What Is Gaslighting?
Gaslighting is a form of emotional manipulation where someone systematically makes you question your own reality, memory, and perceptions. It's a deliberate pattern of behavior designed to destabilize your sense of truth and make you dependent on the gaslighter's version of events.
This psychological tactic is more common than many people realize, and it can happen to anyone—regardless of intelligence, education, or strength. Gaslighters are often charming and convincing, making it even harder to recognize what's happening.
Common Gaslighting Behaviors
Denying Reality
They insist they never said or did something, even when you clearly remember it happening. They make you feel like your memory is faulty or unreliable.
Trivializing Your Feelings
They tell you you're "crazy," "too sensitive," or "overreacting" when you express legitimate concerns. Your emotions are dismissed as invalid or excessive.
Twisting Your Words
They take what you say, distort it, and use it against you. Conversations become confusing as they reframe your statements to make you sound unreasonable.
Shifting Blame
They make you feel responsible for their emotions, actions, or problems. Somehow, everything becomes your fault—even their own poor behavior.
Minimizing Your Concerns
They downplay serious issues, making you feel like you're making a big deal out of nothing. Your valid worries are treated as insignificant.
The goal? To make you doubt yourself so they can maintain control.
The worst part is how subtle it can be. Gaslighting often starts small and escalates gradually, so most people don't realize it's happening until they've already lost trust in their own judgment. If you're constantly apologizing, second-guessing yourself, or walking on eggshells around your partner, you might be experiencing gaslighting.
Take the Assessment Now
Get Clarity in Just 2 Minutes
This confidential assessment will help you understand whether you're experiencing gaslighting and provide you with personalized insights about your relationship dynamics.
What to expect:
- Clear, straightforward questions about your relationship patterns
- Immediate, personalized results based on your responses
- Specific insights into what's happening in your relationship
- Actionable next steps tailored to your situation
Answer honestly. Your responses are completely confidential.
No one will see your answers except you. There's no judgment here—only clarity, validation, and support. This is a safe space to acknowledge what you've been experiencing and to begin understanding the truth of your situation.
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Taking this assessment is an act of courage. It means you're willing to face the truth, even when that truth is uncomfortable. Trust your instincts—they brought you here for a reason.
Based on Real Research
This assessment isn't based on guesswork or opinion. It's grounded in rigorous research, clinical expertise, and real-world experience. Every question has been carefully crafted to identify the patterns and behaviors that mental health professionals recognize as gaslighting and emotional manipulation.
Our Foundation
Psychological Research
Drawing from decades of peer-reviewed studies on gaslighting, emotional manipulation, coercive control, and psychological abuse in intimate relationships. This includes research from leading institutions and published findings in clinical psychology journals.
Expert Interviews
Extensive interviews with relationship therapists, domestic violence counselors, clinical psychologists, and trauma specialists who work directly with survivors of emotional abuse. Their frontline insights inform every aspect of this assessment.
Survivor Stories
Real accounts from hundreds of people who've escaped gaslighting relationships. Their experiences reveal the common patterns, red flags, and progression of gaslighting behavior that might not be immediately obvious from research alone.
Proven Frameworks
Established clinical frameworks for identifying emotional abuse, including diagnostic criteria used by mental health professionals and validated assessment tools from relationship research.
This isn't theory. These are patterns that show up in real relationships.
Every question in this assessment reflects actual behaviors that therapists and survivors have identified as markers of gaslighting. The results you receive are based on patterns that have been documented, studied, and validated across thousands of cases.
The assessment has been reviewed by licensed therapists specializing in relationship dynamics and emotional abuse. It's designed to be both scientifically sound and practically useful—giving you insights you can actually apply to your situation.
About Michael Brett
Michael Brett is a relationship coach who specializes in helping people understand what healthy relationships actually look like—and how to build them, whether that means transforming an existing relationship or finding the courage to leave an unhealthy one.
With over 1,000 in-depth interviews with women and hundreds of successful relationship transformations under his belt, Michael's work is grounded in real research, proven therapeutic methods, and tangible results. He doesn't deal in platitudes or one-size-fits-all advice. His approach is personalized, practical, and deeply compassionate.
A Different Approach to Relationship Coaching
Michael's coaching philosophy centers on one core principle: emotional safety is the foundation for healthy relationships. Without it, no amount of communication techniques, date nights, or couples exercises will create lasting change. With it, everything becomes possible.
Individual Coaching
One-on-one sessions focused on your specific situation, helping you gain clarity, set boundaries, and make empowered decisions about your relationship future.
Couples Communication
Intensive seminars that teach effective communication skills, conflict resolution, and techniques for rebuilding trust and emotional safety together.
Group Programs
Supportive group coaching for individuals navigating similar relationship challenges, providing community, accountability, and shared learning.
Custom Workshops
Tailored programs for organizations, communities, or groups wanting to deepen their understanding of healthy relationship dynamics.
Michael works with individuals and couples who are committed to doing the hard work—whether that means saving their relationships through genuine transformation or making the difficult decision to leave. He provides judgment-free guidance, evidence-based strategies, and unwavering support throughout the process.
Based in Dallas, TX, Michael serves clients both locally and remotely through secure video coaching sessions, making his expertise accessible regardless of your location.