The Manipulation Expert: How to Spot Hidden Manipulators & Take Your Power Back
7/20/20261 hr 4 min
In today’s episode, you’ll learn the hidden signs of a manipulative, toxic person from the #1 researcher in the world on dark personalities, Dr. Leanne ten Brinke, PhD.
She is here to teach you how to spot the poisonous people that are hidden in plain sight around you – in your family, your community, and at work.
And, she’s giving you the science-backed guide to understand poisonous people: how they operate, how to spot the patterns early, and what to do when you realize you’re dealing with one.
Dr. ten Brinke is a professor at the University of British Columbia, where she directs the Truth and Trust Lab and has spent nearly two decades studying trust, deception, manipulation, and dark personality traits.
She wants to make one thing perfectly clear: most people are good.
But one poisonous person can create an enormous amount of stress, confusion, and pain.
This episode will help you recognize the pattern, trust what you’re seeing, neutralize their behavior, and know exactly what to do when you’re around them.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
-How to spot dark personality traits of narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and sadism in daily life
-The #1 sign you’re being manipulated
-What gaslighting is, what it is not, and what to do when you’re being gaslit
-Why many toxic people seem charming at first
-How gossip can reveal a manipulative personality at work
-The simple ways to become more strategic instead of more emotional when dealing with difficult people
After listening, you will know exactly what to do to spot toxic behavior, handle manipulative people, and take back your peace and power.
For more resources related to today’s episode, click here for the podcast episode page.
If you liked the episode, check out this one next: 4 Signs of Emotionally Immature Parents & How to Heal
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMel Robbins· Host0:00
Hey, it's your friend Mel, and welcome to the Mel Robbins Podcast. [upbeat music] Have you noticed that nowadays people just throw words around like, "Oh, this person's toxic. That person's a narcissist. This person's a psychopath," as if it's nothing? But these words do mean something very specific, and our expert today is gonna take you and me into the world of dark personalities, because what she calls poisonous people aren't just the subjects of true crime investigation or sitting in jails. They're in boardrooms. They're in public office. You might encounter them in your living room or at work. Dr. Leanne ten Brinke is here in our Boston studios. She runs the Truth & Trust Lab at the University of British Columbia, where she is a professor of forensic psychology. She's spent two decades studying manipulators, chronic liars, and dark personalities, because there will always be people who don't want peace. They want control, chaos. They want you confused, and you know what? They don't care when you're upset. This episode is not about labeling people as toxic. It's about something very specific and important: how to spot dark personality traits in other people, and when you do see these