I cut my father out of my life earlier this year. Although the idea of it was scary, it was quite easy. He lives almost 2000 miles away and it's something I always knew I had to do if I ever wanted to be happy. Besides being sexually and physically abusive when I was younger, he is emotionally abusive to everyone around him all the time. The only people who associate with him today are his employees.

I'm happier. I'm finally free. I also recently got to a point in my therapy where I don't feel like I'm thinking about the abuse constantly. I'm not always processing things that happened. I'm actually in the present moment sometimes.

Then I started having dreams where my dad shows up. Nothing sexually or physically abusive happens. We're just sitting in a restaurant or at a family gathering. He's just there talking nicely, sometimes imparting that he cares about me. I usually realize in the dream that I'm not supposed to be there and I think, "It's okay, we'll get away again and never come back."

I don't like seeing him in my dreams. It feels intrusive to me, like everything he did my whole life. I get up in the morning and tell my husband, "I just saw that ***hole again." My husband says he may always show up in dreams and there's nothing I can do. I'm in between sessions right now, so I don't know what my T would say.

Has anyone else had this happen? How did you handle it? Is it always a part of your life?