What is Schadenfreude?
Though I am intimately familiar with the energy and attitudes I’ve always identified in the “serves you right” types, I only just discovered the term Schadenfreude. I find it fascinating there…
Exploring the scapegoat role within narcissistic family systems and the lasting impact of blame, shame, rejection and family dysfunction on adult life.
Kindness Is Not ConditionalI Had to Learn That Kindness Cannot Be EarnedKindness Is Not Conditional
In relationships, if it is conditional, it is not kind. Nothing was more confused and distorted than my early ideas about kindness and connection. For more decades than I care…
Shut Up or Else: The Machinery of Control
Like a lightning bolt, it struck me again—how extremists cannot tolerate peaceful protest or resistance. To them, nonconformity is hostility. Resistance is war. “You are either with me or against…
Gaslighting, Stonewalling, and the Machinery of Control
Stonewalling and gaslighting feel like techniques intended to erase a person. To obliterate their spirit. Stonewalling is a tactic used to control, isolate, humiliate, and frustrate someone for attempting to…