# Ramani Durvasula

Ramani Suryakantham Durvasula is an American clinical psychologist, retired professor of psychology, media expert, and author. She has appeared on media outlets discussing narcissistic personality disorder and narcissistic abuse, including Red Table Talk, Bravo, the Lifetime Movie Network, National Geographic, and the History Channel, as well as programs such as the TODAY show and Good Morning America.

## Early life

Ramani Suryakantham Durvasula was born in Englewood, New Jersey.

## Education

In 1989, Durvasula obtained a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Connecticut. She has also received a Master of Arts in Psychology and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Clinical Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1997.

## Career

Durvasula has a private practice in Santa Monica and another in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles. She is also Professor of Psychology at California State University, Los Angeles, and a visiting professor of psychology at the University of Johannesburg. Her books include “Don’t You Know Who I Am”: How to Stay Sane in the Era of Narcissism, Entitlement and Incivility, Should I Stay or Should I Go: Surviving a Relationship With a Narcissist, and You Are WHY You Eat: Change Your Food Attitude, Change Your Life, as well as peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and conference papers.
Durvasula first appeared on television on an episode of Remote Control. She was the co-host of the show My Shopping Addiction on the Oxygen network, and has provided commentary on the TODAY show and Good Morning America. Channels such as Bravo, the Lifetime Movie Network, National Geographic, the History Channel, Discovery Science, and Investigation Discovery have also featured her. In the Fall of 2010, she appeared in the Bravo series “Thintervention,” where she led group therapy sessions to help six participants find out the source of their overeating. She is co-host of the podcast Sexual Disorientation. She has been interviewed on internet media platforms as well, notably MedCircle and TONE Network. She has spoken at TEDx Sedona and South by Southwest. At the American Psychological Association, she was on the Committee on Socioeconomic Status from 2014 to 2017 (serving as president in 2016), and is a member of the advisory board of the Minority Fellowship Program. The National Institutes of Health has funded her research on personality disorders; they approved a $1.5 million grant for her to study the link between HIV and mental illness. The four-year study, that included 288 patients, determined that 92 percent of participants had experienced depression, substance use disorder, or another Axis-I disorder, and that nearly half met criteria for at least one Axis-II disorder (e.g. antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, or narcissistic personality disorder).

## Accolades

In 2003, Durvasula received the “Emerging Scholar” Award from the American Association of University Women and the “Distinguished Woman” Award from the CSULA. California State University named her Outstanding Professor of the year in 2012.

## Personal life

Durvasula, who has a sister, moved to Los Angeles in 1991. On August 31, 1996, she married Charles H. Hinkin, a Professor-in-Residence in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA School of Medicine. The couple had two daughters, Maya and Shanti, but separated in 2008 and divorced the following year. After the divorce, Durvasula raised their daughters on her own. She is in an on-and-off relationship with Richard Wearn.
In an interview discussing contraception, Durvasula said that she began struggling with her weight in her mid-20s. After having children, the pressure of juggling her career and personal life led her to find "comfort" in food. She faced unkindness from the other mothers at her daughters' school, who were mostly slim. When preparing for a wedding, she found that none of the saris her mother had brought from India fit her. Determined to lose weight, she began to go on daily walks and eat smaller portions. Within just over a year, she lost 32.5 kg.
In an interview with Steven Bartlett, she disclosed that she was sexually assaulted and later stalked while at university, an ordeal that ultimately led her to leave the university.

## Filmography

* Thintervention (2010)
* Ted Talk (2018) – "Narcissism and Its Discontents" (Guest)
* Red Table Talk (2019) – "The Narcissism Epidemic" (Guest)
* The Today Show (2020) – "How to Prepare for a Healthy Divorce" (Guest)
* The Today Show (2020) – "Relationship Expert Offers Advice to Couples in Quarantine" (Guest)
* Red Table Talk (2020) – "Managing Our Anxiety & Fear During COVID-19" (Guest)
* Oxygen's Snapped (2020) – "Notorious: Hollywood Ripper" (Guest)

## Podcasts

* Sexual Disorientation with Dr. Ramani (2017–present) (Host)
* The Psych Central Show – (2018) "Why Does the Narcissist Always Get the Girl?" (Guest)
* The Psych Central Show – (2018) "Help! My Coworker Is a Narcissist!" (Guest)
* LAHWF (2018) – "Chatting with an Expert on Narcissism"
* Being Well with Dr. Rick Hanson (2019) – "How to Deal with a Narcissist" (Guest)
* Speaking of Psychology (2019) – "Recognizing a Narcissist" (Guest)
* Progress Notes (2019) "Sharing Your Expertise in the Media" (Guest)
* Mental Illness Happy Hour with Paul Gilmartin (2019) "Narcissists and Psychopaths" (Guest)
* On Purpose with Jay Shetty (2020) – "How To Cope With Feelings Of Uncertainty & Grief During A Pandemic" (Guest)
* H.E.R. Space Podcast (2020) – "Raised By A Narcissist: Signs, Symptoms, and How to Recover" (Guest)
* Teddi Tea Pod With Teddi Mellencamp (2020) – "Don’t Fall In Love with a Narcissist" (Guest)
* Negotiate Your Best Life (2020) – "Do's and Don'ts of Negotiating with a Narcissist" (Guest)
* Cleaning Up the Mental Mess (2020) — "Navigating Narcissistic Relationships, How the Culture of Entitlement is Making the Pandemic Worse + Why We Are So Interested in Stories About Psychopaths with Psychologist Dr. Ramani Durvasula" (Guest)
* Zestology (2020) — "Dr. Ramani Durvasala on Narcissism #292" (Guest)