20. The Dangers of Narcissism

In this episode, Diane talks candidly with Rick about the distinction between narcissitic personality disorder and narcissitic tendencies that we all may struggle with. They discuss how narcisstic abuse affects co-parents and their children and strategies to preserve a sense of self-worth when a narcissist is determined to destroy it to maintain their own one-up position.

Resources to assist those who are healing from narcisisstic abuse:

• Patricia Evans' groundbreaking book, The Verbally Abusive Relationship, is a must read for all who listen to this podcast and think they may be a victim of narcissistic abuse. Find it on Amazon here.
• Disarming the Narcissist offers great advice about how to avoid losing yourself in the games played by your narcissistic parent or co-parent. Find it on Amazon here.
• Children of the Self-Abosrbed is one of the frequently recommended books for children who are experiencing the abuses of a narcissitic parent. Find it on Amazon here.
• Narcissists tend to target people who may define themselves as “empaths.” To learn more, find the book, Empaths, on Amazon here.

Diane gave a couple of examples of how to respond to the narcissistic parent when they continually are asking for something that you don't think is realistic to give. Here are the answers she quoted on the show:

"Thank you for your message, but it's content is the very reason flexibility doesn't work for us. If every time I say no to a request, I get a response like this, then I'm not motivated to be flexible. Our child deserves parents who can stay out of conflict and that is more important to me than either of our personal needs. If you think the parenting plan needs adjusted, I am open to mediating it, but because of these kinds of messages, I am no longer open to straying from it."

"I understand your point of view. I am open to mediating this. Threats are not necessary. Thank you."

You can find suggested videos on our YouTube channel playlist. There's a special playlist about Narcissism. Find it HERE. Please subscribe to our channel so you can be notified when we add more videos.

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