Readers continue to tell us that Dr Carver’s article about relationship losers, abusers, manipulators and controllers — and how you can protect yourself from them — rings true. How about you? Have you dealt with someone like this?

Dr Carver’s thoughts — and his thoughtful replies — on manipulators and controllers in relationships continue to resonate with our readers. It seems that experience with this type of behaviour (‘loser’ behaviour, for short) is widespread, and consistent themes are being reported by people from all walks of life. This thread continues the discussion.

We sure didn’t foresee that a couple of blog posts about Dr Joe Carver’s article called ‘Are You Dating a Loser?’ would wind up attracting some 260 comments from readers. But now that we’ve had to split the discussion thread 4 times — and brought Dr Carver on board as Consulting Clinical Psychologist with his own regular column — we’re pretty sure he’s on to something.

That’s according to CounsellingResource.com readers, many of whom have found themselves in relationships with what psychologist Dr Joseph Carver has dubbed “The Loser”. With over 170 comments, Dr Carver’s article about The Loser has become one of our most popular; we’re opening up a new discussion thread for readers interested in Dr Carver’s insights.

His simple question “Are You Dating a Loser?” has struck such a chord with readers that Dr Carver’s discussion thread has become one of our busiest ever on CounsellingResource.com. With 80 individual comments originally posted, we’re now opening up a second thread where Dr Carver can field questions and comments on this popular article.

If we only have a dollar in our pocket, then most of our decisions become financial decisions. If our partner is an abuser or controller, then the majority of our decisions are based on our perception of the abuser’s potential reaction. This is just one aspect of Stockholm Syndrome, as described by our guest contributor, clinical psychologist Dr. Joseph M. Carver.

Is it always your fault? Have you experienced the mean and sweet cycle? Are you walking on eggshells? Does your partner pass the waitress test? These are among the topics touched on by clinical psychologist Dr Joseph M Carver, PhD, in a guest contribution on dating ‘losers’. Dr Carver will be available to answer relationship questions or comments you’d like to post at the end of this article.