Editor's note: Lovefraud offers authors who write about their experience with sociopaths an opportunity to tell the Lovefraud community about their books. Aleena Grace Barteau wrote, "Bow Down B**ch! — Being a Fool, Loving a Liar; under the controlling power of an abusive man," which is available on Amazon. By Aleena Grace Barteau My abuser is a sociopath. I had never heard the term before until one day when I met with my counselor in a desperate attempt to “fix” the relationship—because I loved my abuser so much. My therapist, who had a Ph.D. in psychology, had been working with the two of us. After spending much time with us both, running some psychological tests on my partner, and o …
After the Sociopath, Honor Your Perfect Spirit
Editor's note: Liberty Forrest, author of several self-help books and a certified Law of Attraction Life Coach, reminds you that even if you feel crushed by a deceptive sociopath, you should still honor your perfect spirit. Read more about Liberty. By Liberty Forrest Following on from last week's article, Who Do You See in the Mirror? I'm going to ask you another question. And again, please take a moment or two to consider your answer before continuing to read. Ready? Okay. When's the last time you hurt yourself? Please think about that for a moment... I'm really curious about what your answer was. It will depend, of course, on what the question meant to you. Chances are …
How people of the Dark Triad implode: The link is self-sabotage
By Joanie Bentz, B.S., M.Ed., LBS The term Dark Triad always fascinated me. The name sounds so ominous – images of Darth Vader from Star Wars come to mind, as if nothing worse could possibly exist in the universe. The Dark Triad encompasses three sociopathic disorders — psychopathy, narcissistic personality disorder and Machiavellianism. These individuals are considered to be the most socially harmful of all sociopaths. Still, they often don’t get away with their exploitation forever — they may eventually crash and burn, usually due to self-sabotage. People of the Dark Triad meet diagnostic criteria (per the DSM-5) for Narcissistic Personality Disorder coupled with psychopathy and a Machiav …
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Who Do You See in the Mirror?
Editor's note: Liberty Forrest, author of several self-help books and a certified Law of Attraction Life Coach, asks, who do you see in the mirror? Someone you've been conditioned to see — or your true essence? Read more about Liberty. By Liberty Forrest I'm gonna ask you a question now. And I want you to be reeeeeally honest with your answer, okay? I don't want you to read beyond the question until you've taken a moment and answered it because I really want you to think about it. Ready? Okay, here goes: Who do you see when you look in a mirror? Stop for a moment and take in that question...This can be a revealing and powerful little exercise if you give yourself a moment to a …
The eyes of a sociopath
UPDATED FOR 2021. Sociopaths are hiding in all segments of society. They can be male, female, all races, all religions, all ethnic groups, old, young, rich, poor, good-looking, homely. Only one aspect of their appearance may hint at their personality disorder: The eyes of a sociopath. If you've had any type of involvement with a sociopath, you may have noticed some weirdness about the person's eyes. You may see this in one or more ways, such as: Intense eye contact In my book, Red Flags of Love Fraud one of the 10 warning signs is intense eye contact. To gather information for the book, I conducted the Lovefraud Romantic Partners Survey. Of the 1,352 survey respondents, 59% of them …
How to Overcome Negative Messages and Improve YourSelf Worth
Editor's note: Liberty Forrest, author of several self-help books and a certified Law of Attraction Life Coach, explains how to overcome negative messages from the past, even from your parents, and improve yourSelf worth. Read more about Liberty. By Liberty Forrest Most of us have stories about the rotten things people have told us about ourselves. Or rather, what they believe to be the truth about us. And this is no more true than if you've been dealing with sociopaths. It's one of their tactics; they find any little chink in the armor, any small weakness or insecurity, and they pick away at it with demeaning, diminishing comments that you believe because you love them and trust their …
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My story of psychological abuse and coercive control
Editor's note: Lovefraud received the following story about psychological abuse and coercive control from a reader whom we'll call Abigal21. Names and locations are changed. So, it was 2013, I met up with my friend for her birthday, she had invited her ‘friend’ a guy she sort of used to see. She said, can you hang out with David because he doesn’t know anyone here and it’s awkward because I am with my boyfriend … I said okay I guess …… I wasn’t in the best state of mind as I had recently broken up with a guy who was becoming abusive (I had a habit of attracting these guys … I now realize.). So David and I end up talking, exchange numbers and start dating. According to him he is single, …
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Small Joys Help You Heal from the Sociopath
Editor's note: Liberty Forrest, author of several self-help books and a certified Law of Attraction Life Coach, encourages you to find small joys in your life that will help you heal from the sociopath. Read more about Liberty. By Liberty Forrest Life after the devastation caused by a sociopath can leave you feeling like you don't have the time or energy for anything that feels good. Joy? Happiness? A little treat now and then? Forget it. Even worse, you might be feeling like you don't deserve any of that. Ouch. You could even feel guilty for any bits of happiness that show up. Extra big ouch. You're not alone. All of that is completely normal after a sociopath has torn through …
Narcissists and the lack of empathy
A key trait of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is the lack of empathy. At least, that’s what most mental health professionals believe, and a lack of empathy is included in the diagnostic criteria of the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association). But clinical research has failed to establish that narcissists lack empathy. How can this be? Many of us have endured, first-hand, the devastating lack of empathy exhibited by narcissists, antisocials and psychopaths. Well, it turns out that there are two types of empathy, and these disordered individuals often lack one of them, but not the other. When you understand this, you’ll also understand wh …
You Choose Your Actions — Even with Controlling People
Editor's note: Liberty Forrest, author of several self-help books and a certified Law of Attraction Life Coach, explains an empowering concept — even when you feel like you're being pressured or forced to behave in a certain way, in truth, you choose your actions. Read more about Liberty. By Liberty Forrest Although control issues can happen between people of any gender, let's just use the example of a husband ("Tom") who "won't let" his wife ("Jane") see certain people, wear certain clothing or go somewhere that doesn't meet with his approval. It is important to remember always that you choose your actions, and other people have only as much control over you as you give them. Therefore, T …
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