Manipulators and other disturbed characters sometimes like to openly threaten or brow-beat someone else into giving-up or giving-in to their demands. They like to terrorize others into submission.

Skilled manipulators are expert at making more subtle, implied or veiled threats to intimidate others into seeing or doing things their way. Sometimes it can be no more than a particular “look” or a glance.

Disordered characters use the tactic of minimizing to manage the impression others have of them. It’s a way to manipulate others into thinking they’re not so bad despite the horrible things they’ve done.

Anyone familiar with the “jargon” of mental health professionals of all persuasions has undoubtedly heard the term denial.  What you may not know is that it’s fairly common not only for professionals but also for others to use the term improperly or in a poorly defined or over-generalized manner.  In classical (psychodynamic) psychology, denial is an unconscious [...]