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A trauma-informed therapist described the only way to beat a "narcissistic" Putin is by making him believe he has won.

Caroline Strawson, a trauma-informed therapist, told Express.co.uk: "Putin was born in Leningrad, now named St Petersburg, in 1952. His parents had already lost two children before having Vladimir, so he was then deemed to be their 'miracle child'.

"I believe this led to him being their golden child and giving him a sense of entitlement. They showered all their love and affection on him, but this led to the expectation from him that this is how he should be treated by everyone.

"His attachment to his parents was one of feeding his greed and sense of grandiosity, meaning for him to feel loved, this need always had to be met.

"Otherwise, it would mean he wasn’t loved, and if he wasn’t loved then that would mean he wasn’t good enough."

She said the Russian president grew up fighting on the streets as a small child and was bullied, which led him to start Judo where he gained a black belt.

He was previously quoted saying “50 years ago the Leningrad Street taught me a rule: if a fight is inevitable you have to throw the first punch”.

Ms Strawson said this is "a dangerous mentality for the President of Russia".

She said: "It’s quotes like this that point to the type of man he is. React first, as the drive to 'win' runs deep, regardless of consequences."

The expert therapist said to understand Putin's decisions, it is important to understand the psychology of a narcissist.

Ms Strawson said: "Narcissists aren’t born, they are created due to childhood trauma. In other words, attachment wounds form in childhood due to the perception of parental behaviour. Being a golden child is a form of trauma, as Putin would associate that he must be treated with entitlement to feel love.

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"If people then did not treat him as important, this would activate a sense of worthlessness and his behaviour would then escalate to try and gain that sense of power to soothe that worthlessness wound."

Ms Strawson said Putin has "psychopathic traits", and "not only does he have a complete lack of empathy, but also a cruel streak with no emotion or remorse".

She added: "His government feeds into his attachment wounds by treating him like the golden child and the entitled man, giving him supply with power and ruling by fear.

"Just like a bully, his government feels safer feeding the bully than standing up to him."

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She said the only way to beat the Russian tyrant is to "make him believe he has won".

Ms Strawson said: "A narcissist needs to feel like they’ve won, or they will not stop as this will otherwise keep feeding that attachment wound.

"If we can get him to stop attacking Ukraine by finding a way for him to 'believe' he’s won, that he is important, that he is the powerful man, even if we know he’s not, that is the only way to get him to back down.

"Finding a way to do that won’t be easy but understanding the psychology of a narcissist can be key. I see this in the court system with a narcissist. It’s about knowing the result you want, knowing part of the equation is a malignant narcissist, so how do we need to behave knowing we are in that equation to get that result?"

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