by Christine Hammond on August 24, 2017
Monica came into her counseling session crying. The position at work that she worked so hard to obtain was now in jeopardy. She couldn’t understand how this happened so quickly. One day she seemed to be everyone’s favorite new employee and the next day she was an outcast. But as she began to recount her… (more…)
by Christine Hammond on June 13, 2017
“Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!” Sir Walter Scott wrote this famous line in his poem titled Marmion about the Battle of Flodden (1808). (Interestingly enough, it is often misattributed to William Shakespeare.) His poem recounts a love story that survives despite a web of deceptions, manipulations, mischaracterizations,… (more…)
by Christine Hammond on April 12, 2017
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” Juliet says in protest to Romeo’s last name in Shakespeare’s classic play Romeo and Juliet. Her point is that a name is not always descriptive of who a person is. And so it is with psychological terms… (more…)
by Christine Hammond on April 12, 2017
There is a moment of realization when working with a person who seems nice on the surface that something is not right. It usually comes in a flash and without awareness, it retreats just as quickly. It is important to listen to those warning signals. Deceptive people often mask their deviousness, anger, manipulation, and controlling… (more…)
by Christine Hammond on April 11, 2017
Hands down, the number one question I get asked in therapy is “Why would they do this?” Mostly, this stems from a person who has been abused and is trying desperately to understand why their attacker is abusive. There are seven forms of abuse: verbal, mental, emotional, physical, sexual, financial, and spiritual. After a person… (more…)
by Christine Hammond on February 8, 2017
Depression has its own signs and symptoms but when mixed with a personality disorder (PD) it can be more elusive. Each PD has a different manifestation of depression with varying levels of intensity. While not all depression becomes homicidal or suicidal, the risks for this possibility are presented as a word of caution. The following… (more…)
by Christine Hammond on January 17, 2017
Try to point out a narcissist’s mistakes and the attack is likely to be returned with force. Expect a narcissist to show understanding during a difficult time and the conversation will quickly be turned back towards the narcissist. Ask a narcissist to forgive an error in judgement and a detailed accounting of all blunders will… (more…)
by Christine Hammond on November 18, 2016
Is it a match made in heaven or hell? Most likely, this depends on your perspective. Either way it is viewed, narcissism is well-rewarded in politics and the political environment seems to like narcissists. That could not have been more evident in the past presidential election. How does this happen? Well, there are several ways… (more…)
by Christine Hammond on September 1, 2016
It can be a daunting task to differentiate between personality disorders (PD). There is so much cross-over from one type to another that a person may appear to have multiple PD’s. While the DSM-V chose not to use the five model factor as described in Widiger and Costa’s book, Personality Disorders and the Five-Factor Model… (more…)
by Christine Hammond on July 20, 2016
It is hard to remember a time when the marriage was tranquil. Rather, each year brings more drama, intensity, frustration, distance, and hostility. Efforts to improve the situation are temporary and shallow at best. There is something else happening other than poor communication skills. It might just be that one spouse has a personality disorder…. (more…)