Disarming the Narcissist: Surviving & Thriving with the Self-Absorbed Third Edition by Wendy T. Behary, LCSW

Disarming the Narcissist: Surviving & Thriving with the Self-Absorbed, Third Edition by Wendy T. Behary, LCSW is an interesting book. Behary approaches narcissism in a way that surprised me. The first surprise was to see her refer to narcissism as a kind of spectrum ranging from healthy to damaging narcissism. I had never considered the possibility of healthy narcissism. I had to stop at that point and really think about what she was saying before moving on. The examination of schemas and the encouragement to examine one's own schemas as well as those of the narcissist in one's life was interesting and at times a little uncomfortable, especially when it came to examining the other person's schemas. The techniques in Disarming the Narcissist often feel like, as Behary acknowledges more than once, they cater to the narcissist. It feels like many of the techniques described could work better for communication in general, but also I could see them backfiring, especially with narcissists. I have seen them backfire well before reading Disarming the Narcissist, but that's another story. Disarming the Narcissist offers insights into narcissism and techniques for dealing with the narcissist in easy to understand language, but it left me with more but different questions than I had when I started reading.


Currently Reading:


A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn 

Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World by Jason Hickel

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

Dear Future by Jennifer Richter


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