I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.

– Maya Angelou

A few years ago, if you met someone who was unempathic, manipulative, entitled, egocentric, rageful, victimized, blame shifting, controlling, validation seeking and superficial – did you have a word for it?  

When did you first learn what gaslighting meant? I am guessing it wasn’t when you were a kid.

Understanding is power, not just knowing, but understanding. And nowhere is this more true, than in really understanding narcissism and toxic relationships. In the last 10 years, there has been a shift, more books, more content, more information. Instead of people walking around in the dark and wondering if they were the only ones in toxic relationships, or blaming themselves, more and more people are coming out of those shadows and recognizing that these toxic patterns have a name. That these toxic patterns are harming you, and are as real a threat to your health and well-being as any other toxin in your world.

But it’s more than just understanding narcissism; frankly, that part is child’s play. It is about understanding what it does to us, our vulnerabilities to not seeing it, why narcissistic folks get away with it, how these patterns are enabled and emboldened by society and culture, and to learn the tenets of radical acceptance and realistic expectations. Narcissistic and toxic patterns do not change, and their behavior is not our fault, but it is definitely our problem.  It’s about the universal patterns that show up in all narcissistic relationships, and the techniques for managing people with these personality patterns. All of us have at least one person like this in our lives (even the narcissists!).  You need to UNDERSTAND the fundamentals of narcissism, narcissistic abuse and narcissistic relationships, if you are going to heal. It’s like learning the alphabet if you are going to write. This course is that alphabet – the fundamentals so you can start healing from an informed perspective. To lift the self-blame, and become acquainted with the vulnerabilities we have to these relationships.

We are in an era where everyone is talking about “mental health” – but ironically, narcissistic abuse is still overlooked by the field of mental health. Because of this, even people who accessed tools like therapy, still felt unheard and unsupported in this process. I hope this course, helps orient you to a very real phenomenon, so you can start this lifelong journey to healing and recovery.