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Vickie Howard, Amina Adan, Charles Attwood |Escaping the Narcissist’s Worldview
Escaping the Narcissist’s Worldview:
Assimilating Cult and Narcissistic Abuse Experiences
for the Identification of Deception Recovery
Vickie Howard,1 Amina Adan,2 Charles Attwood3
Abstract: Narcissistic abuse is an emerging area for psychological research, but in mental health and social care, it remains
an unacknowledged form of interpersonal abuse. This unacknowledged form results in a lack of assessment approaches and
identified therapeutic interventions, which consequently perpetuate social injustice for victim-survivors. The use of deception
is a specific feature of narcissistic abuse, and it has consequently harmful outcomes for those who experience this abuse. This
article advocates for recognition of psychological deception processes by narcissists in society, which research on narcissistically
abusive relationships in cults has already identified. This proposed theoretical extension has the potential to apply post-cult
recovery principles to the treatment approaches for narcissistic abuse victim-survivors. Research findings and victim-survivor
accounts in both society and cults advance theoretical and practice applications in responding to severe relational harm.
Our article concludes with advocating for further research to apply the outcomes from this theoretical exploration to clinical
research studies, in order to support real-world narcissistic abuse recovery.
Keywords: narcissistic abuse, deception. intimate partner violence, destructive cults
Declaration of Conflicting Interest: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship
and publication of this article.
1 Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dr. Vickie Howard, School of Psychology and Social Work, University of Hull. email:
V.Howard@hull.ac.uk. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9513-0462
2 Dr Amina Adan (co-author), School of Childhood and Social Care, University of East London. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4872-8132
3 Charles Attwood (co-author), Independent Scholar, Reading, Berkshire, UK, https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1230-1447
Introduction
Narcissistic abuse is an emerging research area, but
it remains a largely misunderstood and unrecognized
form of interpersonal and domestic/intimate partner
abuse. This form of abuse can include psychological,
emotional, physical, sexual, and financial violations
inflicted by someone deemed to have severe narcissistic
traits, or in psychiatric diagnostic terms, who may meet
the DSM-5-TR (American Psychiatric Association,
2022) criteria for narcissistic personality disorder. A
person victimized by these violations finds them to be
extremely debilitating, and recovery from them can
be complex. Often, a victim-survivor will experience
post-traumatic stress, a severe loss of sense of self,
marginalization, and isolation (Howard &Adan, 2022).
The terminology, however, of narcissistic abuse and its
features is still not universally recognized and assessed
in health and social care services (Howard 2019).
Frontline assessment professionals, including
psychologists, mental health practitioners, nurses,
doi: 10.54208/1000/00092/01
therapists, medical personnel, and social care
practitioners, could significantly influence care and
support approaches towards those who have experienced
narcissistic abuse. An in-depth comprehension of the
mental health difficulties impacting victim-survivors’
lives, experiences of distress, and social and cognitive
function could influence the care and support approach
offered by said professionals. By building research
evidence and outlining formulations of narcissistic
abuse, it will become increasingly recognized, as was
the case with coercive control (which shares some
features with narcissistic abuse and is now classified
as a criminal offence in the United Kingdom [Crown
Prosecution Service, 2023]).
Although severe narcissism presents as narcissistic
personality disorder through psychiatric diagnostic
criteria (American Psychiatric Association, 2022) and
identifies interpersonal harm as a distinguishing feature,
those who suffer the harm do not have a diagnostic
classification devoted to them or a comprehensive
recognition of their treatment and support needs. The

International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation Volume 9, Issue 2 2026 2
absence of a classification leaves a dynamic whereby
an abuser has a recognized behavior and indicated
treatment, but the victim of the abuse does not. Louis
de Cannonville (2010) proposed that narcissistic
abuse victim-survivors should be recognized with a
disorder of narcissistic victim syndrome, incorporating
recognition of experiences of post-traumatic stress or
complex post-traumatic stress.
The use of deception against the victim could serve as
a mechanism that differentiates narcissistic abuse from
other forms (Milstead, 2018 Howard &Adan, 2022).
It has been challenging to clearly specify additional
differentiations, likely due to the often insidious and
covert nature of narcissistic abuse’s occurrence. In
this article, we extend the critical discussion around
the processes of deception and propose that victim-
survivors should be recognized as experiencing
psychological harm and distress that aligns and relates
to cult members’ experiences of indoctrination and
undue influence. This key theoretical development
has the potential to apply destructive cult thought
reform (brainwashing/mind control/undue influence)
theory and abusive power recognition to help identify
subsequent recovery principles. We propose that post-
cult recovery principles can be integrated into the
understanding of narcissistic abuse presentations and
indicated therapeutic interventions. The content of this
article utilizes examples of victim-survivor accounts,
the authors’ own research outcomes, as well as other
research evidence and underpinning literature to
illustrate and build this theoretical proposition. It also
identifies therapeutic approaches that can be integrated
into mental health treatment, therapy, and support
recovery.
A Note on Language and Background
This article uses the term “narcissistic abuse” to
refer to individuals being harmed and distressed by
people with severe narcissistic traits. Additionally, we
recognize that other terms are used that incorporate
narcissistic abuse. Examples include harm through
pathological relationships, which may include
individuals with other Cluster B personality disorders
as identified in the DSM-5-TR (American Psychiatric
Association, 2022). These disorders include antisocial
personality disorder, borderline personality disorder,
histrionic personality disorder, as well as narcissistic
personality disorder. Furthermore, these other Cluster
B disorders may overlap in some individuals, resulting
in multiple traits (Brown &Young, 2018). The cross-
over of personality disorder presentation is addressed
in the DSM-5-TR Alternative Model for Personality
Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2022)
by identifying primary impairments in personality
functioning and pathological personality traits.
This article incorporates a theoretical exploration of
the similarities between destructive cult processes and
narcissistic abuse and proposes how recognizing shared
features can benefit the development of therapeutic
and recovery-based approaches. The recognition of
relationships between cult processes and narcissistic
abuse experiences builds upon previous anecdotes,
professional discussion, and survivor identifications
of the similarities between destructive cult processes
and narcissistic abuse that conference presentations,
interviews, blogs, and survivor accounts have
discussed (see: Arabi, 2024 Bonchay &Hassan, 2021
Durvasula, 2019 Reddit, 2020). We employed the
constant comparative method (Glaser &Strauss, 1967)
to analyze literature on destructive cult processes and
narcissistic abuse. This iterative approach systematically
identified shared mechanisms—such as deception,
manipulation, and control—while highlighting key
distinctions between the two contexts, such as the
hierarchical structure of cults versus the intimate, one-
on-one dynamics of narcissistic abuse. This method was
particularly useful as it facilitated the grounding of our
theoretical assertions in evidence, ensuring analytical
rigor while allowing for nuanced differentiation. By
continuously comparing themes and patterns across
identified literature, we were able to refine our analysis
as new insights emerged, supporting a comprehensive
understanding of how recovery frameworks from cult
contexts could inform recovery-focused interventions
for narcissistic abuse.
We also further identify that the positionality of this
theoretical article is influenced by two of its authors
(Howard and Attwood) who are survivors of narcissistic
abuse. During her own recovery when attempting to
reclaim her identity, Howard often thought “I feel like I
am coming out of a cult” (see Howard, 2022 Howard,
2024).