The Bully Spouse
The "bully spouse" is encountered with some regularity in couples counseling. This partner could be male or female. The key characteristic among bullies is that they do not listen to or heed their partner's feelings, point of view, preferences, or needs. Specifically, bullies interact in a number of ways:
Bullies see only their own point of view.
Bullies do not reflect fairly their partners' point of view before stating (or re-stating) their own.
Bullies interrupt their partner's attempt to explain their point of view, feelings, wants, or needs. This, even if the bully had asked their partner, "Help me understand."
Bullies respond to their partner's point of view, feelings, wants, wonders or needs with sarcasm, mockery, minimizing, or diminishing their partner's feelings or needs in comparison to their own.
Bullies insist on seeing the worst in their partner, not granting them the benefit of the doubt, judging their hearts and motives, and refusing to hear or believe their partner's explanation.
Bullies put self-protection first, out of balance with protection of their partner (emotionally, physically, through allocation of resources, etc.).
Bullies lack empathy.
Bullies blame their partner for the couple's interactive pattern, refusing to take some responsibility or quickly minimizing their own part in comparison to their partner's more egregious part.
Bullies are quick to complain and slow to compliment; noticing what their partner does "wrong," but rarely what their partner does "right." (In Gottman terms, this is one example of Negative Sentiment Override).
Bullies play the victim, bypassing whatever hurt, inconvenience, disrespect, or injury their partner noted, and turning the conversation back to their own pain, inconvenience, injury, etc., making their own experience the sole issue.
Bullies "blow up" conversations before mutual understanding is achieved, through escalation of harshness, volume, crying, yelling, etc.—for which they blame their partner—followed by hijacking the meeting and bringing conversation to an abrupt end' perhaps even storming out as they complain they "just can't take it anymore."
Bullies gaslight. Gaslighting is psychological manipulation that twists another's correct observations to make them question their own senses, or even sanity.
Bullies insist upon being granted grace for bad behavior because they're "not perfect," but do not grant grace to their partner for the same infractions.
Bullies "listen" to their partner's disappointment over a past incident, but when a similar scenario unfolds, they forget what their partner asked for, and do the same as they've done before.
Bullies insist upon their own way.
Bullies build alliances with other family members & friends by painting a one-sided narrative that vilifies their spouse and turns others against their partner, often in contexts where the partner has no voice.
Bullies continue to employ past offenses as weapons, even after understanding has been reached, a sincere apology made and received, and reformations made.
Bullying exists on a spectrum. To identify with one or more of the above, or to see one or more of the above in our partner, does not a bully make. Some of these are employed as a matter of course as we navigate life as self-interested persons. The key is the ability to balance self-interest with the interests of others.
On an extreme, bullying can be seen in people with low Emotional Intelligence (EQ). The term, "EQ" was coined by Peter Salovey and John D. Mayer, and popularized by Daniel Goleman in his book Emotional Intelligence. Healthy EQ refers to "...a form of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one's own and others' feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one's thinking and action." (Salovey & Mayer) On an extreme level, unhealthy—or extremely low EQ—is evidenced in the lives of people who meet the clinical criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder or for Borderline Personality Disorder. While these personality disorders result from abuse or neglect in a person's past, it is hard to summon compassion for people who suffer from these disorders, since the outward expression of these disorders is experienced as self-centered, or outright selfish behavior.
But before you label your partner a bully, or selfish, or a Narcissist or as suffering from Borderline characteristics, look in the mirror (or watch yourself on video, critiquing yourself, never your partner). Experience yourself from your partner's eyes. This is important because projection is the tendency to see (and be irritated by) behaviors that are our own. We see them in others and dislike them; others see them in us and dislike them the same. This is why Dr. John Gottman commends employing the Assumption of Similarity, especially during a conflict with a partner. The Assumption of Similarity is the practice of also seeing in ourselves a negative quality that we are ascribing to our partner, and vice-versa; and of also seeing in our partner a positive quality we are attributing to ourselves. This keeps us from forming an exalted view of ourselves and a contemptuous view of our partner. Jesus even warned of this when he said, "Judge not, lest you be judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you." (Matthew 7:1-2)
What does one do with a bully? The solution to the bully dilemma is, first of all, to make sure that we're not a bully. Make sure you’re not doing what you're asking your partner to not do. Bullying back is not the path to peace. The Apostle Paul wrote, "As far as it depends upon you, live at peace with everyone." (Romans 12:18)
The ideal is to model non-bullying behavior for our spouse. Help them understand that you are with them and for them, willing to protect their emotions, preferences and needs in balance with your own. For the Narcissist, reassure them of your respect; for the Borderline, reassure them of your love and loyalty. That is, help them understand that they need not resort to bullying to be protected.
If your efforts to protect your partner are not reciprocated by their protection of you, then establish self-protective boundaries, even while continuing to love, respect, protect, and care for your partner. Boundaries establish what you will not accept (name-calling, physical abuse, yelling, profanity, etc.). The same Apostle Paul who said, "As far as it depends upon you, live at peace with everyone," also allowed himself be lowered in a basket through a window to escape people who were intent on doing him harm. (Acts 9:25) The best way to establish boundaries is to voice in the positive the behavior that you find protective, and that will gain and keep your engagement. For example, instead of "Don't be such a b****! You're so mean; no one could live with you," say, "I want to talk about this with you; I'll be back when we can talk about it calmly." Instead of, "You're so selfish," say, "What's important to you is important to me, and I need to know that what's important to me is important to you." Instead of "I can't live with a liar," say, "I want us to be able to trust each other."
Finally, the best antidote to poor communication and conflict resolution is good communication and effective conflict management. The Gottman Institute—and likely any counselor specifically trained in couples therapy—will have tools designed to help partners understand each other's differing points of view, different emotional responses, different pasts, different values beneath a conflict, and one another's different needs. Specific to the Gottman Institute are its exercises: Talking it Out exercise, Aftermath of a Fight exercise, and Gottman-Rapoport conversation guide. In a nearby blog post, I also offer my 5 Rs for Understanding, which guide communication toward understanding and mutual protection.
New ways of communicating take practice, of course, and practice is often most effective when we have a coach to walk us through new skills. Don't hesitate to engage a relationship coach or counselor trained in research-based couples therapy to guide you through healthier patterns of communication.
Doug Burford, DMin, LPC