Will I Ever Be Free of You?: How to Navigate a High-Conflict Divorce from a Narcissist and Heal Your Family

Used book. But ok.

Educating yourself about Narcissistic Personality Disorder will change your life! If you are in a relationship with a narcissist your troubles are worse than you know. Understanding the phenomena is not just important in your marriage/divorce. You deal with more narcissists in your day to day life than you realize. They are masters of deceit and they are drawn to altruistic people that they can take advantage of. I wish I could have read this book 39 years ago, when I was busy making the choice that would destroy my life. I wish the program to educate the court system, that Dr. McBride proposes in this book, was in place now. My estranged wife first made it clear that she was positioning for a divorce 17 years ago. I spent years, to no avail, trying to save the marriage for the sake of the children. She has been using the court system to destroy me for over 12 years. She is a family law attorney and is represented by a friend. She hasn't had to spend a dime. I have spent over $250,000 on attorneys so far with no end in sight. She weaponized my kids and they haven't spoken to me in over 11 years. They were minors when the court case started. Now they are grown up and my daughter got married without me. My estranged wife very convincingly plays the victim for every judge that we have been in front of, and it works. In 12 years of rulings, not a single one has gone in my favor. Twice she has gotten judges to ignore the law and give her title interest in my legally separate property, based on nothing but her testimony. I always think the court will see through her constant barrage of pejorative attacks on my character, but it works for her. In every ruling for the last 12 years, the judges have found her to be credible and me to not be credible, in spite of solid evidence supporting me. The way the court system works, there is no avenue available to me to demonstrate to the court who she really is. Even if my attorneys could see the value of it, and the court would allow it, I can't afford to bring a professional in to enlighten the court. Judges need to learn to identify the problem. All of the earmarks are there in my case. I hope Dr. McBride's proposed model for a program becomes a reality someday. I am dealing with true evil and there is no authority in the justice system I can turn to for help. At least I understand what I'm dealing with now. Educate yourself and stop being a victim. Since this started I have found my soulmate and have everything I need to be truly happy. I just need to lose my narcissist and I hope that my children see things more clearly some day. If I had it to do over, and had this book, I'm sure the outcome would be better. Thank you Dr. McBride.

There were so many VERY extreme examples in the book, that I think people who are not involved in complete murderous insanity will be like, "Eh, this probably doesn't apply to me." There might be helpful tips for people who are involved in high conflict divorces, or with a former partner who is a narcissist, but in general this book seemed to apply to HIGHLY extreme cases that I imagine are outliers. I am not saying not to read it and buy it if you are in a very difficult divorce situation - I think it can be helpful for a high conflict divorce - but in general I'm not sure it will be as helpful as one might want unless you are involved in a very extreme situation.

I live overseas and will divorce here eventually. However, I bought this book to get an idea what I can do to make it a more smoother process. I do not regret it. I read four other books on narcissism, so am close to an "expert" (or at least I'd like to think so - raised by an NPD parent and married to an NPD - lucky me :-( ). However, there is information here that I did not find in other books. I cherish every piece of new info and take it from the life-long learning perspective.The bood does start with a general overview of narcissism, most of which I knew. Nevertheless, I did find it useful. There are two sets of questions that can help one determine if your are involved with a narcissist and if your were raised by one.Further is really from a divorce perspective. The author describes in detail how a normal, loving relationship looks like, why people who marry narcissist marry them, why they do not realize at the beginning that something is wrong (or they do, but deny it), what a normal divorce look likes, what a divorce from a narcissist looks like. It gives very vivid examples of some many ways that a narcissist manipulates the system, the lawyers, the child, the healthy parent. There are no direct case history and due to privacy issues I wouldn't expect them.There is not one, but two chapters here that I did not find in other books. They talk about work on yourself to make sure you don't end up in a similar relationship again. Furthermore, there is a also a detailed chapter on the impact of narcissism on families and child's socio-emotional development and what the healthy parent can do to help the child - Being an empathetic. This part is an absolute must-read for any parent! The influence of therapy on a child from these divorce cases is also very encouraging.My only concern, not about the book, but about the NPD and its impact on families and children is the fact that verbal and emotional abuse is not provable in court. However, with everything that is known about NPD I am surprised that there is no way to force a psychological evaluation through which an NPD diagnosis would become evident. Narcissist refuse going to therapy. However, I don't see how a court can let go the fact that these people cannot control their anger. They should be forced to go to anger-management therapy. I know I will request an evaluation and will offer myself to undergo the same, with the same person, so he cannot say I am pointing to him. There is no way that NPD will not be diagnosed. I know the court in the country where I am will not stay indifferent to this when it comes to custody, visitation, etc.

Wow. This is the most amazing book I have read on this subject having read lots. I so wish I had this book when I started my divorce with my high conflict narcissist ex... 3 years and 40 grand legal fees the two best bits for me were : don't do mediation, go to court and let a judge decide everything and empathetic parenting. Our son is ten and has regular contact with his dad which hurts his self esteem. I listen now and empathise and promise I will never tell anyone. Then I help him find strategies to set boundaries with his dad. There has been such a happy change in him. Please read this book if you are leaving or planning to divorce a narcissist because really understanding how they think will help you find the right strategy to get rid and find a way of dealing with them if you have kids x

This book was recommended to me by a psychologist who very quickly identified that my ex may have been Narcisitic Personality Disorder. Reading the book was both traumatizing and enlightening for me as it hit very close to home. The book described what to look for in a narcissistic spouse using some basic tests and questionnaires. The stories and anecdotes in the book describe my own experiences living with a narcissistic personality disorder parent. It was painful to read about the warning signs and realize how blind I had been for the past many years. On the other hand, it was a wealth of information on how to handle the narcissistic other parent or spouse and it gave me encouragement to know that I am not alone.I wish I read this book years or maybe even decades ago.

Marvellously explained about Narcissist psyche.

Narcissist is thrown around a lot but if you feel that that might be the case this book will help you understand some of the actions that come from a Narcissist

Really helpful to understand how to manage when you are trying to separate from a narcisstic husband.The legal perspective is US but this isn't a book about divorce from a legal perspective, it is about the emotional impact and strategies for coping.I wish I had read it before embarking on a divorce as naively thought Ex husband would be reasonable.