A Pioneering Profiler Story
“Catch Me A Killer” - Dr. Micki Pistorius
It is a rare pleasure to share a story about someone who is a real-life Counter-Narcissism hero, and inspiring beyond measure when they also like and value CNI’s intuitive psychology work.
About two months ago, I got a thrill when I saw Dr. Micki Pistorius liked The epstein Murder Mystery.
It is very understandable if you don’t know her because I didn’t either until about 6 months ago.
Fortunately I caught the “Catch Me A Killer” mini-series based on her book of the same name. It told her story of being recruited into becoming South Africa’s first criminal profiler in the 1990s and catching some of the most high-profile serial killers in her home country. She is often referenced as being the first in all of Africa, so is clearly a pioneering forensic psychologist and criminal profiler par excellence.
This introduction and recommendation highlights Dr. Pistorius’s innovative nature, depth of her expertise, and practical value to all those working to combat malignant narcissism and manipulative personalities through psychological intelligence and profiling. There is also a wonderful related CNI announcement at the end.
The Basics
Dedicated her career to understanding criminal behavior.
Holds advanced degrees in psychology, including a doctorate focused on serial killers.
Worked on 30+ serial killer cases, including some of the most notorious.
Founded and led the Investigative Psychology Unit for the South African Police.
Her contributions have made her a noteworthy figure in the field of forensic psychology, influencing both law enforcement practices and public understanding of criminal behavior.
Authored several influential books, including the international bestseller Catch Me a Killer, published in 2000, which details her experiences and gives deep insights into the minds of serial killers.
Consults for legal professionals and crime documentaries, teaches courses on emotional intelligence and workplace safety, and develops training programs for law enforcement internationally.
Her expertise lies in understanding the dark and complex psyches through a psychoanalytical lens, particularly as it relates to Freudian psychosexual development.
Broad intellectual interests had her studying biblical archeology and beginning her career in journalism before transitioning into profiling.
No doubt her journalism experience, educational background, and strong historical perspective level up her ability to translate abstractly disordered personalities into clear, entertaining, and digestible bites, just as the CNI philosophy recommends.
Uniqueness
Indeed, one of the things that makes Micki unique among the vast majority of psychologists and profilers I have observed is that she communicates like a normal person and not with the institutionally trained or natural flat affect.
Of course, flat affect from a therapist is similar to the concept of gray rocking. In understandable theory, therapists do not want their emotional responses influencing their patient’s treatment, so many try not to have any.
Personally, I like those who show emotions because that is how we feel connection. It also exhibits the stark contrast between having natural human feelings and the dark coldness narcissists with flat affect try to program into us, just as those without conscience ridiculously try to dismiss and purge empathy from our humanity.
I also like admitting my mistakes to show those conditioned by narcissists to live in fear of ever making one can see it is OK, and if we learn from them so we don’t repeat them, we become happier and better people.
It also at least exhibits a level of humility that many narcissists can’t even pretend to have. Imagine being so insecure that you can’t psychologically handle making or admitting a mistake, so you lie to yourself and everyone else about it. Sound familiar?
That is why it is so important for everyone to recognize that they should forgive themselves even if it takes making the same mistakes a few times before learning. Be grateful you have the mental strength, fortitude, and capability to take responsibility and learn, because those are abilities that few narcissists will ever have or understand.
The road to unhealthy narcissism is paved with the bad intentions of never being willing or able to admit to, learn from, or take responsibility for one’s own mistakes.
Mindhunter
If you are familiar with the enlightening Netflix series Mindhunter, about the origins of the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit in the 1970s to catch serial killers, in real life, Dr. Pistorius was a combination of the three main fictional characters that built up and ran the BSU over two seasons.
Much like Holden Ford, she had a little outside-the-box Sherlock Holmes genius to get things going.
She was also Dr. Wendy Carr, the brilliant female psychologist who had to overcome a great deal of sexism while being the real brains of the operation.
She was also Bill Tench, a mostly normal person, and the head of the new unit trying to keep them resourced and empowered to do what needed to be done to catch serial killers.
Not coincidentally, her book and TV series are often referred to as the South African Mindhunter for the common pioneering aspects.
Another thing that makes Micki special is that she explains psychology in a way that is easy to understand, which, of course, is a foundational part of the mission of CNI as well.
She is so good that when she applies Freudian psychosexual frameworks to a killer’s motivations, it actually sounds clear and makes logical sense, which I have observed is a rarity.
In my experience, most who try to publicly discuss Freudian principles as they relate to narcissist psychology usually end up in some jargon-filled realm so abstract that I don’t hear any useful points they are trying to make, or they are just trying to sound intelligent while really being manipulative and/or just speaking empty nonsense.
Why empathy matters
In her series and in our brief interactions, Micki has been nothing but a kind and understanding heart. Admittedly, it was a bit jarring to see her have such incredible sympathy for those she profiled and caught.
I am certain that because she understands that they were forged in intense trauma and/or with psychological deficits, they did not choose to be “evil,” and because of those factors, they deserve some empathy too.
Just as CNI often remarks, it is rarely a malignant type’s fault they are the way they are, so ideally we can empathize with them as we contain their antisocial behaviors from hurting the innocent or destroying the world.
Apartheid and trauma
Not coincidentally, Dr. Pistorius became a profiler just a few months after apartheid officially ended in April 1994. No doubt someone with her deep empathy was able to understand how much trauma, rage, and dysfunction was unleashed after the racist authoritarian police state fell and how those traumas or sadistic dysfunctions manifested in those she chased.
Personally, I have never seen anyone be so well balanced between the mental toughness it takes to do such work and maintain such incredible compassion for those she caught.
Indeed, everyone should understand that there is a logical sympathetic aspect to people who have suffered severe trauma and then become psychologically and/or physically violent as a direct result, but protecting the innocent and society must always come first.
Unfortunately, the American Psychiatric Association does not agree, and “We the People” are paying a heavy price for their unconscionable stand. It almost seems as if they were captured by disordered self-serving billionaires like so much else. 🤷♂️
Near-perfect alignment to Counter-Narcissist Intelligence
Equally inspiring yet not surprising, Counter-Narcissist Intelligence and Dr. Pistorius are philosophically aligned in psychology in most ways. The simple answer to why is that both follow empirical psychology while also thinking outside the box by tapping into the intuitive side of the subject.
Shared efforts, beliefs, and mission alignments include:
Understanding severe personality disorders are usually a product of trauma.
Understanding how their trauma motivates them is crucial for catching, countering, or containing those on the top end of the spectrum.
A focus on understanding that the personality disorders related to narcissism, sociopathy, and psychopathy most often originate in early childhood trauma and other environmental factors.
An emphasis on understanding the underlying psychological mechanisms that trigger destructive behaviors, rather than simply labeling individuals as “evil.”
Trying to raise awareness about the dangers posed by narcissists, sociopaths, and psychopaths with community education efforts.
Perhaps most pleasing, Micki also focuses on trying to make engaging presentations that seek to empower people with the knowledge and strategies they need to protect themselves, just as CNI advocates for.
Clearly there are few better ways to help the public learn to recognize malignant warning signs and dangers than by making the lessons needed clear and interesting, and thus memorable.
Additionally pleasing, her work is also highly cross-functional. It flows across psychology, criminology, investigative sciences, self-defense, corporate security, and community education, which are just some of the areas that make her knowledge invaluable for those interested in countering manipulative and narcissistic behaviors in individuals, communities, organizations, and societies.
Deeper psychological reasons for sharing Micki’s story
Her world-class educational and experiential expertise in profiling can inform us of inside- and outside-the-box tactics and strategies for recognizing and countering both covert and overt narcissistic abuse patterns in criminal, individual, social, and organizational environments.
Her psychoanalytical (Freudian) approach can inform us of how psychosexual development and deep-seated pathologies can be foundational to narcissistic and antisocial behaviors in criminal minds.
Her abstract understanding of the psychological concepts and modus operandi of violent criminals can help provide us with new ideas in building the critical defenses that can help detect, protect, and counter manipulative, narcissistic threats against us and our societies.
On a personal and CNI level
Once again, it is hard to express how wonderful it is to be able to connect with Dr. Pistorius and to have her like some of CNI’s work. Even more wonderful, it doesn’t stop there because Micki is such a kind and intuitive person, she did us the great honor of recommending the publication. That is up there with Dr. Bandy Lee recommending trumpism is narcissism and trump and his party of flying monkeys.
Conclusion
All of the above is why if you have interest in the darker end of the narcissism spectrum, there are few more qualified, experienced, normal, and plainspoken experts than Micki, so I encourage everyone interested in understanding the upper end of narcissist psychology or true crime to subscribe and support her groundbreaking and glass-ceiling-shattering work in countering narcissists, sociopaths, and psychopaths.
If you or your company needs to consult an expert on such matters, of course you should consider the CNI think tank, but as highly educated and experienced experts in the field go, Dr. Micki Pistorius should definitely be at or near the top of every list.
CNI features
From everything I have come to learn about her, she is one of the nicest, best, and clearest experts in the world to learn from if you really want to understand the darkest end of narcissist pathologies, and she has been kind enough to let me share some of her work with the CNI community.
Ergo, this is also an announcement that some of her kindred spirit analysis will be curated for our subscribers from time to time. We are certain that you will mostly find what we share to be only highly useful intelligence to have in your Counter-Narcissism toolbox.
It is not a coincidence that I have always been drawn to profiling or that those interests have helped me understand how dark the human mind can go, which is why it was a no-brainer to ask her if we can feature some of her work as it relates to the Counter-Narcissism mission.
The focus will mostly be on her free articles and videos, but please understand that because her lifetime of work is of the highest educational value and caliber, we can’t begrudge the fact that a fair amount of it requires a paid subscription.
Of course, if top-end profiler psychology or “true crime” interests you, having full access to her expert analysis is well worth it. Hopefully when a counter-narcissist billionaire fully funds CNI🤞🏻, we can give her all the resources she needs to expand and make all her work free via the think tank.
One thing I can share regarding such work is that few things have helped me understand the dark mind of the malignant narcissists, sociopaths, and psychopaths more than listening to them shamelessly lie to avoid getting caught, seeing what trips them up, hearing them talk about their thinking after getting caught, and then hearing experts like her analyze the true motivations behind their behaviors.
We don’t need to go there often, but not understanding the top end of the narcissism spectrum is a very dangerous way to live. Stay tuned and visit Dr. Micki Pistorius for the full picture!
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Well deserved recognition for YOUR work!
Frightening that the entire rump regime fits the same 'class B' personality disorder description.
We have a huge task in this country to regain sanity.
I appreciate you for the generous spirit you inhabit. Your work is so important, and you show by your example, how to approach this Great Work with empathy, we don't have to become like that which we contend.