Healing | Shrink4Men

Ending a Relationship with an Abusive Parent, Child or Sibling, Part One

Written by Dr Tara J. Palmatier on May 6, 2013 - 11 Comments
Categories: Abuse, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Healing, Histrionic Personality Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Negative Advocates, Parental Alienation, Personality Disorders, Relationships

In our culture, family is sacred, well, maybe not as sacred as it used to be, but it’s still a cultural and psychological institution. As such, there are certain taboos attached to it. For example, denigrating motherhood is taboo – fatherhood, not so much. Physical incest between family members is taboo. Emotional incest should be [...]

11 Comments

Obsessing Over an Abusive Ex: Thoughts on Being Stuck

Written by Dr Tara J. Palmatier on April 30, 2013 - 113 Comments
Categories: Abuse, Borderline Personality Disorder, Healing, Healthy Relationships, Personality Disorders, Relationships, Unhealthy Relationships

Are you still obsessing about a crazy, abusive ex-girlfriend or ex-wife? Do you still compare the “chemistry” you had with her to every subsequent woman you’ve encountered and find them lacking? Especially women who appear to be kind, loving and stable? Do you torture yourself with “what if’” and “if only” thinking? Do you hold [...]

113 Comments

The Next Guy: Did your Ex-Girlfriend or Ex-Wife Downgrade?

Written by Dr Tara J. Palmatier on February 6, 2013 - 66 Comments
Categories: Abuse, Accountability, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Blame, Borderline Personality Disorder, Dating, Healing, Histrionic Personality Disorder, Marriage, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Parental Alienation, Personality Disorders, Professional Victims, Relationships, Unhealthy Relationships

Grieving the loss of a love relationship can be a painful experience. Grieving and letting go of an abusive relationship and an abusive wife or girlfriend is frequently a far more painful and difficult experience. There are several reasons for this. At the end of an otherwise healthy relationship between two reasonable, rational adults, the [...]

66 Comments

Music Monday: “You Never Phone” a Song about a Troubled Father-Daughter Relationship

Written by Dr Tara J. Palmatier on August 20, 2012 - 10 Comments
Categories: Abuse, Divorce, Healing, High-Conflict, Music, Parental Alienation

It’s Music Monday again. Apologies for the dearth of material, but I have an article in the works for this week. This week’s song, You Never Phone, You Never Write, is by another Wainwright, Loudon Wainwright, III, father of Rufus and Martha, et al. Father and daughter admit to having had a rocky and troubled [...]

10 Comments

Music Monday (on Tuesday): You’re Breaking My Heart -Working Out the Anger at the End of a Bad Relationship

Written by Dr Tara J. Palmatier on August 14, 2012 - 13 Comments
Categories: Abuse, Divorce, Financial Abuse, Healing, Music

It’s Music Monday on Shrink4Men, albeit, it’s Tuesday (busy, busy day yesterday!) You’re Breaking My Heart is by Harry Nilsson, another amazing singer-songwriter, from the Son of Schmilsson album. According to the documentary, Who is Harry Nilsson and Why is Everybody Talkin’ About Him? (available for streaming on Netflix), Nilsson wrote this song when he [...]

13 Comments