I offer you a couple of techniques that will help you understand that you are being manipulated:

1. Demonstration of strong feelings to "lull" vigilance.
For example, a partner immerses you in a romantic relationship in a short time and as much as possible. He surrounds you with love, care, gives gifts so that you feel trust and/or feel obligated.

2. Playing on weaknesses and complexes.
A tactic when one partner inspires the other that no one else will love /appreciate him. That he was the best thing in his life. Or, he begins to blame that he gave all the best years to him, and he did not appreciate it.

3. Lies and rejection.
The partner first gives some information, and then assures that he did not say anything like that, or invents a new lie. This can be either a separate technique to get you emotional and make you doubt your adequacy, or a forced measure of "lying" if you caught him red-handed on the discrepancy of words with reality.

4. Exaggeration and generalization.
"You always...", "You never...", "Like everyone else..." - how to object to such vague accusations? Anything you answer will be inconclusive. You cannot speak for others, much less specifically respond to "not a specific accusation."

5. Avoiding the topic.
Or "Visholding" (refusal to discuss an exciting topic). You express dissatisfaction with the fact that your spouse watches porn sites, and in response you hear: "Better look at yourself / think about the child / remember how you ...". Or abruptly begins to talk about the upcoming trip to visit or the progress of the children. If this is familiar to you, know that the interlocutor is trying to move the conversation to another plane in order to avoid discussing / solving the topic that concerns you.

6. Introduction and modification of the "rules of the game".
This happens when a person puts forward new criteria that must be met so that everything suits him. Let's say he constantly ridicules the ability to cook. If you make some dish well, declares that it is negligible, and so on.
Thus, he underestimates your assessment and the importance of you in his life. "How will I introduce you to my mom - you don't even know how to cook?!". "What vacation? Have you seen yourself in the mirror?" etc.

7. Elevation at someone else's expense.
In order to humiliate or devalue life experience, a person tries to convince you that you lack intelligence/abilities/some qualities, etc. You always don't know something, your knowledge is not enough, or a partner, other people know more, do better.
Again, this technique forms an inferiority complex in the partner and a desire to match the "ideal" manipulator.

8. "Deaf" silence.
Asking for time to think/make a decision on the issue under discussion or directly saying that "you don't want to do this and it won't be like this" is normal. But ignoring a partner in order to punish or force him to change his behavior, desires is already manipulation.



DON'T LET YOURSELF BE MANIPULATED!! WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT!