Don’t Diagnose Me: When Therapy Language Hurts Your Relationship

Therapy language can be incredibly helpful.

Words like attachment style, avoidance, stonewalling, narcissism, and trauma can help us understand patterns that once felt confusing.

But what happens when we start using those words against our partner in the middle of conflict?

In this episode, we respond to a listener who asked about the growing tendency for couples to psychoanalyze each other during arguments.

And we start with something very real from our own relationship:

Tarah has called EJ a narcissist before.

In the moment, it felt completely true to her.

But what she was actually trying to communicate was much more personal:

“It feels like your needs matter more than mine.”

That difference matters.

Because when we say:

“You are a narcissist.”