Domination

Power-oriented regulatory configuration with empathy collapse and safety sought exclusively through dominance.

Pattern D represents the nervous system's configuration when power has become the exclusive source of safety—and empathy has collapsed or become weaponized. This is the endpoint of the escalation pathway. Where Pattern C seeks safety through control while still experiencing the discomfort of others' pain, Pattern D has organized such that others' pain no longer registers as meaningful—or may even provide satisfaction.

Content note: This section contains material that may be difficult. It is presented for professional understanding, not normalization or excuse. Pattern D requires both wounding AND power access. Wounded individuals without power remain in Pattern B/C.

Key distinction: Pattern D is not "bad Pattern C." It represents a qualitative shift in regulatory organization. The circuit that would allow others' experience to affect the self has been severed, suppressed, or inverted.

Neurophysiological Configuration

Pattern D is characterized by sustained sympathetic activation organized around power rather than defense. The system has stabilized not through resolution of threat but through achieving dominance over threat sources.

Dimension	Pattern D Characteristics
Primary State	Sustained sympathetic activation; power-oriented
Secondary Systems	Ventral vagal may be accessible for strategic charm
Heart Rate Variability	Low; rigid responsiveness
Baseline Arousal	Elevated but not experienced as distress
Stress Response	Challenge as opportunity; threat as target
Facial Expression	Controlled; may display charm or contempt
Vocal Prosody	Commanding; may shift to charming strategically

Multi-Dimensional Pattern Profile

Axis	Configuration	Clinical Implications
Nervous System State	Sustained activation organized around power; empathy circuits suppressed	Individual work often contraindicated without external structure
Biological Activation	Power-seeking may be physiologically rewarding	Change requires disrupting reward patterns
Cognitive Frame	Entitled, certain, reality-defining; others have no independent validity	Insight often used for manipulation, not change
Empathy Logic	Collapsed (others not real) or weaponized (insight without care)	Standard therapeutic alliance impossible
Behavioral Expression	Coercive, exploitative, dominating	Protection of others becomes intervention priority

Capacities and Collapse

What Becomes Available

Capacity	Expression	Function
Decisive action	Acts without hesitation	No internal conflict slows response
Certainty	No self-doubt	Reality is defined, not discovered
Power accumulation	Effective at acquiring and maintaining power	Dominance as primary life strategy
Strategic manipulation	Can read and exploit others effectively	Empathic insight without empathic restraint
Threat elimination	Will remove obstacles without remorse	No internal resistance to harmful action

What Becomes Collapsed

Capacity	Nature of Collapse	Consequence
Empathy	Others' experience doesn't register	Harm causes no internal conflict
Guilt	Remorse circuit suppressed or absent	No accountability signal
Shame	Projected outward; never lands internally	Invulnerable to moral reflection
Genuine connection	Others are objects or tools	Isolation beneath performance
Flexibility	Certainty replaces responsiveness	Cannot update based on feedback
Vulnerability	Experienced as weakness, eliminated	No access point for relationship

Empathy Collapse — The Central Feature

The defining characteristic of Pattern D is empathy collapse—the severance or inversion of the circuit that would allow others' experience to affect the self.

Type	Mechanism	Presentation
Suppressed empathy	Circuit exists but is chronically inhibited	May emerge in specific contexts (children, animals, in-group)
Absent empathy	Circuit never fully developed or was damaged	Consistent inability to register others' experience
Weaponized empathy	Cognitive empathy intact; affective empathy absent	Can read others accurately and use insight for exploitation

Weaponized Empathy — The Most Dangerous Configuration

The individual has high cognitive empathy (accurately reads others' emotions, vulnerabilities, fears), absent affective empathy (others' pain does not produce discomfort), and strategic capacity (uses empathic insight for manipulation, control, exploitation). This produces individuals who are highly effective at appearing connected while being fundamentally disconnected.

State-Dependent Emotional Function

In Pattern D, emotions function as power tools or are experienced as weakness to be eliminated.

Emotion	Pattern D Function	Distinguishing Features
Anger	Punishment, control, destruction	Disproportionate; seeks to harm; may be enjoyed
Fear	Denied or projected	Own fear unacknowledged; creates fear in others
Guilt	Erased or performed	Genuine remorse absent; may perform guilt strategically
Shame	Projected; humiliates others	Cannot tolerate shame; externalizes to others
Sadness	Denied or weaponized	Vulnerability rejected; may use others' sympathy
Envy	Destructive; "if I can't have it, neither can you"	Others' success must be destroyed
Joy	Through dominance, exploitation	Satisfaction from power, not connection
Love	Possessive, objectifying	Others as property, not subjects
Trust	Absent	Everyone is potential threat or tool
Hope	Through power accumulation	Future is controlled, not trusted

Clinical Presentations

Presentation	Characteristics	Common Context
The Tyrant	Overt dominance; rules through fear	Authoritarian leadership, abusive relationships
The Charmer	Covert manipulation; seduction before exploitation	Social predation, romance fraud
The Intellectual	Power through superior knowledge and contempt	Academic, professional contexts
The Victim	Strategic weakness display; manipulation through sympathy	Relational exploitation
The Righteous	Domination justified by ideology or morality	Extremism, religious abuse
The Pragmatist	Cold calculation; exploitation as business	Corporate psychopathy

Assessment Indicators

Pattern D identification carries significant consequences and requires careful assessment. False positives pathologize wounded individuals; false negatives fail to protect potential victims.

Indicator	What It Suggests
Pattern of harm without remorse	Empathy circuit not producing accountability signal
Others consistently report feeling "used"	Instrumental relating as default
Reality distortion that serves self	Narrative control, gaslighting
Charm followed by exploitation	Strategic presentation management
Escalation when challenged	Power response to accountability
Multiple victims across contexts	Pattern, not situation-specific

Assessment Cautions

Don't pathologize Pattern B as D — trauma survivors may appear defended without being exploitative
Consider power access — Pattern D requires power; wounded powerless stay in B/C
Look for pattern across relationships — single relationship difficulty ≠ Pattern D
Attend to others' reports — Pattern D individuals are often convincing

Intervention Considerations

Pattern D intervention requires fundamentally different logic than other patterns. Standard therapeutic approaches may be ineffective or counterproductive.

Priority	Focus
1. Protection	Ensure safety of those affected by Pattern D individual
2. Accountability	Establish external structures that constrain harmful behavior
3. Consequence	Ensure domination strategies produce negative outcomes
4. Monitoring	Maintain oversight; don't rely on self-report
5. Individual work (if any)	Only after 1-4 established; with realistic expectations

Clinical principle: The question is not "how do we help this person feel better?" but "how do we protect those affected and create conditions where harm becomes more costly than benefit?"

Framework Ethics

What This Framework Does NOT Say

Pattern D individuals are "born evil"
Pattern D individuals cannot be held accountable
Pattern D individuals should be given up on
Pattern D individuals are beyond human

What This Framework DOES Say

Pattern D is a regulatory configuration, not a moral category
It develops through identifiable pathways
It requires specific intervention approaches
Protection of others is the first priority

Pattern D represents the most constrained position on the gradient—not because of what it can do, but because of what it cannot.

The capacities that make human connection possible—empathy, guilt, shame, vulnerability—have collapsed or inverted.

For those affected by Pattern D individuals: This is not your fault. This is not something you can fix. Protection is appropriate.

Explore Other Patterns

Connection

Protection

Control