Not Every Therapist Understands Narcissistic Abuse. This One Does. Meet Kirsten Cheong
Online EMDR & IFS Therapy for Women Healing from Narcissistic Abuse Throughout California
You’re in the Right Place
You're probably here because something finally clicked. Maybe you've been consuming content about people-pleasing, codependency, or narcissistic abuse in your algorithm. Maybe you asked ChatGPT what's wrong with you. Maybe you've been in therapy before and it helped a little but never enough. And maybe you're putting together the pieces of your childhood and seeing a bigger picture that it really was that bad.
You're exhausted from monitoring everyone's moods, editing yourself before you speak, and spiraling for hours about whether you said the wrong thing. You're fluent in everyone else's needs and a stranger to your own. You've spent so long chasing the approval of people who were never going to give it that you stopped asking what you actually want.
If that sounds like you, you're exactly who I work with. And you're in exactly the right place.
Meet Kirsten
Hey, I'm Kirsten Cheong (Curse-ten Chong) a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Certified Narcissistic Abuse Treatment Clinician.
I've worked with adult children of narcissists at every stage of life from children in foster care to adults in addiction recovery to the high-functioning woman who looks completely put together and carries a dark history nobody knows about. What strikes me every time is how consistent the damage is, and how possible the healing is, no matter how long someone has been carrying it.
No two sessions look the same. Some days we're strategically planning how to survive the next family gathering without feeling disempowered. Other days we go full woo-woo into IFS parts work and meditation, EMDR processing…the deep stuff. That range is intentional. Healing from narcissistic abuse requires both.
My approach is direct and sometimes funny! Because humor has a way of shrinking the power of the people who hurt you. Healing doesn't have to feel like suffering through more pain.
This isn't just about venting. It's about actually healing, and maybe laughing a little along the way.
Internal Family Systems therapy helps you understand and heal the parts of yourself that formed around childhood trauma, like the part that people-pleases, the part that shuts down, the part that's always bracing for something to go wrong.
Trained directly by Dr. Ramani Durvasula, Ph.D. one of the world's leading experts on narcissistic abuse. This certification represents specialized, evidence-based training in recognizing and treating the specific wounds narcissistic abuse creates.
Featured In
TWIN MINDS UNWIND PODCAST - How to Stop People Pleasing
A mental health podcast exploring the psychology behind everyday struggles. Kirsten joined to talk about people-pleasing — where it comes from, why it's so hard to stop, and what it actually takes to break the pattern.
BEYOND MOMMY DEAREST PODCAST - How Narcissistic Moms Create Anxiety, Perfectionism & the Fear of Going No Contact w/ Kirsten Cheong
A podcast dedicated to healing from narcissistic mothers. Kirsten joined to discuss how narcissistic parenting creates anxiety and perfectionism — and what recovery actually looks like.
Still Here? That's a Good Sign.
It means something in you recognized something here. Maybe it was the woo-woo comment. Maybe it was the part about family gatherings. Maybe you just needed to know that the therapist you're about to trust actually understands what you've been through.
Whatever brought you to the bottom of this page, I'm glad you're here. The next step is simple and completely pressure-free.
Specializing in
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Narcissistic Abuse Recovery
You spent your childhood earning love that should have been unconditional. The people-pleasing, the self-doubt, and anxiety didn't come from nowhere.
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Anxiety Therapy for Women
Your anxiety has a root. For many women it leads straight back to childhood and a parent who made the world feel unsafe. Understanding where it started is how we make it stop.
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Trauma Therapy | EMDR & IFS
The Michelin Star of trauma therapy — EMDR and IFS don't just help you cope with what happened. They help actually heal your nervous system.
Frequently Asked Questions
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My approach is compassionate but direct — I won't just let you vent. I'll help you make real, meaningful progress using evidence-based tools like EMDR, psychoeducation, and Internal Family Systems (IFS).
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I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), a Certified Narcissistic Abuse Treatment Clinician trained by Dr. Ramani Durvasula, Ph.D., and a trained IFS Parts Work Specialist.
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I have been practicing therapy as a licensed therapist since 2020, specializing in anxiety therapy and narcissistic abuse recovery for women in California.
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My practice is specialized to serve women, particularly those struggling with anxiety, people-pleasing, and the lasting effects of narcissistic parenting.
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Yes! I have been featured on the Twin Minds Unwind Podcast discussing how to stop people-pleasing, and on the Beyond Mommy Dearest Podcast discussing how narcissistic parenting creates anxiety and perfectionism.