Psychopaths are often likened to snakes and called “reptilian.” Here’s why. What images are conjured by the word “reptile?”  A snake devouring its prey after either strangling or poisoning it?  A crocodile submerged just below the water’s surface so only its eyes are visible, ready to strike?  Or perhaps an unblinking lizard soaking in the...Read More

While I lay in the hospital bed after giving birth to my firstborn son, the thought that turned over in my mind was, will my baby be normal? Or would he be like my mother and sister? I grappled with what was wrong with them, and wondered if it had a name. Was it heritable? I could only pray that...Read More

The role that motive plays in activating key personality traits Some have suggested that psychopaths and saints share certain characteristics and imply that these shared traits show some commonality between them.  Nothing could be further from the truth, and one only has to consider two female paradigms, one a literal saint, and the other, a classic...Read More

Once upon a time there was Little Snow White and her stepmother, the queen, who in an earlier version of the tale was actually Snow White’s biological mother.  How enthralled we were when we read this captivating story.  We were engrossed by the cold-hearted, cruel queen who filled us with dread.  We were never fully...Read More

Tactics used by female psychopaths to avoid detection. The name Houdini is synonymous with escape… illusion… magic… tricks. Harry Houdini, a master escape artist and illusionist, defied gravity, life and death.  His acts were each more daring than the next and his popularity soared in the early 1900s.  Large audiences packed theaters to watch him...Read More