Highly Recommended Resources

Acclaimed family therapist and author of the classic bestseller Will I Ever Be Good Enough? presents a comprehensive and actionable guide to understanding and healing from narcissistic family abuse. Learn more.

It’s time to move beyond the self-destructive coping “skills” that hold you back! The coping styles we develop in childhood are often the result of stressful or traumatic experiences. And while they once worked to keep us feeling safe, they do not serve us well in adulthood. This breakthrough guide offers an innovative and evidence-based approach grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), schema therapy, and attachment theory to help you break free from the coping habits that keep you stuck in a cycle of self-sabotaging negative thoughts and behaviors. Learn more.

Wendy Behary, LCSW – disarmingthenarcissist.com

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Kathryn Rudlin’s article was featured in San Diego Woman Magazine’s 2015 Expert Issue.

Women who grow up poorly mothered often experience lingering distress and haunting issues as a result. When mothers are unable to be nurturing or empathetic, daughters struggle.

Surprisingly, the most effective response is the one that seems the most counterintuitive. What I’ve learned is this: rather than ignore the painful feelings, embrace the truth of what you’ve experienced so it doesn’t continue to haunt you.

I’m often asked: What is the point of exploring this pain, or rehashing something that happened in childhood? The point is that we had to adapt to this difficult situation, in many ways raising ourselves, perhaps bending over backwards to please mom, or rebelling against her requests.

As adults we often don’t recalibrate our thoughts and behavior, perhaps continuing to be an excessive people pleaser or fighting a battle that was lost long ago.

The key to thriving as a ghost daughter is to become empowered by tapping into your courage, strength, and resilience.

In the process of reinventing yourself you find out who you truly are and how to get what you didn’t receive as a child.

By Dr. Karyl McBride, Psychology Today

Are you carrying the emotional burden of a dysfunctional family?

This article expertly explores the legacy of poor parenting that results in children burdened with the belief that they don’t measure up, and never will. Dr. McBride explores how these messages get passed through the generations and what it takes to finally feel good enough, and live your own life.

Have you wondered where your internalized message of “I’m not good enough, comes from? Do you feel you give life your best, work hard, try hard, but still can’t give yourself credit? Are you constantly beating yourself up and thinking that somehow you should be more, do more, be better, and you don’t measure up in your own mind?

By Anna Almendrala – Senior Healthy Living Editor, Huffington Post

Children of narcissists are rarely in a position to demand that their parents seek help. In fact they may not even realize that their parents were narcissists until they seek professional help for their own struggles… While narcissists come in all varieties and their symptoms vary across a spectrum… there are a few ways for adult children to tell they may have been raised by a narcissist.

Featured in the prestigious Huffington Post, this article interviews experts to define common characteristics experienced by children of narcissists, and the insight that comes in doing so: once you figure this out, a whole lot of other things will start to make sense.

In addition to these helpful insights, the article includes ways to change frustrating patterns developed in childhood as a result of narcissistic parenting.

By Richard Brouillette – psychotherapist and author of “Your Coping Skills Aren’t Working: How to Break Free from the Habits that Once Helped you But Now Hold You Back”

Recent advances in artificial intelligence have raised another round of “Can robots replace humans?” questions. As a psychotherapist, I suggest we can’t have a discussion about AI doing therapy without addressing the key role that human attachment — the type of physical, emotional trusting bond between people — plays in healing and meaning making.

Author of the smash #1 bestseller Toxic Parents, Susan Forward offers a powerful look at the devastating impact unloving mothers have on their daughters—and provides clear, effective techniques for overcoming that painful legacy. Purchase on Amazon.

Learn how to end the self-destructive behaviors that stop you from living your best life with this breakthrough program. Unsatisfactory relationships, irrational lack of self-esteem, feelings of being unfulfilled—these are all problems that can be solved by changing the types of messages that people internalize. These self-defeating behavior patterns are called “lifetraps,” and Reinventing Your Life shows you how to stop the cycle that keeps you from attaining happiness. Learn more.

You will learn how to move past the narcissist’s defenses using compassionate, empathetic communication. You’ll learn how narcissists view the world, how to navigate their coping styles, and why, oftentimes, it’s sad and lonely being a narcissist. Purchase on Amazon.