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Digital Seminar

Antagonistic Clients & Antagonistic Relationships

$129.99 Standard

The increased focus on working with clients who are navigating, being harmed by, or experiencing the fallout of relationships with individuals with antagonistic personality styles, such as narcissism, requires clinicians to be aware of the subtleties raised by these cases. After all, the client in the antagonistic relationship brings their own personality, schemas, self-reflective capacity, and regulation—and there’s tremendous heterogeneity in these clients’ presentations. In addition, narcissistic relationships typically entail relational trauma and betrayal, all of which can contribute to a complex clinical picture and magnify existing personality issues. In this workshop, we’ll focus on the importance of assessment and psychological safety. You’ll discover:

  • The dynamics and behaviors observed in narcissistic relationships
  • How to balance validation with self-reflection and accountability, ensuring you’re not enabling while doing this work
  • Ethical issues to consider when working with antagonistic personality styles
  • How to help clients navigate the fallout of narcissistic abuse/antagonistic relational stress in relationships

Here's What You'll Learn

  1. Antagonistic personality styles who are in antagonistic relationships: Case Examples 
  2. Brief overview of antagonism and narcissism 
  3. Brief overview of the dynamics and behaviors observed in narcissistic relationships 
  4. Overview of antagonistic behaviors and the contributors to these behaviors 
  5. Brief overview of the fallout of narcissistic abuse/antagonistic relational stress (NA/ARS) in relationships 
  6. Tenets of antagonism informed therapy 
  7. Brief overview of tenets of clinical practice with narcissistic clients 
  8. The issues raised by clients with antagonistic personality styles who are in antagonistic relationships 
  9. Assessment as a central issue in working with NA/ARS 
  10. Being trauma informed in working with clients with antagonistic personality styles who are in antagonistic relationships 
  11. Pitfalls and vulnerabilities when doing this work 
  12. Ethical and therapist self-care issues when doing this work 
  13. Risks and limitations 

Everything You're Getting

  • More than 2 hours of video content
  • Up to 2.0 CE credits
  • Certificate of completion
  • Handouts and resources

Meet Your Experts

Ramani Durvasula, PhD, LCP

Toggle speaker biography

Ramani Durvasula, PhD, LCP is a psychologist in California, the founder and CEO of LUNA Education, Training and Consulting, and professor emerita of psychology at California State University Los Angeles. She is The New York Times bestselling author of It’s Not You: Identifying and Healing from Narcissistic People. She is also the author of multiple other books including ”Don’t You Know Who I Am”: How to Stay Sane in the Era of Narcissism, Entitlement and Incivility and Should I Stay or Should I Go: Surviving a Relationship with a Narcissist. She has lectured and trained therapists around the world on best practices on working with clients experiencing narcissistic abuse and has developed a 36 hour virtual training and certification program in conjunction with PESI to train clinicians on how to use an antagonism-informed approach with clients experiencing narcissistic relationships.

Dr. Durvasula hosts a popular YouTube channel with over 2 million subscribers, maintains a program offering support and education to thousands of survivors, and is a featured expert on the digital media platform MedCircle. She also maintains an engaged online network called the Dr. Ramani Network. She has also been widely involved in the governance of the American Psychological Association, including the APA Leadership Institute for Women in Psychology and the APA Minority Fellowship Program. Dr. Durvasula received her MA and PhD degrees in clinical psychology from UCLA and completed her internship and post-doctoral training at the UCLA Department of Psychiatry. She completed her Bachelor of Science degree in psychology, with a minor in sociology in 1988 at the University of Connecticut. She resides in Los Angeles, CA.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Ramani Durvasula is the founder and CEO of LUNA Education, Training, and Consulting and has an employment relationship with the University of Johannesburg. Ramani Durvasula receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Ramani Durvasula is an associate editor for Behavioral Medicine. She is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science Society for Behavioral Medicine, and the International Association of Applied Psychology.

More taught by Ramani Durvasula, PhD, LCP

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Media Type:
Digital Seminar
Product Code:
NOS096716
Duration:
2 hours, 4 minutes
Copyright:
Mar 21, 2026

ADA Needs

We would be happy to accommodate your ADA needs; please call our Customer Service Department for more information at 1-800-844-8260.

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