Reclaiming Yourself from Manipulation & Control

A 12-Week Live Online Psychotherapy Group

Recognising emotional abuse, rebuilding boundaries and learning to trust yourself again.

When a relationship repeatedly makes you question what you remember, what you feel, what you need or even who you are, it can become increasingly difficult to trust your own judgement.

Reclaiming Yourself from Manipulation & Control is a therapeutic group for people who have experienced manipulation, gaslighting, guilt, emotional pressure, coercive control or other relationship dynamics that have gradually weakened their sense of confidence, autonomy and self-trust.

The aim is not to label people or relationships. It is to understand patterns, their emotional impact and the ways in which you can begin to reclaim your own voice, boundaries and sense of self.

When You Begin to Doubt Yourself

Manipulation and emotional control are not always obvious.

They may develop gradually through repeated criticism, guilt, withdrawal, pressure, conflicting messages, blame, isolation or the constant questioning of another person's feelings and perceptions.

Over time, you may find yourself:

  • questioning whether you are overreacting

  • apologising even when you are unsure what you have done wrong

  • feeling responsible for another person's emotions

  • avoiding disagreement to keep the peace

  • struggling to say no without guilt

  • constantly explaining or defending yourself

  • losing confidence in your own decisions

  • becoming disconnected from friends, interests or parts of yourself

  • wondering whether your memories or perceptions can be trusted

  • finding it difficult to leave or change a relationship even when you know something is not right

These experiences can affect far more than the relationship itself. They can influence self-esteem, identity, emotional safety, decision-making and the ability to trust yourself and others.

What We Will Explore

Across the 12-week therapeutic cycle, we will explore:

Recognising unhealthy relationship patterns
Learning to identify manipulation, gaslighting, guilt, emotional pressure and controlling dynamics without reducing complex relationships to simplistic labels.

Understanding how self-doubt develops
Exploring how repeated questioning, criticism or invalidation can gradually affect confidence in your own feelings and perceptions.

Guilt, responsibility & emotional pressure
Understanding the difference between caring about another person and becoming responsible for their emotions, reactions or choices.

Boundaries without constant guilt
Recognising your limits, expressing needs and learning that setting a boundary does not automatically mean rejecting another person.

Why leaving or saying no can feel so difficult
Exploring attachment, fear, hope, guilt, dependency and the emotional conflicts that can keep people connected to painful dynamics.

Rebuilding self-trust
Learning to listen again to your own emotional signals, judgement, values and needs.

Identity after controlling relationships
Rediscovering interests, choices and parts of yourself that may have gradually been pushed aside.

Creating healthier relationships
Developing ways of connecting with others that allow room for closeness, individuality, respect and emotional safety.

In Positive Psychotherapy

Positive Psychotherapy looks beyond the question of “What is wrong?” and also asks “What happened, how did you learn to respond, and what capacities can help you move forward?”

Behaviours such as avoiding conflict, constantly accommodating others or becoming highly sensitive to another person's mood may once have helped preserve connection or emotional safety.

Therapeutic work creates an opportunity to understand these patterns without judgement while gradually developing different ways of responding.

The goal is not simply to recognise manipulation.

It is to reconnect with your own capacity to think, feel, choose, set limits and build relationships without abandoning yourself in the process.

What This Group Can Help You Develop

Through therapeutic exploration and the experience of working alongside others, the group can support you in developing:

  • greater awareness of relationship patterns

  • stronger emotional and interpersonal boundaries

  • increased confidence in your own perceptions

  • greater ability to recognise and express your needs

  • reduced guilt around saying no

  • a clearer sense of personal responsibility versus responsibility for others

  • greater connection with your own values and identity

  • healthier ways of approaching intimacy, trust and relationships

Group Details

12 Weekly Sessions

Saturdays | 10:00–11:30

90 minutes per session

Live Online

10 October 2026 – 9 January 2027

New participants join at the beginning of the 12-week therapeutic cycle, allowing the group to develop continuity, trust and a consistent therapeutic space.

Session Dates

October 2026

10 October
17 October
24 October
31 October

November 2026

7 November
14 November
21 November
28 November

December 2026

5 December
12 December
19 December

January 2027

9 January

Christmas Break:
No sessions on 26 December 2026 and 2 January 2027.

Fees & Payment Options

You can choose the payment option that works best for you.

Pay Per Session
€30 per 90-minute session

Monthly Prepayment
€25 per session when all scheduled sessions for that month are paid in advance.

The monthly prepayment option applies only when all sessions scheduled within that calendar month are paid together in advance.

Joining the Group

If you would like to participate, complete the registration form below.