Narcissistic Family Dynamics Quotes

“Children of narcissists learn that love is abuse. The narcissist teaches them that if someone displeases you, it is okay to harm them and call it love.”
― M. Wakefield, Narcissistic Family Dynamics: Collected Essays

“Narcissistic abuse is a form of psycho-emotional abuse that takes place when a pathological narcissist targets another individual and exposes them to trauma. It can also manifest as physical, financial, spiritual and sexual abuse.”
― M. Wakefield, Narcissistic Family Dynamics: Collected Essays

“For the child of a pathological narcissist, love is having your personality rejected and replaced with one the narcissist prefers. Love is neglect, abandonment, tyranny, and subjugation.”
― M. Wakefield, Narcissistic Family Dynamics: Collected Essays

“I was in denial of the glaring reality that my existence depended on my willingness to comply with the family policy of me earning the splinter of space they granted to me.”
― M. Wakefield, Narcissistic Family Dynamics: Collected Essays

“At some point in the life of every scapegoat, the clock will strike the midnight hour, the masks will come off, and the aggression of family will reveal itself.”
― M. Wakefield, Narcissistic Family Dynamics: Collected Essays

“Love is intermittent reinforcement with spouses and children alike. The child is love-bombed when the narcissist feels the child reflects their false self. The moment the child fails to do so, the narcissistic parent blithely discards them.”
― M. Wakefield, Narcissistic Family Dynamics: Collected Essays

“Life was simple and stable. That was my mantra of self-deception. It was how I stayed in denial of the complexity and dysfunction that had engulfed me.”
― M. Wakefield, Narcissistic Family Dynamics: Collected Essays

“I carried the image of 'The Scapegoat' with me and that ethereal moment when it seemed as if I had entered the bleak scenery stayed etched in the back of my mind for reasons I could not yet comprehend.”
― M. Wakefield, Narcissistic Family Dynamics: Collected Essays

“Inspired by the Book of Leviticus, the artist saw the goat as an archetype for Jesus Christ, the "suffering servant of God," who carried our sins with his cross as an act of redemptive suffering. Thus, the Lamb of God is the Last Scapegoat.”
― M. Wakefield, Narcissistic Family Dynamics: Collected Essays

“I could see Mount Sodom beyond the distant shores, where the goat had been chosen as a sacrifice to redeem the wicked tribe.”
― M. Wakefield, Narcissistic Family Dynamics: Collected Essays