Can A Narcissist Change: Taking A Deep Look In The Psychological Evidence

A lot of people on the internet asked, can a narcissist change, can a narcissist change in a relationship, can a narcissist be faithful, can a narcissist love, and more! To answer all of the questions shortly, I must say yes, narcissistic people can change, but conditions apply.

You might get the answer you were looking for, but there are other things you must know about narcissistic traits as well. In this blog, we will be taking a deep look at “Can a narcissistic change” and how can a narcissistic person change willingly based on psychological studies and pieces of evidence. Let’s get started!

Can a Narcissist Change?

Yes, a narcissist can change. If you find a narcissist behaving negatively occasionally, you can make it happen by understanding the causes and their willingness to change. Moving forward, people with narcissistic tendencies struggle with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD).

NPD is a type of personality disorder that brings narcissistic traits throughout an individual’s life. If you think you or your loved one might be struggling with narcissistic personality disorder and haven’t received a proper diagnosis yet, you can seek proper diagnosis and treatment by connecting with an experienced and certified mental health professional, click below:

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Some people with NPD are actually not aware of their narcissistic traits, and they might not even acknowledge them easily. Therefore, proper intervention and counseling are required in such situations. Improper or lack of acknowledgment can be a great barrier to change.

Research shows that a narcissistic personality can only change their traits when they are aware of the situations, symptoms, behaviors, and traits. Along with this, therapy plays an important role in the desired changes. The process of changing narcissism requires honesty and self-awareness.

Facts show that not all narcissistic people are ready to acknowledge and willing to change their traits. Therefore, there’s no assurance that a narcissistic person will change their traits even after getting therapy, falling in love, or hitting rock bottom.

I repeat a narcissistic person can only change when they’re willing to do so and by acknowledging their symptoms because narcissism requires admiration, and usually narcissistic people find it difficult to acknowledge their flaws even when they know they might be causing problems. They also react overly in some situations or challenges which impacts their sense of superiority.

Additionally, research shows that willingness towards change also depends on whether they have only narcissistic traits alone or NPD combined.

How to Differentiate Between NPD and Narcissistic Traits?

Many people believe that NPD and narcissistic traits are the same, however, that’s not the case. A person having narcissistic traits does not necessarily mean that they have NPD. For example, manipulative or abusive people do not necessarily struggle with NPD. Here’s how you can understand the differences between NPD and narcissistic traits:

Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a long-term personality disorder that affects personality consistently throughout life. In order to be diagnosed with NPD, it’s important to meet at least five symptoms from the below-listed list:

• Arrogant behavior or attitude
• Continuous fantasizing
• Extreme sense of self-importance
• Extreme need for admiration
• Exploitative relationship
• Jealousy
• Lack of empathy
• Sense of superiority, power, success, and love
• Sense of entitlement

On the other hand, narcissistic traits are characterized by patterns such as:

• Arrogance
• Entitlement
• Envy
• Exploitation
• Expecting special treatment
• Excessive sense of self-importance
• Grandiosity
• Lack of empathy

Can a Narcissistic Change With or Without Therapy?

Do you know that there are still no standardized therapy options for treating NPD, this means psychologists or mental health professionals don’t use a single approach for treating NPD. However, the treatment options are curated on the basis of symptoms, tendencies, and behaviors, and most importantly they check if the narcissistic traits are alone or combined with NPD.

In order to receive an accurate treatment plan, it’s important for the person to be honest about their behaviors and tendencies. A therapist cannot force a person to do this, therefore, willingness can actually change a person with narcissistic traits.

Coming forth to the treatment process, narcissistic traits can be changed with the help of transference-focused therapy (TFT). This therapy helps establish a healthy relationship between client and therapist so that the client can be more open, comfortable, and honest while discussing their behaviors and emotions with the therapist.

Some mental health professionals also vouch over schema therapy which is also known to be an effective therapy option for treating narcissism. In this therapy, the therapist tries to understand the core beliefs of the client and then replaces them with balanced ones. Please note that therapy does not accurately cure NPD but it can actually help in reducing symptoms and their severity.

I hope this blog helps you find the right answer when you are looking for narcissistic traits. Comment down and share your experiences on the same. For more such content, connect with us through all social media.

Thanks for reading!