Do you have any advice for dealing with a narcissist?

My twenty-four-year-old daughter has a new boyfriend who is a narcissist and she is showing signs of being emotionally abused. He is slowly isolating her—from friends, colleagues, family members. How can I use your skills to show him respect even though he is crushing my daughter? I want to ensure he doesn’t exclude me from her life for when she does need me.

Or can you suggest how I might talk to my daughter so she can see the light? When I tell her I am concerned about her situation, she gets defensive and lies to me, so she’s obviously not feeling safe around me. I have very strong feelings about the situation, so it is crucial I handle this well—I don’t want to lose my daughter. I want to build a better relationship with her and let her know we will always love her and be there for her when she needs us.

I have a 38-year-old daughter who is severely overweight and doesn’t want to hear anything about the issue. She shops doctors and has subscribed to the “anti-diet” philosophy, which I can see some value in. However, she has taken this philosophy into the realm of cultism. I do not know what to do. It is ruining her life. Please help me. Typical psychology experts have been no help to this point.

We have been avoiding an employee’s hygiene issue for a while now. He usually works from home, but occasionally he works onsite, and he has long fingernails and stains on his shirt—too unkempt for our bakery stores. We are the owners and have read Crucial Conversations, and yet we don’t know when and how to bring this up. Most of our interactions happen via video, and when we’re together in person we often don’t have privacy. Any suggestions?

My puppy was brutally attacked by our neighbor’s pit bull. My pup survived, but I soon learned from other neighbors that this was the fifth attack in the neighborhood by this pit bull. I decided to press charges in hopes of improving neighborhood safety…

It seems to me the Crucial Conversations skills presume a degree of privilege not afforded to many, that they work best if you’re in a position of power.

I frequently find myself in Crucial Conversations with someone who is disrespectful and demeaning towards me. I have tried the strategy of apologizing for any wrongs I may have committed, but this person is only willing to talk if I take full responsibility for every wrong they feel I’ve committed and then do things exactly their way. This seems unfair. What can I do?