Alex Powers working for her money.
There is a colloquial term for this sort of person who defends a narcissistic individual from valid criticism - it is “flying monkey”. It’s incredible how prototypical the behavioural patterns and supporting social architecture are.
Lydia’s friend seems to have very poor boundaries and low self respect, the way she allows Lydia to speak to her is appalling. Being on the payroll is no justification. She is making a rod for her own back and seems to have zero insight into how incompetent and inferior Lydia makes her look in public. I would be disappointed in myself for letting someone like Lydia make filmed accusations about thievery, chin hairs, and intimations about the burdensome nature of my parenting duties. It is so far out of line and embarrassing to witness.
Such an interesting and informative post, thank you for sharing. Do you think this trauma based catastrophic ego wounding can ever be addressed in therapy whilst in a safe space?
Jacqueline Hurst, her "therapist" , must be appalled by how she behaves.
Yes I believe healing is possible. But there are no quick fixes. Personality fragmentation becomes an entrenched pattern and narcissistic traits will undermine the therapeutic relationship. Sometimes there is so much pain underneath the facade that the system becomes flooded and a person might retract from addressing the origin trauma as a consequence. Lydia has fascinated me for some years now. I think there is hope but her social media lifestyle is preventing her from making meaningful changes. The people around her could do more to support her by providing firm boundaries and realistic feedback on her behaviour. For instance, the way she speaks to her friend, intimating thievery, joking about her chin hair, jokingly undermining her for her parenting obligations - it is just so far out of line and absolutely unacceptable.
Interestingly, narcissistic traits can form when there is a combination of trauma and overly lenient parenting. It forms a wounded but petulant child who can run amok with no consequences. When that persists into adulthood it can look very developmentally inappropriate. For instance- the childish voice that Lydia sometimes affects, which reflects, in my view, a developmentally arrested aspect of her personality. Of course this is all speculative, but nonetheless fascinating to observe. I do find myself “rooting” for her to escape the pressures of her influencer life and touch something deeper within herself. I am pleased she finds solace in the natural world. This might be a pathway to healing for her.
As for the life coach, I was very dubious of her when she showed up. I think Lydia would have gone through absolute personal torment after the brand issue. I felt that silly designer-obsessed coach was just capitalising on her vulnerability. That industry is unregulated and those predatory people can operate without accreditation or supervision. It can be very dangerous for people with deeper complex issues to engage with. For her to have “graduated” Lydia was very imprudent, it seemed to have quelled the notion of seeking ongoing support.