Published on The Huffington Post 3/28/2017 at 9:36 p.m. ET. Narcissists have an extensive arsenal of weapons to shield and bolster themselves against their underlying shame and insecurity. Always attempting to control the narrative, narcissists go to what for most…
“A family is a tyranny ruled by its weakest member.” George Bernard Shaw nailed the truth with this quote, and no better example is the narcissistic family. The Narcissistic Family Playbill The narcissistic family can be understood as a play…
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First published on Psychology Today, March 25, 2023. To understand the trauma narcissists induce in others, we often focus on their external behaviors and how those behaviors affect the people around them. But what is really going on in the narcissistic…
Exaggerated victimhood is a form of narcissistic grandiosity.
In order to ban autocracy, exploitation, and inequality in the world, we must first realize that the first inequality in life is that of child and adult. —Erik Erikson For humans, a highly social species dependent on the group for survival,…
Dysfunctional, narcissistic families typically feature inequities, and one of the most common forms of inequity is parental favoritism of one child over another. In a survivalist, hierarchical narcissistic family system, there are many reasons parents select a particular child to elevate and another to…
Why is it so unusual for narcissists to grow emotionally? Narcissistic behavior begins as self-protection from the shame and low self-esteem that result from insecure attachment with parents. Children developing a narcissistic personality adopt defensive behavior patterns to shield themselves from negative feedback, both…
Although narcissists are a popular topic these days, lies about narcissism persist in our “common wisdom” about relationships, families, and social institutions. The lies we tell ourselves and our children may seem reassuring or convenient, but they enable abusers and…
Humans are a highly social, collaborative species with intricately complex interdependency. We raise children together, work together, learn together, eat together, play together, and the list goes on. And the glue that bonds us is our common capacity and desire…