Escaping the narcissist’s worldview: Assimilating cult and narcissistic abuse experiences for the identification of deception recovery

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.