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Indigo North A personalized approach to psychotherapy for adults, adolescents, and couples Sliding scale available. Call to discuss rates.

10/31/2026

One of the most painful and confusing experiences in a toxic or abusive relationship is feeling like what you’re experiencing isn’t “bad enough” to justify leaving.

Sometimes, people find themselves almost hoping their partner will cheat or do something undeniably hurtful, not because they actually want to experience more pain, but because they desperately want something concrete they can point to. Something that will help other people understand what they’ve been experiencing. Something that finally feels like a “good enough” reason to leave.

But abuse isn’t always obvious, dramatic, or easily explained.

Emotional and psychological abuse can be incredibly subtle. It’s often not about any single incident, but about patterns of behavior, manipulation, coercion, and control that develop over time. When viewed in isolation, individual interactions may even resemble ordinary relationship conflict. It’s the broader context, repeated patterns, underlying dynamics, and function of those behaviors that matter.

And sometimes, the cumulative impact of those experiences is incredibly difficult to articulate, especially when you’ve spent years questioning your own perceptions.

You do not have to prove that your relationship is “bad enough” to justify your feelings, your boundaries, or your decisions. You don’t need a dramatic betrayal or an incident that everyone else will recognize as unacceptable in order to take your own experiences seriously.

A relationship doesn’t have to meet someone else’s threshold for toxicity or abuse for you to recognize that it is harmful to your well-being.

*Important disclaimer: This content is intended for general psychoeducation only and is not intended to diagnose any individual, characterize any specific relationship as abusive, or provide individualized mental health treatment or relationship advice. Not all unhealthy relationship dynamics constitute abuse, and every individual’s circumstances are different. Leaving an abusive relationship can increase the risk of harm, particularly when coercive control is present. This post is not a recommendation or instruction to leave a relationship. If you are experiencing abuse or considering leaving, prioritize your safety and consider connecting with a qualified mental health professional, domestic violence advocate, or local domestic violence organization to assess your individual circumstances and develop a personalized safety plan before taking action.

09/28/2026

Straight out of the playbook.

*This video is not intended to diagnose any individual, and abuse exists in a much larger context than the use of one simple phrase. It is an ongoing pattern of control and intimidation. Part of what makes more subtle abuse so difficult to identify is how ordinary the individual events can seem in isolation.

* This video discusses patterns that some people report experiencing in unhealthy or abusive relationships. The motivations behind any behavior can vary significantly from person to person, and it is not possible to determine someone’s intentions or psychology from social media content alone. This information is intended for education and reflection, not diagnosis or relationship assessment.

08/17/2026

Sometimes, complex childhood trauma can involve harsh, disproportionate, or frightening punishment that may have been understood at the time as parental strictness or discipline. No single parenting decision or disciplinary practice, on its own, necessarily establishes abuse or trauma. Context, severity, frequency, developmental impact, and broader patterns within the parent-child relationship all matter. This complexity can make harmful childhood experiences difficult to recognize, understand, or name, particularly when they were normalized within the family or framed as ordinary discipline.

* This video discusses patterns and experiences that some people may associate with complex childhood trauma. Childhood experiences and their effects can vary significantly from person to person, and social media content cannot determine the nature or impact of an individual’s experiences. This information is intended for education and reflection only. It is not intended to diagnose you, your parent(s), or anyone else, nor is it therapy or an individual psychological assessment. It cannot replace individualized therapy or assessment by a qualified mental health professional.

abuse

08/10/2026

This is an incredibly common manifestation of the flight response in complex PTSD. Childhood trauma teaches us that we must always expect and prepare for the worst.

Disclaimer: This video is for psychoeducation only and is not intended to be diagnostic or to be used as a substitute for therapy or a professional evaluation.

08/06/2026

It’s easy to look back at a relationship and think, “I should have known. The red flags were there from the beginning.”

But hindsight changes the meaning of what came before.

Many early “red flags” aren’t glaring warnings when they happen. They’re ambiguous moments that could have several reasonable explanations—a strange comment, an inconsistency, a boundary pushed a little too far, an interaction that leaves you feeling vaguely unsettled. In isolation, they may not tell you very much.

It’s often only later, once those moments repeat and form a recognizable pattern, that their significance becomes clear.

Recognizing a pattern in hindsight doesn’t mean you should have been able to predict the pattern before it existed.

There’s wisdom in learning from what you can see now. There’s no wisdom in punishing your past self for not having information that only became clear with time.

Disclaimer: This video is for psychoeducation only and is not intended to be diagnostic or to be used as a substitute for therapy or a professional evaluation.

08/05/2026

The terms “narcissism” and “narcissistic abuse” have become so common on social media that many people have started to dismiss or doubt anyone who describes themselves as having experienced narcissistic abuse.

It’s true that not everyone who is antagonistic, emotionally immature, abusive, avoidant, or manipulative has Narcissistic Personality Disorder. That distinction matters. But I think there are two important points that often get overlooked:

1. NPD is not the same thing as narcissism as a personality trait. Narcissistic traits exist on a spectrum. Someone can have highly impairing or damaging narcissistic traits without meeting the full diagnostic criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

2. People naturally seek language to make sense of their experiences. We use words and frameworks to organize what happened to us and to communicate those experiences to others. For many survivors of coercive control or subtle psychological abuse, the concept of narcissism provides a framework that finally helps explain patterns that once felt confusing or impossible to describe. These forms of abuse often thrive in ambiguity and plausible deniability, making them especially difficult to put into words.

Healing isn’t about definitively diagnosing another person or achieving perfect certainty about their psychology. It’s about making sense of your own experience. Wanting language that helps create a coherent narrative, validate what happened, and support recovery is an understandable part of that process.

*This video discusses patterns that some people report experiencing in unhealthy or abusive relationships. The motivations behind any behavior can vary significantly from person to person, and it is not possible to determine someone’s intentions or psychology from social media content alone. This information is intended for education and reflection, not diagnosis or relationship assessment.


08/02/2026

The fawn response is extremely common in individuals with Complex PTSD. It is a brilliant survival strategy, but it also can come at a great cost to a person’s relationships, emotional wellbeing, and sense of self.

Disclaimer: This video is for psychoeducation only and is not intended to be diagnostic or to be used as a substitute for therapy or a professional evaluation.

“Fawn response” terminology coined by Pete Walker, author of Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving.

06/23/2026

Isolation as a form of control can take many different forms in abusive relationships. It’s not always obvious, and a lot of times it increases in intensity over time. The beginning stages can seem innocuous.

*This video discusses patterns that some people report experiencing in unhealthy or abusive relationships. The motivations behind any behavior can vary significantly from person to person, and it is not possible to determine someone’s intentions or psychology from social media content alone. This information is intended for education and reflection, not diagnosis or relationship assessment.

*Please note that isolation as a form of coercive control is very different from someone requesting that their partner not engage in inappropriate or disrespectful relationships with others that violate trust.

06/19/2026

This is one that really illustrates the importance of intent and patterns of behavior in abusive relationships. On the surface it seems perfectly benign and is also a phrase often used by the victim.

*This video is not intended to diagnose any individual, and abuse exists in a much larger context than the use of one simple phrase. It is an ongoing pattern of control and intimidation. Part of what makes more subtle abuse so difficult to identify is how ordinary the individual events can seem in isolation.

* This video discusses patterns that some people report experiencing in unhealthy or abusive relationships. The motivations behind any behavior can vary significantly from person to person, and it is not possible to determine someone’s intentions or psychology from social media content alone. This information is intended for education and reflection, not diagnosis or relationship assessment.

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383 Starkweather Street Suite 1
Plymouth, MI
48170

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Monday 9am - 9pm
Tuesday 9am - 9pm
Wednesday 9am - 9pm
Thursday 9am - 9pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm

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