About & sources

What this is, honestly

The content here is general guidance compiled from established approaches to narcissistic-abuse recovery, high-conflict communication, and trauma-informed self-care. It is not a substitute for professional help, and it cannot diagnose anyone — including the person you’re thinking about.

Approaches & references

• National Domestic Violence Hotline — safety planning framework and tactics drawn from thehotline.org.
• "Grey rock" method — a low-reaction communication approach widely used in narcissistic-abuse recovery.
• BIFF responses — Brief, Informative, Friendly, Firm: a high-conflict communication method (Bill Eddy, High Conflict Institute).
• Trauma-informed therapy & EMDR — evidence-based modalities used in recovery from emotional and psychological abuse.
• Adult children of narcissists / childhood emotional neglect — literature — including the work of Jonice Webb, Lindsay Gibson, and others.

Privacy

Nothing about your situation leaves your browser. There are no accounts, no analytics, no trackers, no chat widgets. Optional progress saving uses localStorage on this device only, and you can erase it any time from a plan page. Discreet mode (in the header) changes the tab title to “Notes” and swaps the icon, but it doesn’t hide this site’s address from your browser history — a private window is still recommended.

Who's behind this

Travis Barlow

Travis Barlow has spent 26 years in cybersecurity incident response, leading more than 600 engagements for organizations and individuals on the worst day of their digital lives. He's the founder of AtlSecCon, Atlantic Canada's security conference, and advises leadership teams through CyberShell and HackFirstAid.

He built HackFirstAid.com to give everyday people a clear path back after being hacked. His newest project, NarcFirstAid.com, takes the same first-responder approach to a different kind of harm: helping people recover from manipulation and abuse by the people closest to them.