Going No Contact with a narcissist is exactly what it implies. It’s a cold turkey approach to avoiding future manipulation and abuse by the narcissist once you’ve left the relationship.
The purpose of this approach is to emotionally protect yourself from the toxicity of the narcissist. It’s a way to detox from the abusive and addictive cycle of narcissistic abuse as you begin to heal, gain clarity, rebuild your self-esteem, and move on.
Narcissists are notorious boundary busters. They’ll try to trigger you, bait you, and draw you back into their web. They’ll use their charm, promise to be better, and engage in future faking and hoovering to lure you back in for another go-round of abuse.
Going No Contact gives you the time and space to prevent succumbing to this temptation and to avoid being emotionally triggered by any baiting behaviors. It’s a means to help you enforce your newly established boundaries.
If you’re unable to completely break off contact, say due to co-parenting or co-working, limited contact is the next best option: Limit any contact with the narcissist to only necessary communication and avoid any emotional reactivity to anything they say or do by using the gray rock technique. (Narcissists love to get a rise out of you.)
While this cold turkey approach can feel challenging and uncomfortable initially due to the addictive nature of narcissistic relationships, it gets easier over time.
And remember: There’s a new-and-improved life out there awaiting you. One that does not include the narcissist!