Robin Stern: The Three Types of Gaslighting: How to Spot and Defuse Them

The Meaningful Life with Andrew G. Marshall

Gaslighting is an insidious form of emotional abuse in which a gaslighter undermines and controls another person by deflecting, twisting, and denying their reality. Gaslighting leaves victims second-guessing themselves, unable to make decisions and destabilised by constant shifts in reality.

In this week’s episode, Andrew talks to author and psychoanalyst Dr Robin Stern about gaslighting, and how to pull yourself out of this form of emotional abuse. Andrew and Robin discuss what makes you vulnerable to gaslighting, how to build your capacity to trust yourself, and how to identify the gaslight effect in different relationships. Robin also shares her personal experiences of gaslighting.

Dr Robin Stern co-founded the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence with Marc Brackett and currently serves as the senior advisor to the director. She is the author of The Gaslight Effect: How to Spot and Survive the Hidden Manipulation Others Use to Control Your Life, and a follow-up workbook edition, The Gaslight Effect Recovery Guide. She launched The Gaslight Effect Podcast in 2022.

Subscriber Content This Week

If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:

• Gaslighting in the workplace.
• Three things Dr Robin Stern knows to be true.
• AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.

Follow Up

Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things

Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools

Read Dr Robin Stern’s books The Gaslight Effect: How to Spot and Survive the Hidden Manipulation Others Use to Control Your Life, and The Gaslight Effect Recovery Guide.

Visit Dr Robin Stern’s website

Listen to the Gaslight Effect Podcast

Follow Dr Robin Stern on Instagram @dr.robinstern, on Facebook @drrobinstern and Twitter/X @RobinSStern.

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Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall