Acknowledging Your Inner Narcissistic Sociopath
For the past ten years there has been a narcissistic sociopath on the national stage in the US. He and the others like him with whom he surrounds himself are a trigger for many. I’m often asked by clients and readers how to deal with this. When you are emotionally triggered, you are projecting. Projection means you see in others something you don’t want to see in yourself. If you are not triggered, you are merely observing. So, first sort that out. To see someone’s behavior and merely not like it or to feel it does not express your values, is not to be triggered, so it is not projection. But when you have a strong emotional response, you see in someone something you don’t want to see in yourself. And when you get in touch with that, you will no longer project and no longer be triggered. (This is a form of what is known as “shadow work” or dealing with the unacknowledged dark side of your own mind.) Most psychological disorders are universal...