From the outside, Tina’s (not her real name) life looks perfect.

At 45, she is in her prime, enjoying her career as a reputable creative content director at a prominent Jakarta agency. Her clients from various industries and institutions are always raving about the “genius” offline and online marketing campaigns she has helped design, all guaranteed to become a success.

Yet, beneath this facade, she has recently survived a painful and abusive relationship with a narcissistic boyfriend, now ex.

“Despite my professional achievements, I secretly felt empty inside all the time, because my parents never praised me for my attainments. Instead, they always put me down and I’m never enough for them. My father even told me that what I had achieved was nothing [compared to him], as he had already become the director of a multinational company by the time he was 40,” Tina told The Jakarta Post recently.

Tina said that her parents had always been condescending and demeaning toward her since she was a child. Even with all the achievements she had made as an adult, her parents still looked down on her. This left her feeling empty and insecure, leading her to seek love and external approval from others in desperation.

In 2017, Tina experienced a major crisis. The hard work she had put in at the beginning of her career brought her more work from more clients, and she had to work even harder. She was frequently ill and started to feel lonely when she realized that she had no personal life at all, only a professional one.

It was around this time that she attended a creative conference and met “Andy”, a fellow content writer.

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