Tell a Therapist, LLC

01/05/2026

Ok. Back to the grind today after a much needed holiday rest period. But, first a gratitude post for 2025!

Gratitude changes everything.
Especially when you’ve survived abuse.

When you start telling the truth, it sets you free. Not because the abuser or their minions suddenly stop spinning, lying, or distorting reality… but because you stop needing them to understand.

The abuse and manipulation may continue. The smear campaigns may continue. The willful ignorance may continue.
And still, you are free.

Radical acceptance is understanding that some people are simply not ready to receive the truth. You cannot expect insight from those who benefit from misunderstanding you, or who lack the capacity to see what threatens their worldview.

People only understand what they are ready to understand.
And that’s not your burden to carry.

Grateful today for clarity, integrity, and the peace that comes from no longer explaining myself to people committed to misunderstanding me.

The truth doesn’t need defending.
It stands on its own. ✨You stand on your own (but with a tribe of people who get it).

NoMoreExplaining FreedomThroughTruth

01/05/2026

Many of my clients describe the same haunting truth:
you are never fully free from the narcissist’s stalking.

Even after you leave.
Even after no contact.
Even after court, therapy, healing, and rebuilding your life.

Because when a narcissist is too cowardly to show his face, he sends minions. Flying monkeys. Proxies. “Concerned” third parties. Anonymous messages. Smear campaigns disguised as concern.

He has other people do his dirty work because he’s terrified of direct accountability.

Imagine being so empty, so fragile, so deeply threatened by someone’s freedom that you need an entourage to harass, monitor, intimidate, and provoke on your behalf.

Imagine being such a coward. A completely barren individual.

This isn’t paranoia.
This isn’t “not moving on.”
This is coercive control by proxy — and it’s one of the most insidious forms of post-separation abuse.

If this resonates with you: you’re not crazy. You’re not imagining it. And you’re not alone.

Healing doesn’t mean pretending it didn’t happen.
Healing means naming it — so it finally loses its power.

🖤

SmearCampaign PsychologicalAbuse TraumaInformed TherapistTruth SurvivorVoices NameItToHeal

01/03/2026

One thing people often miss about narcissists is this:
they are not emotionally attached to visuals the way emotionally healthy people are.

Photos, memories, meaningful images — for most people, these evoke feelings. Warmth. Longing. Gratitude. Hope. For a narcissist, visuals are often just props. Aesthetic without attachment. Symbol without substance.

Here’s a simple discernment tool:
✨ Do a vision board together.

Watch what happens.

Can they connect an image to an internal emotional state?
Can they describe why something matters to them beyond status, appearance, or admiration?
Do their choices reflect inner values — or just how they want to be perceived?

Narcissists struggle with emotional depth and internal imagery because their sense of self is externally constructed. The image matters. The feeling behind it often doesn’t.

Vision boards aren’t just about manifesting — they can reveal emotional capacity, self-reflection, and authenticity.

Pay attention to what’s missing, not just what’s shown.

Vanessa Reiser, LCSW
Author of Narcissistic Abuse: A Therapist’s Guide to Identifying, Escaping and Healing from Toxic and Manipulative People

TherapistThoughts Healing Boundaries

01/02/2026

✨ Instagram Live Announcement ✨
 
I’ll be going LIVE on Instagram with Adam James on February 3rd at 6:30pm Eastern and this is a conversation you won’t want to miss! Follow him and join us on his page for this exciting collaboration. Get ready for some really interesting content about so much. This could be a long one!
 
Adam James, DPT is a practicing physical therapist, a musician and songwriter, and the other half of , where he creates meaningful content focused on neurodivergent awareness and support.
 
Vanessa M. Reiser, LCSW is a mother, author, entrepreneur, 2X Ironman and psychotherapist licensed in NY, NJ, MA & FL specializing in narcissistic and cult abuse.  She is also the founder of Tell a Therapist, LLC as well as Tell a Therapist, INC and is best known for her run across the state of New York (285 miles in 11 days) in a wedding dress to raise awareness for narcissistic abuse.  She also subsequently ran across NJ, CT, MA & RI with plans to traverse MD in June 2026.  Her insights are both personal and professional, giving her a unique lens into this insidious form of domestic abuse.  She recently published “Narcissistic Abuse: A Therapist’s Guide to Identifying, Escaping, and Healing from Toxic and Manipulative People,” available at Hachettebookgroup.com and Amazon.
 
 
We’ll be talking about mental & physical health, neurodivergence, dementia, cults, narcissism, psychopathy and politics all through both the lenses of personal and clinical experience.
 
📅 Feb 3
⏰ 6:30pm EST
📍 Instagram Live
 
Set a reminder, bring your questions, and join us live 💬✨
 
StudiesShowThings

01/02/2026

🎉👏👏👏

01/01/2026

Put your energy into things that add value.
Avoid things that don’t.

12/31/2025

“Trump Derangement Syndrome” is not a real diagnosis.
As a clinician, I want to be very clear about that.

What is real is the predictable tactic of narcissistic leaders and their followers: pathologizing dissent. When people challenge abuse, corruption, or harm, the response is often to discredit them rather than address the behavior. That’s not psychology—it’s propaganda.

I’ve never been obsessed with any politician.
I am obsessed with exposing abusers.

Donald Trump displays long-documented traits consistent with malignant narcissism: grandiosity, lack of empathy, entitlement, exploitation of others, rage at accountability, and an ongoing need for admiration paired with retaliation against critics. When these traits are combined with antisocial behavior, the result is not just a personality style—it’s a social hazard.

A jury found him liable for sexual abuse. That is a legal fact.
His name appears repeatedly in the Epstein records. That is a matter of public record.
The pattern is power, impunity, and harm—followed by denial, projection, and attack.

Calling out abuse is not “derangement.”
It’s discernment.

And if naming dangerous behavior makes people uncomfortable, that discomfort is not a diagnosis—it’s cognitive dissonance.

clinicaltruth DARVO powerandcontrol psychology mentalhealthmatters

12/30/2025

12/30/2025

Strangulation=almost murdered.

12/29/2025

What was your experience? Mine had no images. Only words.

12/29/2025

2026: Year of the Horse 🐎✨

Manifest this with me.

I’ve waited long enough.
Justice knows my name.

This is the year the horse breaks into a gallop—
creativity unleashed, power reclaimed, freedom embodied.

I’m no longer fighting my abuser.
I’m riding forward with reckless abandon,
hair flying, heart open,
wind screaming you’re free now.

2026, carry me fast and far.
Let truth outrun the lies.
Let justice catch up.
Let my life expand at the speed of joy.

I ride. I rise. I create.
And I do not look back.

🐎🔥✨