A Theoretical and technical approach to narcissistic disturbance.
This paper makes a limited contribution to the theoretical problem of narcissism and offers a possibly useful technical approach. Terminology is clarified and two concepts are introduced: self-narcissism and object-narcissism. Detailed clinical material illustrates the presence of an unwished-for self-image acting as a resistance. Interpretation leading to integration of the self-image into the self-representation results in an increase in authenticity on which conventional interpretative activity depends. Objections and alternative views of the material are breifly discussed.
D000328:Adult; D003379:Countertransference; D004532:Ego; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009289:Narcissism; D009769:Object Attachment; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D011573:Psychoanalytic Interpretation; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D012649:Self Concept