How to Grow a Backbone
“How do I grow a backbone? I tend to say yes to everything and everyone. Then I get taken advantage of and angry at myself. It happens at work a lot, not [being] compensated for things that I'm spending money on or asked to do some extra jobs that cause extra work and to lose focus on my actual work… When I spoke up most recently, I got hostility, a long and loud argument about why it's impossible. That becomes scary, i HATE confrontation and disappointing people. I can't quit, I need to be heard and understood.”
Narcissism Is Not Who You Are
I learned a very interesting and useful perspective on narcissism recently: narcissism is not who a person is, and is not something people are born with, but is instead a set of tools. Tools like blame-shifting, grandiosity, admiration-seeking, manipulation and entitlement.
This raises an important question, if narcissism is actually a set of tools, then what is the problem that the tools have been developed to cope with?
Self Care is a Revolutionary Act for Child Trauma Survivors
For adult survivors of neglectful, abusive or otherwise harmful parenting, one of the messages we likely received in our childhood experience is that our feelings and needs do not matter.