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Steven C. Knapp
When Steven C. Knapp, Emmy Award-winning director and producer offered to create this year's Public Service Announcement (PSA) for World Narcissistic Abuse Awareness Day 2019, I jumped at the opportunity. All you have to do is take a look at Knapp's body of work and it becomes glaringly obvious that he's not just an extremely talented producer, film-maker and advertiser, he is an advocate with a passion for raising awareness and exposing abuse and injustice.
Some of his creative achievements include the very powerful PSA, “What is 13 Campaign?” for End Slavery Tennessee, an anti-sex trafficking organization. And, currently, he is producing a documentary exposing public corruption in the affordable housing industry called, "Non-Renewed".
However, the issue of narcissistic abuse is one that has touched Knapp on a deeply personal level. "For the longest time, until my 20's, I didn't understand how narcissism colored my youth," Knapp said about the realization that his own mother was a narcissist.
"Despite all the research and work I did in my 20's, I eventually found myself with a covertly narcissistic partner; the Hyde came out after our breakup and included the usual narcissistic schemes and tactics: Flying Monkeys, blame shifting, smear campaigns, bread crumbs, emotional manipulation, etc...." Knapp said, explaining the experience of finding himself on the receiving end of a vicious smear campaign. "Unfortunately, lies spread faster than the truth; time and integrity are the right countermeasures," Knapp said.
The ordeal taught Knapp that, "to survive a narcissist you must have a fierce determination and unbreakable persistence to reclaim your identity, reputation, and sanity. The narcissist is not bound to reality, morality, or decency and will paint you in a negative light to whoever they think will believe them. Men and women can be narcissists," Knapp added.
"It's very hard to shake off," Knapp said of the experience. He described feeling "deeply harmed" and that is what inspired his desire to start speaking out about it. "I wanted to speak up about this very hard-to-spot personality to help others observe, identify, and hopefully avoid what I had experienced,” added Knapp.
A native Nashvillian, who grew up watching Nickelodeon, Knapp had always been interested in entertainment. After earning a Bachelor's of Science in Electronic Media from Middle Tennessee State University, he then spent a half-decade in broadcast journalism and went on to start the Emmy Award-winning creative agency/production company, knapptimecreative. "We produce films, advertisements, and content for live events with clients big and small all over the country," Knapp explained.
Now, luckily for the WNAAD movement, Knapp has offered to help raise the profile of narcissistic abuse by using his talent to help give a name to that thing "that people experience and might say to themselves, "that's weird" or "who does that?
"Sometimes people understand there is something going on, but don't quite have a name for it. Giving something a name can be a powerful tool for change. Through conversations, I know I've led people to the concept of NPD and examination of their own circumstances." said Knapp.
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