No, I am not saying that. The message I got from the therapist that admitted he suffered from NPD explained to me that because I am so empathetic I have to be careful because had he not gotten help he would have taken advantage of that in me. I was struggling so much with the PTSD at the time and so confused about that, that when I began to see how he was "needing my empathy" I became too uncomfortable.

On top of that he told me that he had also been a heroin addict and that he had been a habitual liar. He was on a medication to help him with the heroin addiction, he had gone through therapy and as I mentioned studied psychology to become a therapist himself.
That was a tremendous amount for me to take in considering the condition I was in at the time.

shakespear47, if you have PTSD, you can appreciate children and your cats, but can be self absorbed and very needy at times that is not the same as NPD. The individuals that I have met with NPD are very manipulative and they don't empathize or "care". Do you enjoy cuddling your child? Did you cuddle your child when he was a baby? The ones I have come across were just not affectionate, however liked affection/adoration given to them.

When I read that article the "empathy" needed by a therapist is the same empathy needed for a "trauma patient" too. A trauma patient that suffered abuse can develop into struggling with intimacy, not the same as NPD. NPD is more like, "give it to me" and whatever they give has a price, it isn't just for the sake of the "giving and caring". You are "wonderful" if you are giving to them and pleasing them, and worthless or bad if you say "no" or "need" and if you do not worship the NPD person, you are a horrible person and should be black listed by everyone and they "want" to see you suffer, it is pleasing to them. It is very different from a victim pointing at an abuser and saying how bad the abuser is.

If you show your home that "you" like to a very narcissistic person, they will have no problem with saying, "this is not what I like" and not even see how the person who has that home is proud of it and likes it and happens to like the way it looks etc. However, when they show you their home you better make sure you tell them how beautiful it is.

It would make sense that a therapist would have to be empathetic, it's the only way in with NPD isn't it? Oddly, that is also true for a victim of abuse or a trauma patient with PTSD.

I just find it interesting to see the similarities and how that can lead to a misdiagnoses.

As a result, I think it is very important that a therapist take the time "empathetically" to see the individual's history before considering "any" diagnoses. Someone with PTSD is already on the run and angry and "sensitive", no need to make it worse.

shakespheare, narcissists love their children when their children are a source of an item the parent gets "adored" from. I need my child to "win" so people will see me as having the "best". If "my" child didn't win then something is very "wrong". I have seen horses get ground into the ground simply to make sure "my child wins" in parents. I have seen mothers have drag down fights out of their need to have "their child" be the star. Or even a horse get literally poisened so that a parent's child can have an advantage over another child (mine). That was not enough and when this parent was told "no" by this particular trainer she threatened to do the same to the horse they owned too.

I didn't think about NPD back then tbh, but I sure saw a lot of it. So, yes, sitting across from a therapist that is admitting "he" was one? Yes, that was "creepy" and while I learned some things from him, it is nothing I would recommend for a PTSD patient struggling to understand why they are struggling so much.

OE