I was blessed with an outstanding psychotherapist for several years. Really more of a collaborator. She helped me immeasurably, and I owe her a great debt.

I resisted all of her techniques at first, comparing her to a gypsy during one session, then calling it “voodoo bullshit” — in so many words, calling her a dilettante and painting her as an occultist. I always speak my mind, even when it’s full of crap.

One of the things we worked on assiduously was a certain narcissistic tendency I have.

She stopped me in the middle of a sentence one day and said, “See, that right there, that’s distorted thinking. That’s grandeur, delusions of. That’s what I was cautioning you about last time.”

I crinkled my face, rolled my eyes, and waved my hand, turning my body away from her and toward the window.

“Oh, what, you’re too good for grandiosity?” she said earnestly, and a little confrontationally.

We stared at each other for an instant. Then we both laughed, hard.

Tags: Narcissistic Personality Type