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Showing posts from March, 2017

An Interesting Mix: Male Borderline Personality Disorder

By: Christine Hammond LMHC Typically Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is viewed as a female disorder but it is not. Just like their female counterparts, males also have an intense and persistent fear of abandonment that permeants nearly every relationship. It could manifest in a marital or partner relationship, a father to a child relationship, or an employer to an employee relationship. Early on in life, male BPD is often confused with oppositional defiant disorder, attention deficit disorder, intermittent explosive disorder, conduct disorder, or bi-polar depression. One of the determining factors in accurately diagnosing BPD might just be that they have been previously diagnosed with most of these other disorders over the course of their life. Most male BPDs also display signs of other personality disorders. They look narcissistic when they attack others and make nearly every discussion about them. They appear anti-social in their risk-taking sexual behaviors

Trouble in the Making: Personality Disorders Mixed with Depression

By: Christine Hammond LMHC 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 are the PDs most likely to raise a red flag. ·          Anti-Social PD (Sociopath and Psychopath): This is the hardest of the PDs to diagnose as depressed unless they want a person to know about it. So accustomed to masking true feelings or emotions, they are even able to deceive themselves. At first, to counteract the sadness, they will escalate in two main ways: criminal and sexual behavior. Both behaviors have given them pleasure in the past however the acceleration and intensification of their actions will be noticeable. Just like a drug addict with high tolerance, they need much more than before to satisfy. When tha

Understanding Mental Health Counseling

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By: Nate Webster, LMHC What exactly does sitting down and talking to someone about your problems actually do? In many ways counseling can just sound like a glorified coffee date with friends, except the cappuccino is $75.00 an hour. Here are four analogies to help uncover the mystery of counseling. These analogies give word pictures to help you understand exactly what counseling does to help you and what can be expected . So whether you’re someone who uses analogies a lot or someone who is new to using analogies, I hope these give you some clarity. Counselors are like binoculars: First and foremost, counselors often act like a pair of binoculars in your life. When you’re trying to discern what the current conditions of your life may be leading to, a counselor can be helpful as they look out at the horizon and discern what’s in the distance. What looks like some harmless twirling in the water a mile away, a counselor can identify as an eventual whirlpool that may trap

How Not to Cope with a Narcissist

By: Christine Hammond LMHC Dysfunctional behavior applies to everyone. It’s not just the narcissist who is flawed in their perception and responses. The people around them frequently utilize maladjusted coping mechanisms (or defense mechanisms) in an attempt to handle the toxic situation or manage the narcissism. Here are some real life examples: An employee realizes their boss is a narcissist but idealizes their success and strives to be just like them. A child knows their parent is different, controlling, reactionary and demanding but says they are perfect. A spouse sees the narcissism but minimizes the behavior and makes excuses for it. A quick look at types of defense mechanisms, originally coined by Sigmund Freud and further developed by Anna Freud and George Eman Vaillant, reveals several which are commonly found in people who deal with narcissists. ·          Acting out . It frequently backfires when a person expresses their frustrations to the narcissist about their