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Borderline and Narcissistic Conditions
January 31, 2022 @ 6:30 pm - 7:45 pm, Wyman Classroom
Integrated Child & Adult Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (ICAPP)
2021-22, 3rd Block — Mondays, 6:30-7:45pm
Scot Gibson, MD
Kelly Lippman, LMHC
View Whole Syllabus
January 31, 2022 — Narcissism
[45 pages]
Morrison, A. (1986) Introduction in Essential Papers on Narcissicm, pp1-16
A brief historical introduction to the psychoanalytic lineage of thought on narcissism.
Kohut, H. & Wolf, E.S. (1978). The Disorders of the Self and their Treatment: An Outline. Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 59:413-425.
Kohut created a new way to think about narcissism that diverged from Freudian ideas of internal conflict. Kohut, instead, conceptualized problems with narcissism as problems of incomplete development. His ideas contained new conceptualization of treatment: the therapist, rather than interpret internal conflicts, would instead work toward the further development of the self (then a new concept in psychoanalysis) through empathic mirroring, tolerance for idealization, and attention to the process of rupture and repair in the therapeutic dyad.
Miller, A. (1979). Depression and Grandiosity as Related Forms of Narcissistic Disturbances. Int. Rev. Psycho-Anal., 6:61-76.
Alice Miller’s 1981 book, The Drama of the Gifted Child, became an international bestseller on the basis of her ideas of how childhood trauma (often perpetrated by a narcissistic parent) manifests in adult personalities. This paper outlines some of the ideas eventually elaborated in her famous book, specifically what can happen to a child when they are “narcissistically cathected” by a narcissistic parent. Miller eventually broke with psychoanalysis and became a critic of the profession, feeling it was too authoritarian, engaged in victim-blaming, and was not focused enough on childhood trauma.
Optional Reading
Lingiardi, V.; McWilliams, N. (Eds.) (2017). “Narcissistic Personalities” in Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual (2nd Edition, PDM-2). New York: Guilford Press. pp46-48.
McWilliams, N. (2011). Ch 8, “Narcissistic Personalities” in Psychoanalytic Diagnosis: Understanding Personality Structure in Clinical Process (2nd Edition), pp176-195.
These two readings are good, general summaries of contemporary psychoanalytic conceptions of narcissistic personalities. The excerpt from Psychoanalytic Diagnosis is a bit more in-depth and gives more direction toward treatment.