Private Practice Skills by Private Practice Skills

March 14, 2025 How DARVO Silences Victims

DARVO was coined by Dr. Jennifer Freyd in the 1990s and stands for “Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender.” DARVO is a common defense strategy by perpetrators, narcissists, and offenders of both criminal and noncriminal harm when they wish to deflect accountability for their actions.

Despite how common DARVO is both individually in relationships as well as on a larger scale (e.g., corporate and government level), it isn’t talked about very often. DARVO is highly effective at silencing victims. But I’m hopeful that by sharing knowledge of how DARVO operates, we can empower ourselves and our society to combat it.

In this episode, we discuss the dynamics of DARVO, as well as the ways it can suppress whistleblowers and negatively impact their wellbeing.

I know it’s a weighty topic for this episode, but it feels highly useful for all of us to have this knowledge handy, whether to advocate for ourselves or to better support our clients in identifying DARVO and successfully holding others accountable.

You can find the shorter, less in-depth version of this episode here:

https://youtu.be/zhAZfcin3YY

National Domestic Violence Hotline:

https://www.thehotline.org/

Crisis Text Line:

https://www.crisistextline.org/

"How to Handle the DARVO Method"

https://sentientcounselling.co.uk/2023/03/21/how-to-handle-the-darvo-method/

Thank you to Paubox for sponsoring this episode. Paubox makes HIPAA-secure email easy and streamlined. Check them out here:

https://bit.ly/pps_paubox_spotify

*Get $250 off your first year with Paubox with coupon code "SKILLS"

*Bonus Deal:* If you add the Paubox badge to your website you get an extra $100 off your first year - that means you can get your whole first year free if you apply both deals!

FREE Guide: Start a Private Practice in Counseling:

https://tinyurl.com/y9ek9en8

"Processing Personal Challenges While Still Being a Therapist"

https://youtu.be/KoLn9XeUZ9Y

Choosing Therapy Article: "DARVO: Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim & Offender”

https://www.choosingtherapy.com/darvo/

Dr. Jennifer Freyd: “What is DARVO?”

https://www.jjfreyd.com/darvo

CNN Article: "What others knew: Culture of denial protected Nassar for years”

https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/23/us/nassar-sexual-abuse-who-knew/index.html

Office of the Whistleblower Website:

https://whistleblower.house.gov/

“Whistleblowing and Mental Health” Government Document:

https://whistleblower.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/whistleblower.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/Whistleblowing_and_Mental_Health.pdf

Resources for Whistleblowers:

https://whistleblower.house.gov/resources/resources-whistleblowers

"The Whistleblower’s Dilemma: Do the Risks Outweigh the Benefits?”

https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/whistleblowers-in-business/

Whistleblower Protections (in the U.S.)

https://www.dol.gov/general/topics/whistleblower

Article: "What Makes Whistleblowers So Threatening?”

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4676977/

LINKS

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👉 FREE Guide: Start a Private Practice in Counseling: https://tinyurl.com/y9ek9en8

👉 How to DIY a Therapist Website that Fills your Practice: https://privatepracticeskills.teachable.com/

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This podcast is geared toward therapists of all kinds, including psychologists, MFTs, LPCCs, social workers, and others in the clinical counseling field. Welcome to Private Practice Skills! I’m Dr. Marie Fang, psychologist in private practice. I post videos offering tools I learned the hard way about starting and growing private practice so that you don’t have to.

Website: www.privatepracticeskills.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/privatepracticeskills

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This podcast is not intended as professional or legal advice. Be sure to seek the services of a professional if you are in need of them.

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