In this episode, we join a conversation with Deborah from Healing from Toxic Abuse right at the moment she expresses surprise that people actually come to therapy identifying as narcissistic—because self-reflection is the very thing they resist. From there, we explore what happens when the illusion of the grandiose self begins to crack, when the fantasies that hold the self together collapse under reality. We look at how narcissistic defenses break down, how modes of repair can become destructive, and how these patterns can blur into borderline dynamics.

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