting. Once an abusive partner has broken down the victim"s ability to trust their own perceptions, the victim is more likely to stay in the abusive relationship. There are several different gaslighting techniques that an abusive partner might use: Withholding: the abusive partner pretends not to understand or refuses to listen. I don"t want to hear this again, or you"re trying to confuse me. Countering: the abusive partner questions the victim"s memory of events, even when the victim remembers them accurately. Blocking/diverting: the abusive partner changes the subject and/or questions the victim"s thoughts. Is that another crazy idea you got from. Trivializing: the abusive partner makes the victim"s needs or feelings seem unimportant. You"re going to get angry over a little thing like that? or. Forgetting/denial: the abusive partner pretends to have forgotten what actually occurred or denies things like promises made to the victim.
