Relationships can be challenging, regardless of form, length, or focus. However, when one partner is struggling with narcissistic tendencies or has been diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), these challenges can compound quickly. Many individuals wonder if their relationship is salvageable once the narcissistic partner begins to show more signs of their behavior. Couples therapy can be an invaluable resource for both sides in such situations.
Establishing healthy boundaries with a narcissistic partner can be difficult. Still, couples therapy can provide valuable tools to manage this dynamic. It is essential not just to help the narcissistic partner understand how their behavior affects others but to provide the other individual with a safe space to examine this dynamic.
Let’s discuss how therapy encourages communication, boundary-setting, and emotional balance to build a healthier relationship structure.
Do You Have a Narcissistic Partner?
Anyone who is considering therapy for their relationship with a narcissistic partner may suspect that their partner is facing some personality challenges. Even those who do not qualify for an NPD diagnosis may still exhibit narcissistic traits. These might include:
- Being extremely averse to (even gentle) criticism
- Avoiding or deliberately violating other people’s boundaries
- Difficulties with listening and empathy
- Eagerness to “get back” at someone for a perceived wrongdoing
- Being prone to gaslighting and other forms of manipulation
While every relationship is different, as are the traits of narcissism present within, behaviors such as these can be a warning sign.
How Couples Therapy Can Help
Being in a long-term commitment with a narcissistic personality poses numerous challenges. Relationships are built on a strong awareness and level of care and empathy that many with narcissistic tendencies may struggle to grasp and implement. Couples therapy can help with these issues, such as:
Communication
Many narcissistic partners shut down any time their partner tries to communicate their discomfort or voice critiques. Similarly, the narcissistic partner may be overbearing, condescending, and hurtful in the way they speak. A therapist can help each party to be heard without defaulting to their normal modes of communication, which have been brushed aside.
Setting Boundaries
To preserve their mental health, the non-narcissistic partner should set strong boundaries about what is considered acceptable treatment. However, not everyone knows how to do this, what constitutes a viable boundary, and what to do when that boundary is crossed.
A couples therapist can help partners develop boundaries and create a plan for upholding them, including laying out what happens if someone oversteps. Doing so jointly with a professional helps to ease some of the sense of “unfairness” or hurt that can come with setting boundaries.
Emotional Balance
Working out relationship difficulties is often challenging and fraught with heightened emotions. Couples therapy offers a guide who can keep emotions in check so everyone communicates rather than shouting or shutting down. This facilitates more productive discussion and prevents one partner from taking control of the conversation using emotional manipulation.
Catharsis and Safety
Sometimes, one of the biggest things a therapist can do to help couples is to listen. They may feel they have nowhere to air their feelings without judgment. When they do so, honesty can bring people together and help them understand what is happening in their relationship that previously went unseen.
A therapist’s office is a safe place to practice this honesty. Following such emotional catharsis, patients often feel renewed hope and willingness to try new strategies that could improve their relationship.
Education
One of the biggest stumbling blocks in relationships with one narcissistic partner is that one or both do not fully understand what this type of personality condition entails. By educating patients on the signs of narcissism, why they happen, and what to do, both parties come into the relationship more equipped to understand why things are the way they are. Knowledge is power; with this knowledge, the partners can make smarter decisions about approaching conflict or setting boundaries.
Try Couples Therapy for Your Relationship
Relationships that include one narcissistic partner can present a challenge for those involved, but this does not mean that such relationships are doomed to failure. The professionals at Village Counseling can help you cope with a narcissistic partner and equip you with tools, communication skills, and boundary-setting practices that allow you to make space for yourself in a relationship that may otherwise feel overwhelming. Contact Village Counseling today to schedule a couples therapy appointment and get started on the road to a more harmonious relationship.