You're Not Crazy: A Podcast for Cycle Breakers with Toxic Parents · Torie Wiksell

Self-Doubt After Growing Up With a Toxic Parent: Why You Gaslight Yourself and How to Move Forward

January 13, 2026·19 min·1 clip

Tori Wixel reframes self-doubt as 'self-gaslighting'—the internalized voice of a toxic parent minimizing your reality.

Therapist Tori Wixel explores why adults raised by toxic parents struggle with pervasive self-doubt, reframing it as 'self-gaslighting'—an internalized voice that undermines their reality and decision-making. She explains how this doubt sabotages both family boundary-setting and general adult functioning, and offers perspective that it's a normal byproduct of the upbringing, not a personal flaw.

As heard by us

Self-doubt is framed as part of cycle breaking.

Tori treats self-doubt as part of cycle breaking: once listeners begin setting boundaries, speaking more clearly, and acting with more force, the family system can push back.

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Why you'd press play

For when family pushback has you questioning your boundaries.

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