On the New Normal of Narcissism

This live online conversation was recorded on our CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel. It is also available on our podcast.

Join us for a workshop with Ramani Durvasula February 12, 2022. Register.

Narcissism is frequently up for discussion these days, but many of us don’t fully understand exactly what narcissism is.  

Narcissism is a personality style characterized by conflict, antagonism, dysregulation, and above all, pathological insecurity. This toxic pattern can result in significant interpersonal challenges, including family of origin dysfunction, significant difficulties in intimate relationships, and antagonism in the workplace.   

A larger issue looms—we live in a world where entitlement, incivility, and narcissism are incentivized. We enable these patterns, embolden and celebrate these toxic personality styles, and give them a louder megaphone through traditional and social media platforms. How do we learn to negotiate a world that often gaslights us and empowers the loudest and most toxic voices? 

Join CIIS Community Mental Health professor and psychologist Elizabeth Markle for a conversation with psychologist and narcissism expert Dr. Ramani Durvasula exploring the new normal of narcissism and incivility and how to stay sane in a narcissistic world.

Please note that this talk/conversation will be hosted live online and includes an audience Q&A. Instructions on how to join the conversation will be included in your event confirmation email. If you need additional assistance finding or joining the event, please email publicprograms@ciis.edu.

Dr. Ramani Durvasula is a licensed clinical psychologist in Los Angeles, CA and Professor of Psychology at California State University, Los Angeles, where she was named Outstanding Professor in 2012, she was also the national recipient of the American Association of University Women Emerging Scholar Award. Dr. Durvasula takes on our modern scourges of entitlement and incivility in “Don’t You Know Who I Am”: How to Stay Sane in the Era of Narcissism, Entitlement and Incivility. She is the author of the modern relationship survival manual Should I Stay or Should I Go:  Surviving a Relationship With a Narcissist, and of You Are WHY You Eat: Change Your Food Attitude, Change Your Life.  The focus of Dr. Durvasula’s clinical, academic and consultative work is the etiology and impact of narcissism and high conflict, entitled, antagonistic personality styles on human relationships, mental health, and societal expectations.  She has spoken on these issues to clinicians, educators and researchers around the world. Her work has been featured at SxSW, TEDx, and on a wide range of media platforms including Red Table Talk, the Today Show, Oxygen, Investigation Discovery, Bravo, and she is a featured expert on the digital media mental health platform MedCircle.  Dr. Durvasula’s research on personality disorders has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and she is a Consulting Editor of the scientific journal Behavioral Medicine. Dr. Durvasula has also been a participant in the governance of the American Psychological Association, and most recently as the Chair of the STAY-MHSAS Training Advisory Committee of the Minority Fellowship Program. Dr. Durvasula is an honest, authentic, and brutally honest voice on the struggles raised by narcissism and high conflict, antagonistic personality styles in the US and globally. 

Elizabeth Markle, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist, professor, and assistant professor of Community Mental Health at California Institute of Integral Studies. Elizabeth is also Founder and Executive Director of Open Source Wellness, a clinical-community integration initiative offering experiential behavioral health and wellness via a "Behavioral Pharmacy" approach for individuals and families. Elizabeth recently served as a project director with Well Being Trust, a new foundation focused on the mental, social, and spiritual health of the nation, and lead the Youth Peer Initiative, focused on uplifting and spreading the Youth Peer Hotlines model across the nation. Formerly, Elizabeth served as a postdoctoral fellow at the San Francisco VA. Dedicated to multitheoretical and multi-level approaches to individual and community health and healing, Elizabeth’s research and entrepreneurship are focused on systems design to generate social support, social capital, and social sustainability in health and healthcare.