@tayaway First of all, why are you using EM as the initials of the mental health counselor, Helen Milonopoulou? Shouldn't we be using HM?
Secondly, it appears that HM only feared B after C was murdered as is indicated in the following:
"The couple’s counselor is said to have referred to a visit she received from Babis Anagnostopoulos in early June, shortly before his case started. He appeared to be pretending to be “overwhelmed” by grief for his late wife, she said. Ms. Mylonopoulou also said the pilot had been trying to “fish” for the notes she kept from the conversations between them, while he had asked her what he intended to report to the police authorities. Finally, Ms. Mylonopoulou testified that she received threats against her life: "They called me and asked if I had testified to the police about what Caroline was saying at the sessions,” she said. “A few days later, I received threatening phone calls from a stranger who was threatening to kill me, telling me ‘you will pay me’.”
Caroline Crouch suspected husband of having an affair with ex
Thirdly, Tayaway said, "Experts have noted that if EM had actually been a professional, she would've advised C not to tell B she wanted to leave. Victims in this type of situation need to covertly plan and 'steal away in the night', to avoid being beaten/murdered. What could C's parents have done? She needed to call a women's shelter"
It appears that HM advised C to tell her parents about the situation. I think that would have been good advice if C had a way of contacting her parents without B knowing what she said. Was B privy to the content of all C's phone calls? C's parents could then have contacted police for advice on what options C had. Otherwise, HM could have contacted them on her phone if C had requested her to do so. HM could also have provided the addresses of women's refuges in Athens and found out about vacancies. Was C phoning one of these the night before she was murdered? I am not sure if C had access to money even though they seemed to have had a joint bank account. Also it seems that he had a spy app on her phone which told him where C was. If I had. been advising C, I would have asked her about B's routine. If he was always away from the home from 9am to 5pm, then her escape should have been soon after he left on a day he was always away for the day. Also she could have deleted the spy app?
I guess I need to disclose that I am a graduate in Psychology with post graduate Relationship Counselling. Life Coaching and Psychotherapy qualifications. Even though I have said I was a Teacher, I actually lectured in Organisational Behaviour and Communication to adults in Business Studies. I resigned from teaching in 2000 and became self-employed as a Counsellor but I am retired now.
From my experience, I found that many health professionals were ignorant of the complexity and devastation that NPD causes. NPD was not covered in any of the courses I ever did. However, as my parents had NPD, I took it upon myself to learn about it and read every book I could on the subject.
I always interviewed the couple at the first appointment and then saw them individually. I read that many therapists, not understanding NPD, often take the side of the narcissist as they are very convincing. Once I identified which one of the couple had NPD, it was very helpful in being able to assist the other partner. I then told the partner with NPD that he/she would no longer needed to attend sessions. They were happy to agree because, of course, they blamed their partner for their problems. However, the partner with NPD does not always agree to counselling sessions either so I needed to help the other partner. They always think there is nothing wrong with them.
I have assisted many clients to escape their NPD partner. In most cases, they would choose a date when they were going to "disappear" and organise a removal van to arrive at their home on a day that they were sure their partner would be away for the day. They would have set up somewhere that they were going to live and never tell that partner where they were going. However, when these women have children it is more difficult. In this case, they need to use a solicitor to negotiate from then on. Going to their parent's home is not very helpful as that is where their partner will guess they have gone. In their planning, they have to make sure they have enough money too so going to a shelter is often a good idea for a temporary move. They often change their names too.
My girlfriend in LA was married to a guy from whom she separated but he found out where she was living. He was a drug addict and used to visit her at gunpoint asking her for money. I advised her to move and to make sure he did not have knowledge of or access to her new address. Separation from a narcissist is the most dangerous time for a woman who is married to one.
I just wish I could have helped Caroline.
ETA: If I seem to have empathy for HM, it is because many health professionals are ignorant of NPD and are hoodwinked by the narcissist that their partner is the one with the problem - not them. In this case, the problem was with C as B told HM C had postpartum depression. The most telling sign of narcissism is their lack of empathy.
All I write here are just my opinions.
