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Kind & Curious Investigation
Learnings, teachings and tips & tricks for anyone to reference during difficult times, stressful workdays and moments when you’re wondering who you are now.
About Nicki’s book:
“Hey Nicki, wow, what an amazing book to read! It arrived in the mail last night, I could not put it down until midnight, and I just read the remaining pages in an educational leadership meeting. I have read a number of books over the years and this would have to be one of the most powerful books I have read. Lots of ah-ha moments, familiarities, sense of hope, among other things.” - MJ
Is There Such a Thing as Healthy Narcissism?
Psychologists have done us all a great disservice by referring to healthy self-love as ‘healthy narcissism’. Let’s ditch the term!
What is Narcissistic Abuse?
It’s shorthand for the inevitable harm caused by individuals who might qualify for a diagnosis of narcissist, sociopath or psychopath. Here’s the catch. Such individuals rarely receive a diagnosis.
What is Not Narcissism
Other things can cause people to behave in self-centred, disorganised, chaotic or maladaptive ways. The most obvious of these many possible causes is trauma.
Coping with Bullies and Their Cohorts in a Toxic Workplace
If you’re the target of a bully, you’ve seen what their dark side is like, but don’t expect everyone else to see that side of them. Bullies will use ‘plausible deniability’ to deny, deflect or reframe their actions to look as if they have positive motivations.
Is it Really Me That is the Narcissist?
It is easy to compensate for fawning by a 180 swing into defensive self-righteousness, grief-driven anger, and mistrustful avoidance of others through self-isolation.
What is ‘normal’ anyway?
In a world that constantly bombards us with images of supposed "ideal" personalities and lifestyles, it's easy to feel like we fall short. We might question whether our personalities are "normal" or whether we fit into society's narrow definition of what is acceptable.
Unmasking Gaslighting in the Workplace
Unintentional gaslighting can slowly corrode the fabric of a workplace, causing lasting damage to both individuals and the organisation as a whole.
Navigating the Healing Waltz
The dance of one step forward and two steps back in trauma recovery encapsulates the essence of resilience and growth. Survivors move through this intricate dance with courage, embracing progress and setbacks as integral parts of the journey.
How To Set Boundaries
There can be repercussions in our social circles when we start to set boundaries after a lifetime of people-pleasing.
Post-Separation Narcissistic Abuse
Among the many painful ways in which narcissistic abusers continue to cause distress to their ex-partners, ex-friends, ex-employees or children is the smear campaign.
It Could Never Happen To Me (Narcissistic Abuse)
For people without experience of manipulation and exploitation by an intimate other, ‘getting it’ (narcissistic abuse) is nigh on impossible. Support comes to the survivor, not necessarily from their family or lifelong friends, but from other people who have suffered in the same way.
Healing Shame After Narcissistic Abuse
Narcissists will shame us as an act of overt cruelty, gaining gratification from the sense of personal power that gives them.
Training in Mindful Self Compassion gives us powerful new tools - short daily mindfulness practices – that can change the mental habits of a life time with persistence and repetition. We can heal our shame.
The Five Commandments of Shame Recovery
What are we up against when we decide to embark on a journey to heal our shame with self-compassion?
In a word: DOUBT.
(One of the Five Hindrances in Buddhist Psychology. The others are aversion, attachment, restlessness and sloth)
Understanding Shame
Not unlike the Temple of the Many-Faced God in Game of Thrones, shame comes in many guises.
Shame derives from the basic human drive for safe and secure connections with others – a human survival instinct. We are social animals.
Living With Paradox
Our minds are reason-making machines. We only have to witness how they bully us into worrying, ruminating or obsessing to understand that. In accepting paradox - we learn to live with, “I don’t know” as well as, “I don’t understand”, rather than, “there has to be a reason for this”.
Trust Issues in The Aftermath of Narcissistic Abuse
One of the most painful lessons from narcissistic abuse is the shock of discovering that the person in whom we invested the very best of our nature (love, kindness, generosity, loyalty) actually had a narcissistic hidden agenda.
Basic Dishonesty & Moral Injury
Moral injury is the deep inner wound that opens up when we experience things that we know to be unfair, unjust or wrong.
Avoidance, projection and denial are basic human strategies for avoiding pain. Narcissistic liars are unable to recognise the difference between Truth and Lie.
Invisible Things
Bullying and psychological abuse is all about the absence of things, rather than the presence of things.
People know when they are the victim of covert bullying and abuse.
The Perfect Storm
The Split from a narcissistic partner can create so much chaos as to be overwhelming for some people.
Survivors often must grapple with serious survival threats, as well as deep moral injury.
Start your journey
Why not take the leap and make an enquiry contact today?