Identifying gaslighting behavior and knowing steps to combat it are essential to maintaining your self-esteem, and mental and emotional health. Gaslighting is a form of narcissistic abuse that’s used not only by narcissists, but also by sociopaths, addicts, and other abusers. Sometimes, it’s intentional, and sometimes it has become a…

Mostly, letting go refers to a person or thing we had or loved. But how do we let go of yearning for what we never had and unlived dreams?

How are self-love and self-esteem different? We look for love, yet underestimate the importance of self-love. But we can only receive as much love as we give to ourselves. We’ll deflect or guard love that doesn’t resonate with us — like a compliment we don’t believe. The opposite is also…

I climbed down from the single-engine plane and stepped onto the rich Amazon soil on the outskirts of Puerto Maldonado in southeast Peru, an hour’s flight from Cusco. My rainforest adventure would far surpass the Incan ruins I’d just visited at Machu Picchu. In the one-room airport, a representative from…

Do you wonder whether you’re a kind, empathetic person or codependent? There is a difference between empathy and codependency. Some codependents are not so caring, and some people who are are not codependent. So what’s the difference? First, the definition of codependency has nothing to do with kindness, although many…

Narcissistic parents can be emotionally abusive due to the symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder. This is because they lack empathy and the ability to see their children as separate from themselves. They see things in black and white, must be right, and cannot tolerate taking responsibility for mistakes due to…

Narcissistic relationships often go through a painful cycle that is a predictable outgrowth of narcissistic personality disorder. Central to understanding a narcissist’s behavior is that their relationships are transactional. Their impaired boundaries and lack of empathy prevent them from seeing other people as separate three-dimensional beings with needs and feelings…

“Unconditional Presence: Letting Yourself Have Your Experience” Since we can never gain assurance that we are lovable through trying to prove our worth or cover up our flaws, what we need instead is a way to discover our core nature as intrinsically beautiful, already, just as it is. …

People confuse excitement and anxiety. They think how anxious they are to meet someone to be a sign of chemistry and love. It might be the wrong kind of chemistry — meaning that this person reminds you of problems in your family of origin, possibly an abusive parent or sibling…