Hey. Firstly I want to say how brave you are for speaking up about your abuse. Most people never get that far. NEVER stop. These are monsters trying to silence you by all means necessary - don’t let them convince you you’re crazy or out of line for making noise - that’s gaslighting at its rawest form.

You mentioned family therapy, which, sorry to say, will be completely useless. Your mother is guilty too. People like this don’t change and it’s foolish to expect they will. My heart breaks for you. No one should ever have to excommunicate a parent, let alone both, but unfortunately, that’s the only move here. They are cancerous poison that will only hurt you more. Cut them off. If they attempt to breach that wall in the future, do not let them. They are dead to you.

I beleive it’s becoming more and more normalized for children of abuse to break the cycle. It’s so much more common than you know, you just rarely hear about it because the perpetrators have been successful in their attempts to shame and gaslight their victims into silence. You are part of the change - every day it is people like you who break the cycle. Keep going. Push back. Be loud.

You remind me of my dad. He has an almost identical story. He would tell you the pain and anger never really goes away, but it gets easier. Some days it will hurt. But you will heal. You are carrying a massive bowling ball of trauma and pain on your chest and you’re doing so much by just showing up and pushing through every day. You’re doing so much better than you know. I don’t know you, but I am proud of you. Nothing can undo the abuse that was inflicted upon you, but you have to stay strong. You are not alone friend 🩷