Exploring Targets of Blame and How to Best Manage Them
Bill and Megan tackle the challenging topic of being a target of blame from a high conflict individual. They provide insight into protecting yourself and managing difficult accusations.
In this eye-opening episode, Bill and Megan define what it means to be a target of blame and how this manifests. They discuss tactics for minimizing your risk of becoming a target, as well as managing situations where false accusations spread. The hosts share perspective on correcting misinformation while avoiding escalation.
Questions we answer in this episode:
- How can you reduce the risk of becoming a target of blame?
- What is the best way to respond when falsely accused?
- When is it appropriate to correct the record with documents?
- How do you avoid reinforcing hostile behavior?
Key Takeaways:
- Becoming aware of high conflict personalities can help you recognize unhealthy blame.
- Don't get hooked into defending yourself - it often backfires.
- Provide brief, factual information to correct false claims.
- Tailor your response to who needs what information.
- Keep yourself calm while asserting the truth.
This insightful episode equips listeners with strategies for protecting themselves when unfairly blamed. Bill and Megan deliver compassionate perspective that can help anyone managing a high conflict situation. Their guidance empowers us to respond thoughtfully when targeted.
Links & Other Notes
Note: We are not diagnosing anyone in our discussions, merely discussing patterns of behavior.
- (00:00) - Welcome to It's All Your Fault
- (01:33) - A Target of Blame
- (02:19) - Term’s History
- (04:33) - Avoiding Becoming a Target
- (13:26) - How to Behave
- (16:27) - Extreme Example
- (18:53) - Paper Trail for Protection
- (21:00) - Red Flags
- (23:56) - Finding Balance
- (27:11) - Wrap Up
- (27:30) - Reminders & Coming Next Week: How to End a Hostile Conversation
What is It’s All Your Fault: High Conflict People?
Hosted by Bill Eddy, LCSW, Esq. and Megan Hunter, MBA, It’s All Your Fault! High Conflict People explores the five types of people who can ruin your life—people with high conflict personalities and how they weave themselves into our lives in romance, at work, next door, at school, places of worship, and just about everywhere, causing chaos, exhaustion, and dread for everyone else.
They are the most difficult of difficult people — some would say they’re toxic. Without them, tv shows, movies, and the news would be boring, but who wants to live that way in your own life!
Have you ever wanted to know what drives them to act this way?
In the It’s All Your Fault podcast, we’ll take you behind the scenes to understand what’s happening in the brain and illuminates why we pick HCPs as life partners, why we hire them, and how we can handle interactions and relationships with them. We break down everything you ever wanted to know about people with the 5 high conflict personality types: narcissistic, borderline, histrionic, antisocial/sociopath, and paranoid.
And we’ll give you tips on how to spot them and how to deal with them.