The Adventures of Dan and Tina
Narcissistic abuse and recovery explored and explained through a true first-person narrative.
What is Gaslighting and how does it Affect a Victim of Narcissistic Abuse? Gaslighting is a form of psychological abuse that is used to disorient and control a victim. It involves the manipulation of reality, causing the victim to question their own sanity and perception of events. Gaslighting is a particularly insidious form of abuse because it is subtle and
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What is Cognitive Dissonance and how does it Happen in Narcissistic Relationships? Have you ever suffered from hearing two completely different songs played at the same time? The disharmony of sounds is called dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is a psychological term used to describe the mental discomfort people feel when they hold two or more conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes. It
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| The Many Angles of Sex With a Narcissist | Individuals with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) often use sex as a means of obtaining narcissistic supply, maintaining control over their partners through triangulation with others and by using it as either punishment or reward. Narcissistic supply is the common name for the attention, admiration, and validation that individuals with NPD
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| Narcissists Stir the Pot for Two Common Effects: Supply and Control | Narcissistic individuals live to manipulate and extract “narcissistic supply” from others. They are masters at playing mind games, exploiting vulnerabilities, and creating drama to achieve their objectives. In order to better understand how narcissists “stir the pot” to manipulate and extract narcissistic supply, let’s first look at
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| Is there any Value in Going to Counseling with a Narcissist? | Tina and I had visited my therapist together to figure out our best course to move forward on relationship counseling. At the time, Tina appeared committed to repairing the critically damaged trust between us. Jeff, my therapist had asked her about why she had lied to me
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| Isolated podcast: Bringing to Light Male Victims of Domestic Abuse – Men can be Victims, Too! | The Adventures of Dan and Tina book and blog were featured in an interview with author Dan McGrath on the Isolated Podcast. Check it out and learn more about male victims of abuse with multiple podcast episodes examining different cases and elements
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| What is Narcissistic Triangulation? | Narcissistic abuse takes many forms. Some of the more common devious tricks of a narcissistic abuser are gaslighting, humiliating and belittling and triangulation. This article will explore what triangulation is – what it looks like, why emotional abusers do it and how it affects a victim. You may have heard the term, “love triangle,”
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Do you want to understand a narcissistic relationship? Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is often underestimated and misunderstood as arrogance or simple self-absorption – because of how it’s depicted in TV shows and movies. But the real condition – and its consequences – are much more insidious. Histrionic, borderline or narcissistic, the fallout from a relationship with a cluster B personality
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| What is a Trauma Bond? | Becoming Addicted to one’s Abuser | What is a trauma bond? This article examines how love-bombing, triangulation, intermittent reinforcement, ghosting and hoovering create a powerful addiction to one’s abuser Narcissists (and other emotional abusers) rely on manipulation of primal emotions, love and fear to hook their victims. A rudimentary study of psychology introduces
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Unstable, on-again, off-again relationships are a hallmark of Cluster B disorders, like borderline and narcissistic personality disorders. On-again, off-again relationships can be terribly damaging and often, they can be the result of a prolonged, repeated pattern of narcissistic abuse. Narcissists tend to target very empathetic and conscientious people, because they can mistreat them longer, with less chance of them leaving.
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