Below is a brief dialogue between two individuals, a narcissist and the target. These people could represent romantic partners, friends, or even family members in a parent-child relationship, for example. PERSON 1/NARC (enters the living room, clears their throat, and coughs) You love me, right? What would you do if I weren’t here? PERSON 2/TARGET (looks up from their book and grins) Of course … [Read more...] about Attention-seeking Behaviors: Discovering the Narcissist’s Fixation with Admiration and Validation
Abusive Relationships
Victim-blaming, villainization & Retraumatization
Picture the following: Your local news station reports an armed robbery at a nearby bank. Anchors diligently depict how law enforcement officers arrived at the crime scene to seize the culprits—and later release them, issuing citations. Despite this outcome, an investigation was still completed. During the investigation, detectives carefully reviewed the bank’s security camera footage and … [Read more...] about Victim-blaming, villainization & Retraumatization
The Infantilization Tactic: Parent-Adult Child Codependency and Narcissistic Abuse Cues
‘Adulting’ can be exasperating—so much so that achieving autonomy and stability across the board seems nearly impossible at times. Adults who appear to ‘have it all together’ may witness other adults religiously rely on their parents for support and then grumble to themselves: “Cut the umbilical cord, already.” However, these ‘have it all together’ adults could benefit from considering that … [Read more...] about The Infantilization Tactic: Parent-Adult Child Codependency and Narcissistic Abuse Cues
Baiting, Hoovering, and Triangulation: Uncovering the Energy Gold Mine and Energy-Sucking Narcissists
Narcissism can be a malignant malady. A narcissist may present with overt or covert tactics, and there’s even a narcissism spectrum—ranging from healthy to pathological or full-blown Narcissistic Personality Disorder. The narcissism trait also has the capacity to consume anyone’s personality and spread like wildfire, reaching across sexual orientation, age, and other social identity facets. The … [Read more...] about Baiting, Hoovering, and Triangulation: Uncovering the Energy Gold Mine and Energy-Sucking Narcissists
Ten Types of Abusive Men
Tremendous variation exists among abusive styles. An abusive partner may change so much from day to day that he could not belong to any type. It is helpful to keep in mind that an abuser can have days when he turns into a loving, attentive and thoughtful partner. At these times, you may feel that his problems have finally gone away. However, abuse always comes back eventually unless the abuser has … [Read more...] about Ten Types of Abusive Men
When Living Together Isn’t Going Well During Quarantine
There are different levels of things not going well in a relationship during quarantine. On one end of the spectrum we have couples who are for most of the time getting along with only a minor dispute occasionally. Other couples are being tested by the time in quarantine and are noticing more frequent fighting, or that their fighting is more intense. While this is concerning, it can be managed and … [Read more...] about When Living Together Isn’t Going Well During Quarantine