Here in Season 1, we are exploring the question "Am I the Toxic One?"

For our first subtopic, we are investigating the differences between toxic people and toxic behaviors. 

In our last post we explored the theoretical differences between these two. In this post, we are going to illustrate some of those differences with some real-world examples. 

We are going to look at two different folks: Cindy, who is a toxic person, and Jessie who is not a toxic person but does engage in occassional toxic behaviors. Both Cindy and Jessie are going to be independently planning parties for the friends and coworkers.

To plan the party each of our characters will have to complete three major tasks: 

1. Select a date, time and location for the party
2. Get decorations and food for the party
3. Tell party-goers about the party and collect RSVPs

Let's take a look at how Cindy, our example toxic person, manages: 

Cindy begins selecting the time, date, and location by reflecting...

Welcome to the first week of Season 1 "Am I the Toxic One?" 

In this post, we are going to focus on the theory behind our first subtopic "Toxic People versus Toxic Behavior"

To start, it's important to note how I use the word "toxic." In everyday life, we use the term toxic to describe a wide range of problematic behavior. When I talk about "toxic people" I am being more specific. I use that phrase as a blanket term for folks who fall into the Cluster B personality disorders group. These folks have serious mental health problems and should be under the care of a team of licensed mental health professionals. A few examples of Cluster B disorders are Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder. 

With that on the table, we can now unpack our main question "Am I the toxic one?" If you are thinking about this question and your concern is that you are a toxic person, then you are wondering if you suffer from one of the Cluster B personality...

Welcome to our first official Season launch of Empowerment Through Thought! 

Folks over on our Instagram @empowermentthroughthought voted on our topic of the month and they chose: "Am I the toxic one?" 

In this Season, we are going to cover four different subtopics: 

• The differences between being a toxic person and engaging in toxic behavior
• Why we might be wondering if we are the toxic ones
• What it means if you are seriously considering that you are the toxic one
• What you can do to determine once and for all if you are the toxic one

Each of these subtopics will be broken down into three different posts here on the blog. We'll cover-

• The Big Idea
• That idea applied to some real-world examples
• Some things you can do to start crafting your own answers to these questions. 

My goal here is not to dictate to you all the answers to these challenging questions. Instead, my aim is to help you develop your own thinking about these questions. That's the core of what...

Welcome to the official blog for Empowerment Through Thought! 

I thought I'd kick off this new space with a bit of an introduction. 

My name is Louise Williams and I am the founder and CEO of this company! We are dedicated to helping survivors of toxic relationships create the life they deserve! 

I am currently wrapping up my Ph.D. in Philosophy and I have personally endured four toxic relationships in my life - 2 parents, 1 partner, and 1 mother in law. 

Like most folks getting a Ph.D. in philosophy, I was headed into a career as a University Professor. As I came toward the end of my studies, I realized I wanted to help with more than just writing essays. 

Today I am committed to helping folks survive some of the toughest relationships any human has to face. 

While it might not seem obvious, the tools of philosophy have proved truly invaluable to my own journey through toxic relationships. 

Philosophy gets a bad reputation for being a really...