My sociopathic ex and I meet monthly with a psychologist. The Guardian ad litem for our three children ordered us to do this after my ex filed for full custody of our two boys last year. So we've met with this psychologist maybe 6 times now, and neither of us had ever met him before our first meeting. All he knew about us in advance is that we're a "high conflict" couple, and he decided that the best thing he can do for our family is to help us get along. He's also trying to help us settle on an agreement that doesn't entirely eliminate my parenting time or rights. And I appreciate that. Therapy with a Sociopath What's it like? It's not that bad, really, compared to all the other …
Q & A With Forensic Psychiatrist Dr. Park Dietz
This week I had the privilege of tapping into the vast knowledge of Dr. Park Dietz, one of the world's foremost authorities on criminal behavior. He has consulted and testified for the prosecution in many high-profile criminal cases such as Jeffrey Dahmer, John Hinckley, Jr., the O.J. Simpson civil suit, Andrea Yates, the Unabomber, the Menendez brothers, Jared Lee Loughner, and Susan Smith. Dr. Dietz was also brought on as a consultant after the Columbine shooting to investigate the motivation behind the attack. He received his degree in psychology at Cornell University and completed his residency in psychiatry at John Hopkins University. In 1978, Dr. Dietz became Harvard University's …
Study reveals Mafia prisoners less likely to be psychopathic than fellow inmates
Italian researchers in Sicily released a new study revealing that members of the Mafia are less likely to be psychopaths than other criminals. The study compared 30 Mafia members in a Palermo, Sicily jail convicted of crimes such as murder, trafficking, extortion, fraud, sexual exploitation and kidnapping, to a group of 39 non-Mafia prisoners, whose offenses included murder, rape, child sexual abuse and armed robbery. The study concluded that, according to the Hare Psychopathy Checklist Revised, none of the Mafia scored in the psychopathic range, while 10% of the comparison prisoners did. The Mafia members were also found to be less ”˜manipulative,' ”˜Machiavellian,' ”˜narcissistic,' ”˜unem …
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Is Rape Law Still in the Dark Ages?
Editor's note: Joyce M. Short is the author of a just released book, “Carnal Abuse by Deceit.” The book chronicles her life with a predator, the subsequent aftermath and her road to recovery. It also provides advice for victims and their supporters, and discusses the issues surrounding criminalization of rape-by-fraud. By Joyce M. Short A new case in New Jersey will soon test that concept. Enforcers will determine whether rape law protects a person's right to self determination over their personal sexual intimacy. They could decide that choice simply does not matter at all, or they could protect the victim's entitlement to choice based on the same rights granted in every other human int …
Gary J. Aronson treats widow like gold – with money acquired by stealing her identity
By Donna Andersen Lisa and Joe Sorrentino were happily married for 25 years. They worked together every day in Joe's hair salon in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. They enjoyed their family. But life changed in October 2008, when Joe was diagnosed with lung cancer. Lisa Sorrentino had been working part time in the business, but as Joe weakened, she put in more hours and covered more of his clients. Joe died in October 2009, and Sorrentino was heartbroken to lose her husband and best friend. But she didn't have time to slow down and grieve, because now the salon was hers, and she was working 65 hours a week. One of her clients was Gary Aronson. Her husband had been cutting his hair since …
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Six statements that do not describe psychopaths
The Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy says "a constellation of traits” defines the psychopath. The Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) measures 20 personality traits and behaviors to determine a person's level of psychopathy. But some common ideas about psychopaths are wrong, says Dean A. Haycock, author of Murderous Minds: Exploring the Criminal Psychopathic Brain: Neurological Imaging and the Manifestation of Evil. He suggests six common misconceptions about psychopaths, the first being that all psychopaths are insane. Because psychopaths know the difference between right and wrong, legally, they are not insane. The other five misconceptions are that all mass …
Beware The Female Sociopath
Twenty years ago, a newspaper unknowingly helped conceal a sociopath's secrets by painting the woman as a loving maternal figure. In an interview granted by the publication, she described her "heartbreak" over lack of adequate benefits for her mentally handicapped son. Attached to the article is a photo of the frail looking woman, packing a lunch for him as he looks on in the background. Frustrated with the state's deficient programs, she is quoted as having "cried many, many tears" because there were such limited opportunities for her son. Little did the interviewer know it was all a ruse to cover the truth: this same mother mentally, verbally and physically abused her son, gaslighted him, …
The Sociopath Creates a Dream
If you've been romanced by a sociopath, you know how remarkable it can be. In the first moments—the courting phase. In the time when you felt more desirable and more perfectly matched than ever before in your life. The time you fell in love. I wrote about my own sociopathic romance in The Other Side of Charm. And it was really hard for me after fifteen years of bad to go back to the good. It was more than hard. I cried a lot while writing about my early days with my ex, holing myself up in my house during any spare moment to write and to cry into the loneliness. And even though I've written it all out by now, I still cry if I talk about it. If someone asks what it was like. I cry b …
Mary Ann Glynn, LCSW: Remorse Revisited
By Mary Ann Glynn, LCSW, located in Bernardsville, New Jersey Partners in our support group are often confused by the fact that after a verbal outburst, physical abuse, or once the ruse is up, sociopaths may seem remorseful. They might see the consequence of their actions, may even cry and be emotional, or apologetic. There might be efforts to change by more responsive or caring behaviors. If the relationship gets pushed to the breaking point, they may engage in therapy. Most partners' experience the sociopath in therapy as completely blaming everything on them and/or trying to control the therapy sessions. But, some had a different, more perplexing experience. Their experience was that the …
Katherine Underwood, in disguise, pursues her ex, Budimir Drakulic, who owes her $1.6 million
Twenty years ago, Katherine Underwood, of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, started dating Budimir Drakulic, who claimed he was a professor at UCLA. Eight months later, he asked her for money and kept asking until he took everything she had. Underwood sued and won a judgment. Because she couldn't afford a private investigator, she put on disguises and followed Drakulic herself. Donna Andersen just wrote the story for MailOnline.com. I'm not done wig you! The many disguises woman wore to spy on ex-lover who owes her $1.6 m after 20 years …