On Narcissism: Psychological Theories and Therapeutic Interventions in the Narcissistic Disorders

Introduction Understanding the Narcissistic Phenomenon The so called 'narcissistic personality disorder' is a complex and often misunderstood disorder. The cardinal feature of the narcissistic personality is the grandiose sense of self importance, but paradoxically underneath this grandiosity the narcissist suffers from a chronically fragile low self esteem. The grandiosity of the narcissist, however, is often so pervasive that we tend to dehumanize him or her. The narcissist conjures in us images of the mythological character …

…good enough mothering. To heal this rupture the therapist must convey to the narcissist through emphatic means that others do care about him or her; that is the therapist must repair the archetype of the good mother through a maternally caring approach (Asper, 1993). A maternal approach involves being attentive to the narcissist's needs. Just as a mother can intuitively sense her baby's needs so must the therapist feel and observe what is not verbally e