Save Your Sanity: Help for Toxic Relationships

by Rhoberta Shaler, PhD on September 15, 2019 at 6:45 PM

I know. You don't want to be accused, or accuse yourself, of abandoning a person. You especially don't want to be accused of abandoning a person in need. #Hijackals are always in need: in need of you to use, misuse, and abuse. Does that make you want to stay? I hope not. Would you tell your best friend to stay in a situation like yours? Hmmmm....pause for thought, right? I'm Dr. Rhoberta Shaler, and I work with individuals and couples from many countries through videoconferencing and I say: […]

by Rhoberta Shaler, PhD on September 9, 2019 at 4:38 AM

Parents who were emotionally available, perceptive, and responsive to you, to your needs and mental states, are a great gift! They tend to provide you with attachment that is secure. This is an excellent foundation for a healthy emotional life. Parents who were emotionally unavailable, or inconsistently available, perceptive or response to your needs, and tended to intrude their own states of mind onto you as a tiny child, could create what is called a "resistant, ambivalent, or anxious […]

by Rhoberta Shaler, PhD on September 1, 2019 at 6:33 PM

Don't kid yourself! Your "silences" speak volumes! I work with people whose relationships are in crisis for so long, and their hope that not speaking up about things that are bothering them mostly does more damage than anything. Suffering in silence can be the exact opposite of healthy living. It's a poor--and often highly toxic--approach to relationship issues. It's possible that folks who button up and bottle up recall prior negative experiences associated with speaking out. Things just […]

by Rhoberta Shaler, PhD on August 26, 2019 at 1:27 AM

Any chance you've been walking on eggshells around someone in your life?A parent, partner, sibling, friend, ex?If so, there a good chance you're going to recognize some of their abusive behaviors in today's episode.In fact, you may learn--and you may not want to--that, you're experiencing what I call an "emotional terrorist!:You need to know this, even if you'd prefer not to. I know, who wants to think they know or love any kind of a terrorist, right?Who wants to think they've fallen in love […]

by Rhoberta Shaler, PhD on August 18, 2019 at 7:54 PM

Do you have a feeling that what's going on in your relationship is less than honest, and yet, you feel strangely like you're not doing enough?You may well be with a covert narcissist!Even for me, working with couples all over the world, it takes longer to identify covert narcissism in a person, and in a relationship, than with other demonstrations of narcissism.Why? Because it is sneaky, under-handed, passive, and plays on your heart strings more than overt or malignant narcissism. It takes […]

by Rhoberta Shaler, PhD on August 12, 2019 at 4:26 AM

Abuse in any form is bad news: verbal abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, financial abuse, spiritual abuse, sexual abuse. All bad!And, you need to know what intimate terrorism is because it has the most dire consequences.Domestic violence is a term you're likely familiar with. You may not think of the verbal abuse as domestic violence, or the emotional abuse. It is, though. Often, it is very difficult--even more difficult now with the new wording recently changed by the current U.S. […]

by Rhoberta Shaler, PhD on August 4, 2019 at 6:22 PM

#Hijackals--those relentlessly difficult toxic people--want to define your reality for you. Right? They try to tell you what you think, what you feel, or what you remember or want. Crazy-making! Telling you who you are and what you think and feel is #gaslighting. Sure, you have friends that you might ask, or be discussing these things with because you value their opinion. Whole different story! Hijackals tell you because they want to define your reality, so that they can have power and control […]

by Rhoberta Shaler, PhD on July 28, 2019 at 11:59 PM

People can be difficult. No lie, right! Sometimes, they are difficult for a moment. Sometimes, through a rough patch. Today's episode is help for dealing with those two kinds of occasionally difficult behavior. Although these strategies are foundational to what you have to do when you're with the relentlessly difficult, toxic people I call #Hijackals, there is SO much more to learn about how to effectively manage toxic relationships. That's why most of the episodes on Save Your Sanity are very […]

by Rhoberta Shaler, PhD on July 21, 2019 at 8:26 PM

Are you tired of being wrong? #Hijackals--those relentlessly difficult toxic people in life--cannot be wrong, so everything HAS to be your fault.That's exhausting, right? And, of course, it's not true. If you stay with a #Hijackal for long, you may begin to second-guess yourself too often. You may question your sanity. Or, you can get so worn down and torn down, that you don't have any self-esteem or self-confidence to call on for much. Let's stop that, ok? Now, is the time to tune into these […]

by Rhoberta Shaler, PhD on July 1, 2019 at 4:43 AM

Being abused is a BIG deal! Not recognizing it is also a BIG deal.Often, when it happens when you are young, it becomes buried in the fabric of your life and you don't realize that you are operating from it. That happens too often.Maybe, you've downplayed the emotional abuse, or any other kind of abuse, in your mind to somehow make it alright, or at least, tolerable. Maybe, you've made up excuses for the other person. Or, worse, you've taken on the blame for the abuse on yourself!No. The very […]