Karyl McBride

As Pressman and Pressman say in their book, The Narcissistic Family, “The roots of workaholism are truly sown in narcissistic homes; ‘I do, therefore I am’ could be the motto of many adult children from these homes.”

Rosa is a pretty but harried-looking woman who is constantly doing more than her fair share of work within any group. She explains, “I have to work so hard to justify just being here—have to do and do and do.”

If a child did not receive validation in her early developmental years, and as a young woman is not able to validate herself, she often succumbs to the lure of doing more and trying harder in ways that bring validation from others.