Yet, very little has seemingly been done to bring together victims, survivors, and health care professionals to understand the phenomenon of narcissism and Narcissistic Personality Disorder, as well as to learn how to heal from the emotional roller coaster ride that can be the life of living or working with "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", or someone with this "God Complex".

This first-of-its-kind conference on narcissism will held in Denver, Colorado, November 5 - 7, 2004.

This event will not only help people become familiar with narcissism, but will offer the unique approach to include presentations from therapists and survivors alike.

Who are narcissists and why should anyone worry about them?

They are quite often egotistical and controlling, are never happy no matter what you do, blame others when anything goes wrong, feel that rules don't apply to them, and don't seem to understand or feel empathy or compassion for anyone, yet seem to be hypersensitive when criticized or slighted themselves. They have short fuses and can rage when upset, or treat those in their lives with the "silent treatment" instead. They are oftentimes physically or sexually abusive, in addition to the certain emotional and/or verbal abuse they dish out to their victims.

Whether the narcissistic person is a spouse, boss, coworker, friend, or parent, life can be a living nightmare for the victim and most don't even realize when they've been sucked into this relationship until it seems almost impossible to escape. For many victims, the damage caused to physical or emotional health can be devastating.

For the mental health professionals who may have to deal with narcissists in their caseload, they too can be left emotionally exhausted as well.

Denver columnist and speaker, Mary Jo Fay, RN, MSN, author of "When Your Perfect Partner Goes Perfectly Wrong - Loving or Leaving the Narcissist in Your Life", and founder of the "Narcissism Survivor Network" (www.helpfromsurvivors.com) will be the facilitator for this event.

"This is not a workshop about diagnosing narcissists," says Fay, "rather, it is to help educate those who have been involved with narcissistic individuals to better understand the convoluted dance they were involved in, how to spot 'red flag narcissistic behaviors' in future relationships, and to find ways to rebuild their self-esteem as well. Part of the dance with a narcissist involves the total destruction of self-esteem, which, even if the victim manages to extricate themselves from one horrific relationship, still sets them up for future entrapment by similar predators in any further relationships. Since a strong individual is not nearly as easy a target for a narcissist, part of the goal of this conference is to teach participants to be more confident about themselves as well as their abilities, and to recognize what REAL friendship and love looks like, as opposed to the emotionally abusive relationships they were in, which they thought represented love."

Fay describes how this workshop is also designed to help therapists who are already trained to recognize the narcissist, to also better understand the true depths of the emotional roller coaster life of the victims. Fay describes how several therapists have written her, since reading her book, embarrassed that they themselves realized that they were the victim of a narcissistic relationship, and the resultant emotional turmoil that follows. Many also wondered how they could have missed the signs they were trained to recognize. Unfortunately for most victims, narcissists are oftentimes very good actors and can even fool professionals.

Conference topics include:

-- What is Narcissism and Narcissistic Personality Disorder?

-- You are NOT alone! Debunking the myth that "it must be all my fault."

-- Defining emotional abuse … it doesn't have to be physical or sexual to be damaging.

-- Narcissism Victim Syndrome examined.

-- Who are the victims? A panel discussion by survivors and how they chose to quit being victims.

-- Why we think we can't break the dance … how victims get "sucked into the dance" with the narcissist, often feel they can't get out, how they can learn steps to escape the victimhood, become a survivor, and break free of the bonds of codependency that keep this convoluted dance going.

-- The therapist's view: Panel discussion of those who've also been victims of narcissists and who now, with new insight, practice differently as a result.

-- Narcissists in the workplace: A lawyer presents her uphill journey battling narcissism at the highest level with some legal ideas to share.

-- Presentation by "AMEND" - a batterer intervention program in Colorado. Recognized since 1977, this group receives narcissistic abusers from the court system and has some interesting insights to share about these individuals.

-- The impact on the children:
Kempe Children's Center, part of University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and nationally recognized experts on child abuse, share their insight on abuse.

-- Rebuilding self-esteem - including empowering activities! Years of stuffed anger? Kickboxing class will be offered as a mechanism to let anger out safely! Makeover ideas will also be available to boost self-esteem.

-- Staying or leaving the relationship.

-- Breaking the cycle of narcissism.

-- Separate breakout forums for therapists and one for survivors.

Early registration (before September 20,) is $200 per person, after September 20th - $250 per person.

If you would like to help spread the word about narcissism and educate many to a situation that until now has remained rather unknown, (despite taking its toll on untold numbers of victims), be sure to attend this conference.

Unmask the narcissists in your midst and learn how to take care of you, your loved ones, or your patients better by being informed.

Remember, knowledge is power! Empower yourselves with this opportunity!