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I think I'm missing that "denial-excuse-dismiss gene" because I actually did call out Narcissist's behaviors & never looked the other way, especially after Narc boyfriend insulted my boss to his face while at a dinner & told him that he (my boss,) "looked like Norman Bates." After I blew up, the Narc repeatedly said: "I did not call him Norman Bates! I called him Anthony Perkins!" It's not in my nature to ignore whatever "elephant might be in the room..." Unfortunately, I was "Young-Easy-Prey" back then. I went running to my very first therapy session back in 1992 (clueless & confused) asking: "I met a guy who has some of the traits I was looking for in a future partner, but I'm confused about his behaviors.... etc." & all I got from the Marital/Relationship Therapists was the: "It Takes Two to Tango" philosophy, so they just redirected & refocused the therapy on me alone (which was helpful in some ways like understanding myself better to gain self-improvement) but I never got to address the issues/problems with the Narcissist. So I went to therapist #3, #4, #5... with the Narc himself & got the (same "Two to Tango") -- plus the therapy was going nowhere: they set no therapy goals, no review of progress; no solutions, no deadlines back then & I wasted money & gained nothing except more frustration & confusion thinking I somehow had a role in the Narc's "confusing" behaviors. So much for Cognitive Dissonance back in the early 90's... :(

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