Dr. Brittney Doll

02/19/2026

It doesn’t always leave a bruise. 🚫

We often look for the physical signs of abuse, but coercive control is the invisible prison built around a person’s soul. It’s a pattern of domination that uses manipulation, isolation, and micro-management to strip away a person’s sense of self.

When someone has to ask permission to see a friend, when their location is constantly tracked, or when their reality is constantly denied ("gaslighting"), their self-agency—their ability to think, choose, and act for themselves—is slowly dismantled.

The goal of coercive control isn't just to win an argument; it’s to erase the person entirely so they exist only to serve the controller.

If you feel like you are walking on eggshells and no longer trust your own judgment, please know: You are not crazy, and you are not alone. Your autonomy is your birthright. 💜

02/11/2026

They live in a mirror ball. Always seeing themselves.. thinking they are seeing others

01/23/2026

Grief leaves you forever changed. And unlike a mood disorder, like anxiety or depression, there is no pill for feeling better. You must walk (or crawl or slog) through each excruciating moment. Fortunately, it does improve. But not with time. With support and with hard work.

It is so.

When you lose that person who gave you unconditional love, you feel alone. You miss their presence, miss the physicality of their expression and your memories of and with them become entombed in sepia-toned, grief-fraught amber.

The way they saw you and loved you is enshrined, because no one else in the world can love you or see you the way they did. It is easy to become entrapped in that state of constant remembering, it can become obsessive when held too long as the physical processes of the mind remap synaptic connections fused in new pathways by the chemical remorselessness of thought and emotional carving.

The literal “crack” that results from the trauma opens you up and you are presented with a choice. The grief must be felt, the agony of loss must be experienced and there is no way past that. The only way out is through and that process takes time. There is no rushing through the grief process.

Sometimes I will just be going through my day and something will remind me of my mama and a primal scream will arise, unbidden, and I find myself in tears, in a coffee shop, at work, watching a show at home.

Other times she comes to me in a gentle cloaking of love and wisdom, seemingly hovering over me, smiling and embracing me from the non-physical realm of existence.

That missing never seems to go away. But the process of incorporating that love into daily life is an integral part of the healing process. Remembering the good and the bad times becomes an act of divine forgiveness for your own lack of mindfulness, for not appreciating what you had when you had it or, recognizing the times when you did honor your loved ones and showed that respect in ways that they could feel and see.

Identity does shift. We do become someone different as we incorporate who they were into who we are. If they are a family member or close friend, they live on through us in tangible and intangible ways, as we remember and deploy the lessons we learned with and through them into our own understanding of how life should be lived. Or not.

And we share them, invoke them thereafter in our thoughts, words and deeds. Because we are no longer alone, in the sense that their physical presence is gone. They are with us, always, available for consultation and conversation in ways that provide us comfort and, eventually, we arrive at that place known as the “peace which surpasses all understanding”.

God be with us in all ways and at all times. 🙏🏿🖤🙏🏿

01/13/2026

Check out my FREE course in Relational Awareness: Building Connection & Self-Understanding. Feel free to share! Many good worksheets for relational awareness building.
https://www.brittneydoll.com/the-power-of-relationships-in-healing-change

01/13/2026

You can't heal in a story where they're protecting their image (or their narrative--a lie) instead of the truth. You must release your desire for them to "face what happened," or your desire for an apology or any kind of accountability. It may never come. A narcissist can never own their part.

01/09/2026

01/06/2026

What cage is still holding you back? Is the cage real or imagined? Is it an old habit or a realistic prison cell? Are you afraid of the freedom? How can you step out into your new life?

12/28/2025

2025 is the Year of the Snake. As this year comes to a close, reflect on the transformation that you made. What have you shed (or want to shed in the next week)? What no longer serves you? What are you losing to make way for new growth?

https://open.substack.com/pub/drbrittneydoll/p/2026-the-year-of-the-snake-wisdom?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

12/23/2025

Winter is not a time for blooming. It is a time for integration, for reflection, for listening. It is a time to gently hold intentions—not to force change, but to dream it. To notice what you want to nourish when the light returns. Merry Solstice 💙

12/18/2025

PTSD is a f*cking b*tch

12/13/2025

Narcissists create their own reality. It’s akin to Alice falling into Wonderland. Nothing is logical or rational (why is that caterpillar smoking?!). Borderline women are often “queens” who demand complete control, have passive servants (playing cards) who do their bidding, and will seek to destroy (“off with her head!”) anyone who threatens her perceived realm, resources, or rule.
It’s crazy-making.
A complete mind-f*ck.
But you’re not the crazy one. You just have to wake up to your own reality. Recognizing that the queen’s realm only goes so far and her madness is not your own.