6 Ways To Maintain Your Sanity While Parenting With A Narcissist

Eric Audras via Getty Images There's nothing more emotionally draining than co-parenting with a high-conflict ex. "Narcissists don’t usually like having others set boundaries on them but this is a must as you co-parent to protect yourself and the kids," she said. Unless it's an emergency, condition yourself to only use email to contact your ex, said Tina Swithin, author of Divorcing a Narcissist: Advice from the Battlefield and a high-conflict divorce coach. "You can’t collaborate with someone who refuses to collaborate," said Virginia Gilbert, a marriage and family therapist who specializes in high-conflict divorce. Look at it this way, Gilbert said: "You and your ex are like two kids playing next to each other in the sandbox.