Dec

Narcissistic Personality Disorder during Divorce

On this episode of The Intelligent Divorce, Dr. Banschick and Steve Peck speak with Dr. Andrew Klafter, director of psychotherapy training at the University of Cincinnati Residency Training Program.

Dr. Klafter has dedicated much of his research to learning more about Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). Narcissistic personality disorder is a condition in which people have an inflated sense of self-importance and an extreme preoccupation with themselves.

Before someone might be classified as being narcissistic, it is important to keep in mind that, like every psychological disorder, narcissistic personality disorder too comes in various degrees. Going to the extreme, we might argue that each of us has somewhere a narcissist in her/himself. It even could be said that a narcissistic tendency is important for survival.

However, in the same context it must be emphasized that, while a narcissistic tendency is constructive, a fully elaborated or developed symptomatic of NPD is nothing but destructive. So how do you know if your spouse or even you is a narcissist and what can you do if this is the case?

In this program, we identify what a NPD is and discuss living with and divorcing a narcissist. This is not an easy situation to deal with and turns many divorces into a “high conflict” situation requiring special attention. Dr. Klafter believes a true narcissist can be turned around through therapy and go on to have fulfilling relationships as long as they understand that they have a problem.