The Psychological Disorientation of Manipulation: Strategies to Recover from the Drama

ALAN GODWIN, PsyD, is a licensed psychologist in private practice with nearly 25 years of experience. Certified in Alternative Dispute Resolution, he has dedicated himself to helping individuals, couples, churches, and businesses develop better ways of handling conflict. In addition to his private practice, Dr. Godwin serves on the adjunct faculty of the Graduate Counseling Department of Trevecca University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he teaches a class for doctoral students entitled "Psychodynamic Psychotherapies." He has also taught undergraduates and has guest lectured in the Marriage and Family department. Additionally, he has penned a regular quarterly feature entitled "Ask Dr. Alan" for Deacon magazine, has served as a People and Relationships expert on bizymoms.com, and has been a guest on numerous radio and television programs across the U.S. and Canada.

The Psychological Disorientation of Manipulation He’s in my head. She sucks all the air out of the room. I’m so tired of the drama. These are common ways of expressing the all-consuming intrusiveness of being emotionally manipulated. The manipulators might be relationship partners, neighbors, co-workers, family members, or “friends”, and they occupy psychological space so pervasively that many clients present with complaints of confusion, exhaustion, and the struggle to even know what’s real. In his original seminar on manipulation, Dr. Godwin discussed the dramas staged by manipulators and how therapists help clients with drama non-participation. In this follow-up seminar, the focus shifts to the psychological effects of manipulation and how therapists can help clients recover from this deeply damaging emotional abuse. Discover how manipulators succeed at getting inside people’s heads, how they wreak havoc in all aspects of a person’s life, the best treatment interventions to assist your clients in their recovery, and strategies to avoid being manipulated. You’ll walk away with practical tools to help clients overcome the negative psychological impact of manipulation.