Heal NPD
Dr. Ettensohn is a clinical psychologist who specializes in treating narcissism and related disorders. This podcast discusses pathological narcissism from a compassionate and non-stigmatizing perspective. It is for individuals who struggle with narcissism, their loved ones, and the general public.
Episodes
This episode marks the beginning of a new educational series from Heal NPD, featuring Dr. Mark Ettensohn and his associates: Deanna Young, Psy.D. and Danté Spencer, MA.
This series offers a rare window into clinical reasoning and supervision, bringing viewers inside real discussions about theory, diagnosis, and treatment of personality pathology. In this first seminar, the group examines an influential paper by Pincus & Lukowit...
Dr. Ettensohn reflects on the recent loss of his father.
Drawing on both clinical theory and personal experience, he explores how children internalize idealized images of caregivers as a source of safety and reassurance during times of vulnerability.
This episode examines how these idealizations can provide stability but also carry developmental costs if they are never gradually tempered by ordinary disappointments and the recognit...
Dr. Ettensohn expands on his recent episode exploring splitting as a dissociative process.
Drawing from clinical experience and developmental theory, he addresses a common question: What’s the difference between splitting, identity diffusion, and Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)?
Rather than viewing these as separate diagnostic constructs, Dr. Ettensohn presents them as points along a continuum of dissociation. They represent d...
In this episode, Dr. Ettensohn offers a groundbreaking perspective on one of the most misunderstood features of pathological narcissism: splitting.
Drawing from the work of Philip Bromberg and his own clinical practice, Dr. Ettensohn reframes splitting not as black-and-white thinking, but as a dissociative process rooted in early relational trauma.
Rather than treating splitting as a rigid symptom, this episode explores how dissoci...
In this Weekly Insight, Dr. Ettensohn explores subtle signs of false self experiencing. Drawing from clinical work and developmental theory, he reflects on how early relational demands can lead individuals to organize their identity around performance, compliance, or emotional suppression.
The episode examines how precocious self-monitoring, idealized emotional states, and internalized expectations often become automatic, forming a...
In this Weekly Insight, Dr. Ettensohn addresses widespread misconceptions about narcissism by clarifying what the term does not mean. Drawing on clinical examples and years of engagement with public discourse, he explores how the label “narcissist” has become a cultural catch-all for behaviors that are often common, non-pathological, and only proximally related to Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). This episode examines how...
Join Dr. Mark Ettensohn from Heal NPD for a live broadcast answering questions and responding to viewer comments.
What does it mean to say that narcissists lack empathy?
In this Weekly Insight, Dr. Ettensohn challenges the common assumption that low empathy is a fixed trait in narcissistic personality disorder (NPD).
Drawing from psychoanalytic theory and clinical observation, he explores how empathy in NPD often collapses in response to internal threat, and how this collapse is due to defenses rather than intrinsic empathy deficits. The episo...
In this Weekly Insight, Dr. Ettensohn examines the rise of moral panic within contemporary discourse about narcissism, particularly how popular online narratives have transformed psychological terms into tools of moral judgment.
In this Weekly Insight, Dr. Ettensohn examines the rise of moral panic within contemporary discourse about narcissism, particularly how popular online narratives have transformed psychological terms into to...
Link to episode 1 in this series, on psychotic-level NPD: https://youtu.be/IoxUCbNUJUE
Link to episode 2 in this series, on borderline-level NPD: https://youtu.be/Oz-C503q_9Y
Link to part 1 of episode 3 in this series: https://youtu.be/vUsnambadIE
This is the third episode of a four-episode series describing the narcissistic personality style across different levels of severity. Due to the length of the material, this episode has...
Link to episode 1 in this series, on psychotic-level NPD: https://youtu.be/IoxUCbNUJUE
Link to episode 2 in this series, on borderline-level NPD: https://youtu.be/Oz-C503q_9Y
This is the third episode of a four-episode series describing the narcissistic personality style across different levels of severity. Due to the length of the material, this episode has been divided into three parts. This is part one.
In this part, Dr. Ettenso...
In this video, Dr. Ettensohn examines the growing claim that Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is almost entirely genetic, offering a critical, clinically grounded reflection on what the current science actually supports—and where it falls short. He discusses how genetic contributions to personality traits are often misunderstood, and why claims of “hardwired narcissism” oversimplify a profoundly complex developmental process...
In this Weekly Insight, Dr. Ettensohn shares an adapted preview from his upcoming video on narcissism at the neurotic level of personality organization. He reflects on what it means to move toward psychological integration, emotional complexity, and the capacity for self-reflection - especially for those doing this work without a therapist.
Drawing from clinical understanding and developmental theory, Dr. Ettensohn discusses how se...
In this Weekly Insight, Dr. Ettensohn explores the nature of grandiosity in pathological narcissism and Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), emphasizing that grandiose self-states are distortions that mask underlying vulnerability. He examines how these states emerge, why they are so compelling, and how they become self-reinforcing through positive feedback loops.
Dr. Ettensohn also discusses the hidden instability beneath gran...
In this Weekly Insight, Dr. Ettensohn explores the deep existential conflict at the heart of pathological narcissism and NPD: the fear of being ordinary. Drawing from a recent presentation by psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Dr. Salman Akhtar, he examines how the pressure to be extraordinary—instilled early in life—becomes a defining and isolating feature of the narcissistic identity.
Dr. Ettensohn discusses the paradox of extraordin...
In this weekly insight, Dr. Ettensohn addresses the common misconception that individuals with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) never seek therapy—and the even more misleading idea that simply wondering whether you have NPD means that you don’t.
This episode explores the origins of these myths, explaining how they stem from a misunderstanding of personality disorders and the role of insight. While NPD often involves rigid, m...
The "Weekly Insights" series is for paid members of Dr. Ettensohn's Heal NPD Youtube channel. In the short-term, Dr. Ettensohn is posting all even-numbered episodes free of charge. If you would like access to the full series, please follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHeT5kujD1JqHRAi-x8xD-w/join
In this weekly insight, Dr. Ettensohn explores how cycles of narcissistic wounding and dehumanization develop and perpetu...
The "Weekly Insights" series is for paid members of Dr. Ettensohn's Heal NPD Youtube channel. In the short-term, Dr. Ettensohn is posting all even-numbered episodes free of charge. If you would like access to the full series, please follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHeT5kujD1JqHRAi-x8xD-w/join
In this weekly insight, Dr. Ettensohn discusses the limitations of polarized or dichotomous thinking, particularly when i...
The "Weekly Insights" series is for paid members of Dr. Ettensohn's Heal NPD Youtube channel. In the short-term, Dr. Ettensohn is posting all even-numbered episodes free of charge. If you would like access to the full series, please follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHeT5kujD1JqHRAi-x8xD-w/join
What’s the difference between healthy self-love and pathological narcissism?
In this week's episode of Weekly insights, D...
The "Weekly Insights" series is for paid members of Dr. Ettensohn's Heal NPD Youtube channel. In the short-term, Dr. Ettensohn is posting all even-numbered episodes free of charge. If you would like access to the full series, please follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHeT5kujD1JqHRAi-x8xD-w/join
In this episode of the members-only "Weekly Insights" series, Dr. Ettensohn reflects on the positives and negatives of gr...
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