Part Four(Final): Gaslighting 101
Gaslighting Examples | Case Studies
Backward Facing Therapy contains soulful + insightful stories from my time as a therapist and therapy client. I share essays from my experiences and incorporate evidence-based tools and techniques.
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Hello there, friends. Today’s post is the final essay in our GASLIGHTING 101 series. If you’ve read all three parts in our series, you’re ready for the gaslighting examples|case studies I’m sharing today.
The case studies are meant to bring together everything we’ve discussed. Each case study is based on actual clients, but details and information have been heavily edited so that there’s no personally identifiable information.
Before we begin, let’s do a quick recap:
In Part One, I discussed the key hallmarks of gaslighting, why people use gaslighting, and the psychological impact gaslighting has on victims.
In Part Two, I covered the nine different types of gaslighting and included examples—reminder: medical gaslighting is real.
In Part Three, we discussed recognizing gaslighting and how to set boundaries when dealing with a gaslighter.
If you’re a long-term reader, you may notice that my writing is usually soulful, emotive, and empathetic. In the Gaslighting 101 series, I have purposefully written in a “just the facts” style to avoid bias. As a clinician, I think objective writing serves you better when discussing a topic that causes people to regularly question their reality. I hope you understand and that my explanation makes sense.
Gaslighting Examples: Case Studies
1. Romantic Gaslighting
Background:
Daniel, a 32-year-old man, began therapy following the breakdown of a long-term romantic relationship that had left him struggling with low self-worth, poor self-esteem, and symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Presenting Issue:
Throughout the relationship, Daniel’s girlfriend frequently denied behaviors that caused him distress (e.g., flirtatious interactions with others, breaking agreements, or making demeaning comments). When Daniel raised concerns, his girlfriend responded with statements like, “That never happened,” or “You’re just being insecure, like usual.” Even when he had evidence or clear memories of the events, his girlfriend’s repeated denials left him second-guessing his own perceptions and judgment. At times, he felt like he was going crazy.
Clinical Observations:
Romantic gaslighting often distorts a person’s reality in subtle but deeply impactful ways, eroding self-trust and reinforcing self-blame. In Daniel’s case, these repeated experiences led to emotional dysregulation, hypervigilance, and a continued sense of self-doubt (even after the relationship ended).
Treatment Focus:
Therapy focused on validating Daniel’s lived experiences, helping him rebuild his capacity to trust his perceptions, process the emotional harm of long-term gaslighting, and identify healthy relationship dynamics moving forward.
2. Parental Gaslighting
Background:
Kevin, a 29-year-old man, entered therapy to work on low self-esteem, anxiety, and chronic indecision. Throughout treatment, he disclosed childhood experiences where his emotions were frequently minimized or denied by his parents.
Presenting Issue:
Whenever Kevin tried to express feelings of fear, sadness, or anger during family conflicts, his parents responded with statements like, “That never happened” or “You’re just being dramatic.” These repeated experiences taught Kevin to distrust his own emotions and memories, contributing to a persistent sense of self-doubt and difficulty navigating adult relationships.
Clinical Observations:
Parental gaslighting during developmental years undermines emotional literacy, self-trust, and erodes self-esteem. Kevin’s symptoms of anxiety and self-doubt were deeply connected to this early emotional invalidation.
Treatment Focus:
Therapy emphasized validating Kevin’s emotions, processing the impact of childhood invalidation, and developing cognitive and emotional tools to rebuild a reliable sense of self.
3. Workplace Gaslighting
Background:
Marc, a 45-year-old professional, sought therapy due to burnout, anxiety, and a deep sense of self-doubt after years of toxic workplace dynamics.
Presenting Issue:
Marc described a pattern of being consistently assigned more work than peers and then being criticized for missing unrealistic deadlines. When Marc raised these concerns, supervisors would deny the discrepancies and suggest the issue was Marc’s poor time management or attitude, despite documented evidence to refute this. This caused Marc to doubt his competence, and he felt increasingly powerless in the workplace. His workplace issues eventually started to affect his personal relationships as well.
Clinical Observations:
Workplace gaslighting can create a destabilizing environment where an individual’s reality is repeatedly denied or distorted (a method of control) or to avoid accountability. Marc exhibited classic symptoms of gaslighting: self-doubt, emotional confusion, and hypervigilance.
Treatment Focus:
Therapy emphasized restoring Marc’s sense of self-trust, building skills for boundary-setting and self-advocacy, and processing the emotional damage of the gaslighting dynamic. Marc also learned healthier ways to regulate his emotions.
4. Friendship Gaslighting
Background:
Marina, a 31-year-old woman, sought therapy after the collapse of a long-standing friendship, which had left her confused and self-critical.
Presenting Issue:
Marina described a friendship where her feelings were frequently dismissed. When she tried to address being hurt by her friend’s actions, the friend would reply with statements like, “You’re making a big deal out of nothing” or “You’re too emotional.” Over time, Marina began to silence her own feelings and question whether her emotional responses were valid.
Clinical Observations:
Friendship gaslighting erodes emotional safety and creates chronic self-doubt. Marina’s experience led to significant difficulty with trusting her own emotions, which continued to affect her other relationships.
Treatment Focus:
Therapy focused on validating Marina’s emotional experiences, exploring healthy friendship dynamics, and helping her reconnect with her own emotional needs. Marina also benefited from daily affirmation cards to remind her that she did not need someone else to validate her reality.
5. Gender-Based Gaslighting
Background:
Alex, a 28-year-old nonbinary individual, sought therapy for persistent anxiety, social withdrawal, and difficulty trusting their own feelings and identity. During sessions, it became clear that much of their distress stemmed from repeated invalidation by both family members and colleagues regarding their gender identity.
Presenting Issue:
Alex’s family consistently dismissed their self-identification as nonbinary, insisting, “You’re just confused” or, “You’ve always been a girl to us.”
In professional settings, colleagues frequently misgendered Alex and, when corrected, minimized their concerns, saying, “Get over it!” or implying that Alex was living in a fantasy world. Over time, this chronic invalidation caused Alex to doubt their emotional responses and retreat from social connections.
Clinical Observations:
Alex’s experience highlights the psychological harm caused when gaslighting targets core aspects of identity. The repeated distortion and dismissal of their lived reality deepened their anxiety, self-doubt, and sense of isolation.
Treatment Focus:
Therapy centered on helping Alex rebuild trust in their own perceptions, develop self-affirmation practices, and create healthy boundaries in both personal and professional relationships. Alex also benefited from journaling daily.
6. Medical Gaslighting
Background:
Rayna, a 61-year-old woman, began therapy to address feelings of helplessness and medical trauma. For several years, she had experienced chronic physical symptoms that included pain, headaches, and fatigue. Rayna’s symptoms caused her to frequently call out sick to work.
Presenting Issue:
Rayna reported that doctors often suggested her symptoms were “stress-related” or “all in her head,” despite the persistence and severity of her physical pain. This repeated invalidation led her to question her own bodily sensations and hesitate to seek additional medical care, even when her health deteriorated.
Clinical Observations:
Medical gaslighting eroded Rayna’s self-trust and reinforced feelings of helplessness. She later received a formal diagnosis of an autoimmune disorder, but the years of invalidation created long-lasting emotional and psychological harm.
Treatment Focus:
Therapy prioritized restoring Rayna’s trust in her own body, addressing trauma from the repeated dismissal of her concerns, and supporting self-advocacy in future medical encounters.
7. Cultural Gaslighting
Background:
Katretha, a 34-year-old woman of color, came to therapy to address chronic feelings of self-doubt, social anxiety, and anger, particularly in response to her experiences in academic and professional settings.
Presenting Issue:
Katretha reported that when she spoke out about microaggressions and discrimination at work, she was frequently told by supervisors and colleagues that she was “too sensitive” or “imagining things.” One colleague even told her to “grow a spine.” Over time, these responses left her questioning whether her experiences were valid, which compounded her emotional distress and feelings of invisibility.
Clinical Observations:
Cultural gaslighting reinforces systemic oppression by invalidating lived experiences of bias and discrimination. Katretha’s case illustrates how gaslighting can erode an individual’s sense of self and belonging.
Treatment Focus:
Therapy focused on validating Katretha’s experiences, helping her process the emotional impact of racial and cultural invalidation, and supporting her in building healthy relationships and advocacy skills. Katretha also benefited from documenting /writing down her experiences to validate her reality.
8. Religious Gaslighting
Background:
Bethany, a 25-year-old woman, sought therapy to process religious trauma and ongoing struggles with self-worth and emotional regulation.
Presenting Issue:
Throughout her upbringing in a tightly controlled religious community, Bethany was repeatedly told that her negative emotions were a sign of spiritual failure or personal sin (instead of valid responses to difficult situations). In addition, whenever she questioned certain teachings, practices, or rules, she was told that doubt was proof of a lack of faith. This pattern of denial and strict moral judgment caused her to internalize blame and distrust her emotional experiences.
Clinical Observations:
Religious gaslighting distorts both emotional reality and sense of self-worth, often embedding deep shame and self-doubt into the person’s psyche. In Bethany’s case, this created a chronic conflict between her emotions and her learned beliefs, which created anxiety and emotional suppression.
Treatment Focus:
Therapy focused on untangling emotional reality from Bethany’s religious conditioning, validating Bethany’s emotions, and helping her develop a more independent and realistic framework for her thoughts and feelings. Bethany also benefited from learning how to set boundaries with others in her community.
9. Political Gaslighting
Background:
Tom, a 42-year-old man, entered therapy to address chronic anxiety, emotional exhaustion, and feelings of disorientation in response to sociopolitical events and public discourse.
Presenting Issue:
Tom reported that when he expressed concern about specific political events — including evidence of discrimination, human rights violations, or threats to democratic processes — friends and family would often respond with phrases such as “That’s not really happening” or “You’re wrong — it’s all fake news.” Even in cases where video footage, lived experiences, or credible reports were available, his concerns were met with dismissal, denial, or minimization. Over time, Tom began to question his own perception of reality, cycling between anger, confusion, and helplessness.
Clinical Observations:
Political gaslighting can create a disorienting split between lived experience and publicly accepted narratives, contributing to chronic self-doubt, helplessness, and anxiety. Tom’s case highlights the emotional toll of living in a distorted political environment.
Treatment Focus:
Therapy emphasized validating Tom’s emotions and lived experiences, helping him process the emotional impact of political gaslighting, and supporting resilience-building strategies in the face of external denial.
These gaslighting case studies demonstrate that gaslighting is not always easy to identify, particularly when embedded within trusted systems (e.g., workplaces, hospitals, news media, etc.,).
Whether gaslighting occurs in personal relationships, professional environments, or cultural and political contexts, it undermines an individual’s internal reality and affects their ability to assess their own thoughts, feelings, and perceptions.
I hope you’ve found this final post helpful but before you go, I want you to know that I’ve spent hours creating a special Gaslighting journal.
If you’ve ever questioned your reality, doubted your instincts, or felt like your voice was silenced, this Gently Guided Gaslighting Journal is for you. Thoughtfully designed by a mental health therapist (me!), this guided journal offers you a safe space to validate your truth, rebuild self-trust, and reconnect with who you really are—beyond the manipulation.
With supportive sections on setting healthy boundaries, tracking your mood, regulating emotions, and processing the impact of emotional abuse, this journal isn’t just paper—it’s a healing companion. Whether you're at the beginning of your recovery or deep in the work, this journal gently walks with you every step of the way. Your truth matters. Your healing is real. Start reclaiming your story today.
Here’s a preview:
This 48-page journal can be worked through from front to back or you can pick and choose pages. And because it’s digital? You can reprint pages as often as you need them.
I could easily sell this journal for $47 or more but you get it as part of your Backward Facing Therapy subscription ($7.00 monthly or $59 a year). Basically, the cost of a cup of coffee or a therapy copay.
Subscribers, head to Kim’s Therapy Space to download the Gently Guided Gaslighting Journal.
Becoming a paid subscriber is the best way to support my work, but you can also buy me a coffee or send a dose of mindfulness. Shares, likes and comments are also a way to show your support. Either way, I’m glad you’re here.
Did you find the case study examples helpful?
Kim
