Shannon Petrovich, LCSW, LISAC, BCD

When coming out of an abusive relationship, so many ask ‘how will I ever trust someone again’. I tell them, I hope you won’t; I hope instead, you’ll learn to trust yourself! Trusting yourself, learning how to read people, and know what they are about is the only way to keep yourself safe in a world full of people who are out to use and abuse you. How do you learn to trust yourself? You have to develop a trustworthy creep-o-meter!

In a recent video, i talked about coming out of the FOG; Fear, Obligation, and Guilt, of an abusive relationship. One follower asked, 'what’s on the other side of the FOG?' Great question; I use the acronym CLEAR to talk about how to recover and rebuild as you emerge from the FOG.

There is a lot of conversation about narcissism; some people express concern it’s becoming a social media fad, and that everyone is too busy arm-chair diagnosing their ex, their boss, parent, or sibling. Sure, there may be some of that, but I think the vast majority of those looking for information on narcissism, have been genuinely hurt by someone with narcissistic traits or the full blown disorder. When this happens, it’s crucial to understand as much as possible about this personality to...