Glossary
Limited contact.
Limited contact — often abbreviated LC — is the harm-reduction strategy in which the survivor narrows interaction with the narcissist to a deliberate minimum, while not committing to full no-contact. It is sometimes the right choice on its own and sometimes a way station on the path to no contact.
Audio readout.
Definition
Limited contact means deliberately narrow, deliberately scheduled, deliberately scoped interactions only. Concretely:
- Communication only in writing where possible (no spontaneous phone calls, no drop-in visits).
- Specific occasions only — major holidays, family events of mutual obligation, logistical co-parenting matters.
- Topics restricted to a small set, with the survivor declining to engage outside it.
- Duration constrained — short visits, scheduled departures, declining to extend.
- The survivor sets the terms and declines renegotiation.
Mechanically, limited contact is grey rock conducted at lower frequency. The same defensive principles apply: no personal information, no engagement with provocations, no emotional handle.
When limited contact is the right choice
Cases where full no-contact is either not appropriate or not currently available:
- An elderly or ill parent whose total estrangement the survivor doesn't want to choose, but whose presence at full intensity is harmful. LC permits a relationship the survivor can defend.
- Co-parenting with shared children, particularly when the children are young enough that the parental relationship is non-negotiable.
- Extended family configurations where total estrangement would mean estrangement from many other relatives the survivor wants to keep.
- Transitions toward no contact, where the survivor is building the practical and emotional infrastructure for a fuller exit.
The risks
Limited contact is more demanding than no contact and produces partial rather than full recovery. The relationship remains a live source of psychological cost; the conditioning is still being intermittently reinforced; the survivor's nervous system does not get the sustained signal that the threat has ended. Many survivors who plan limited contact find that it is harder to hold than expected and either tighten the limits substantially over time or transition to full no contact. Both adjustments are normal.
Where this appears on the site
The fuller treatment of contact strategies, including the cases where limited contact is appropriate and where full no contact is the better choice, is at recovery/no-contact and recovery/grey-rock.
