Lunch and Learn: The Love Lives of Straight Narcissistic Men

Hosted by: Lawrence Josephs, PhD

General Admission

Straight narcissistic men and their disgruntled female partners often present for individual and couples therapy. Research suggests that such men tend to be more promiscuous, more likely to engage in infidelity, more likely to have anger management problems, less likely to be forgiving of relational transgressions, and more contemptuous of their female partners. Though often making good first impressions, they become less appealing with familiarity. They tend to be low in empathy and remain unaware of the interpersonal impact that their narcissistic behavior has on their female partner’s mental states. They are often perplexed by the negative reactions that their female partners have to their narcissistic behavior which is ego-syntonic. The talk will center on a mentalization-based approach to helping straight narcissistic men understand the impact that their behavior has on their female partner’s mental states and to coaching such men on how to have more constructive conflict discussions with their partners.

Lawrence Josephs, Ph.D. is a professor at the Derner School of Psychology at Adelphi University. He is also in private practice in Manhattan. Dr. Josephs is on the editorial board of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis and is a frequent reviewer for Personality and Individual Differences. His most recent book; The Dynamics of Infidelity: Applying Relationship Science to Psychotherapy Practice was published by the American Psychological Association as was a training video; Restoring Trust After Infidelity. Dr. Josephs has a Psychology Today blog called Between the Sheets: The Hidden Psychology of Intimate Relationships that has over one million views.

This event is not eligible for continuing education credit.

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