I had a very hard time learning to say no to my mother. She didn’t ask me how I wanted to live my life when I was growing up. She ordered me to do what she wanted, which usually was whatever she thought the church wanted. Having grown up in California during my...
I once had a (very brief) romance with a guy who I suspect is a sociopath. He suspects he’s a sociopath too, so it’s not just me. In a book he wrote, he even has a whole chapter about sociopaths and was very openly curious about whether he, too, was one of them....
Pop psychology uses a lot of lingo to describe various imbalances in relationship: Overfunctioning/ Underfunctioning Narcissist/ Codependent Neurotypical/ Neurodivergent (ADHD, autism, etc) Caregiver/ Disabled care receiver Falsely empowered/ Disempowered One up/...
When I first learned about the idea of “spiritual bypassing,” it was shattering to my parts. I felt busted, lost, ashamed, scared, embarrassed, and deflated. Here I thought I was an advanced spiritual being, capable of loving even the most intolerable asshats on...
In this week’s LOVE SCHOOL, one of our students raised her hand and asked for help letting go of the rage she felt towards her ex. She’d been looping stories of how she’d been victimized by her ex and was terrified of even thinking of getting into another...
I’ve been overwhelmed by what’s going on in our country right now and feeling helpless and speechless, while I sort out my own emotions, thoughts, beliefs, and call to action. One thing I know I can offer is psycho-education about narcissism and cult dynamics....
“If you wish to upset the law that all crows are black, you mustn't seek to show that no crows are; it is enough if you prove one single crow to be white.” ―William James Many people walk through the world mired in the mud of material reality, unilluminated by the...
Because two people in my inner circle are in recovery from controlling relationships and cultic abuse, I've been educating myself by watching all the cult documentaries, reading books about cult recovery, and listening to all the podcasts, like my favorite, Rachel...