Dear Drama Observers, There are some sports that would take me several years to notice if they ceased to exist. Like Olympic curling, for instance. Or underwater hockey—yes, there actually is such a thing. But, not so with collegiate football. I love almost everything about it—from ESPN’s College Gameday to ragging on certain commentators (whom […]
Dear Drama Observers, I’m not sure we’ll ever have Drama People completely figured out, but we sure would like to. Just about the time we settle on an explanation that seems to make sense, some plot twist occurs leaving us puzzled and befuddled. Almost two years ago, I wrote the following post to address this […]
Dear Drama Observers, We’re all familiar with the term “split personality” and hearing it might conjure up images of the 1976 movie Sybil, whose titular character was an individual inhabited by 16 alternate personalities. Or to give a more recent example, the 2016 horror-thriller movie Split, where the main character has been diagnosed with 23 […]
Dear Drama Observers, Admittedly, last week’s letter was somewhat egg-heady as I talked about things like orbital velocity, escape velocity, and orbital decay. I’m hoping none of you experienced PTSD from being transported back to your eighth-grade science class. My point was to illustrate the dilemma experienced by people trapped in a Drama Person’s orbit. […]
Dear Drama Observers, I’ve had many such conversations over the years, but I was talking with a client recently who was describing a family member stuck in a long-term marriage with a vulgar, misogynistic, sexual harasser. Most everything that comes out of his mouth is inappropriate—thinly-veiled sexual innuendos and boorish jokes. He seems to take […]
Dear Drama Observers, In the early 2000’s, the state in which I live (Tennessee) was consumed by something called Operation Tennessee Waltz. In short, the F.B.I. set up a sting operation to expose a web of graft and corruption involving various state lawmakers. In one particularly revealing video made available to the local news channels, […]
Dear Drama Observers, For only the second time in the last couple years, I missed sending out The Drama Review last week. I was in Chicago presenting my seminar to mental health professionals entitled Emotional Manipulation: Effective Strategies to Manage the Manipulator and Empower Their Victims. I must admit, there’s more than a smidgeon of […]
Dear Drama Observers, For several years, I’ve traveled around the country and presented a seminar for mental health providers on the subject of manipulators. But, due to a corporate reorganization of the company that facilitates these seminars, I’ve been off the road for several months. While I’ve enjoyed my time off, I’m happy to say […]
Dear Drama Observers, Most of us have heard that freedom of speech in America comes with a caveat: “You can’t shout ‘fire!’ in a crowded theater.” The phrase originated with Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes’ 1919 U.S. Supreme Court opinion on the limits of free speech in which he wrote, The most stringent protection of free […]
Dear Drama Observers, A couple of years ago, I asked a friend if she’d be willing to share what it was like growing up in a family headed by narcissistic parents. I had heard her say many times, “I was raised by wolves.” Somehow, that phrase caught my attention and when I asked her to […]