The Lifeworks Group, Inc.

By: Christine Hammond, LMHC, NCC After reading several articles on narcissism, Kaitlyn realized that her husband was one. She knew that something was off for years but couldn’t put her finger on it. She fell in love immediately with him and within months, they were married. She thought she met the perfect person, he was charming, attentive, and sensitive. But shortly after the marriage, things changed. It seemed like overnight he went from charming to demanding, attentive to dismissive, and sensitive to heartless. Everything was Kaitlyn’s fault and the harder she tried, the more he expected. Exhausted and overwhelmed, Kaitlyn slipped into a depression that lasted for years. She stopped caring and gave up on her relationship and herself. During a random Google search, Kaitlyn stumbled on narcissism. The more she read, the more her eyes were opened to the reality of her life. It was as if a light began to shine in the darkness of her heart. Newly determined to make...

By: Christine Hammond, LMHC, NCC David was the charismatic leader of a large not-for-profit organization which gave aid and care for the homeless. Over the past ten years, his organization, under his energetic leadership, grew substantially as donations increased, new shelters were formed, and thousands of people were assisted. On the surface, things seemed to above board and working well. But it wasn’t. Discretionary funds kept disappearing and despite the increase in donations and the efficiency of management, the organizations’ numbers were in the red. David called a board meeting and openly admitted to having a personal spending problem and laughingly brushed off the organization’s issues as people following his lead. When another board member during the meeting confronted David about another indiscretion of sexual harassment of a volunteer. David minimized it, teased the board member for being overly sensitive, and openly admitted his weakness for overspending an...

By Christine Hammond, MS, LMHC As a science teacher in a public high school, Amanda was well liked by her students. Not only was she young, beautiful, and a good communicator, but she also had a way of interacting with the students that was a bit different yet very effective. Everyone loved her – teachers, administrators, students, and parents – which, in many ways, made her feel like she was above following the rules. Then one day, when a parent accused her of improper texting with their teen son, some of her comments were found to be sexually suggestive in nature. Even though Amanda was able to explain communicating with the student through text to administration (she lied and said it was part of the curriculum), which somewhat satisfied the concerned parent, still Amanda was out for blood. Behind the scenes, she went after the administrator that confronted her by spreading untrue gossip just to watch him squirm. And as for the parents, she intentionally engaged in ...