I’ve known covert abusers who have used therapy lingo to obscure their harm. And it’s terribly confusing and disorienting to be the recipient of that kind of abuse especially. https://twitter.com/yumcoconutmilk/status/1343960337872257029

With classics such as

“I’m setting a boundary but really I’m using rejection as a tool to control you by withdrawing affection when you behave in ways I don’t like”

“You’re gaslighting me because you can’t remember exactly what I said so therefore I never said it”

“I’m calling every act of care or concern ‘emotional labor’ to make you feel a sense of constant indebtedness that I can use to my benefit”

“I’m going to use therapeutic lingo to pathologize you and leave you questioning your sanity even in perfectly normal interactions”

“I’m going to heavily imply you have a disorder and/or trauma using clinical vocabulary to legitimize what I’m suggesting, and whenever you react to my abuse, I will blame the illness or suggest you’re projecting, eroding the trust you have in yourself.”

“I will subtly manipulate you over a long period of time, and when you finally break, use your diminished mental health as evidence that you are unraveling and can’t be trusted”