As you have ongoing engagements with a narcissist, harmful patterns arise.  Being entitled and selfish, the narcissist has to be in control.  Insensitivity and anger are an ever-present possibility.  Invalidation…

As you discern how to manage your responses to a narcissist, it is important to remember that they do not seek mutuality.  Instead, narcissists think competitively.  Someone is right, the…

The broad spectrum of narcissistic traits guarantees ongoing psychological dysfunction.  When traits like selfishness, control, and manipulation are prominent, it is certain that all sorts of strains will follow.  Predictably…

It’s virtually impossible to overestimate a narcissist’s need for Alternate Reality.  They have a longstanding fear of vulnerability which has led to covering the Real Self, composing a False Self,…

As a therapist, I was never shocked when I learned that decent people became pulled in by lousy circumstances.  No one is immune from psychological pain or dysfunction, but the…

It’s frustrating enough to witness narcissists being self-absorbed, controlling, condescending, and so on.  But narcissists will take their pathology a step further by displacing their psychopathology onto you.  Unwilling to…

In some ways, we each seek influence with others.  We might express preferences, share opinions, hold firmly to values, set boundaries, and so forth.  In the best sense, we wish…

It’s simply a fact, narcissists can trigger many raw feelings within you.  With their controlling ways and impenetrable defenses, coordination can feel impossible, and this can create within you a…

It’s one thing for narcissistic people to be selfish or contrarian.  Frankly, each of us has moments when we enter that space.  Healthy people know how to contain selfish instincts,…