TRANSFORMING NARCISSISM IBD

Sinopse

Using KohutâÇÖs seminal paper 'Forms and Transformations of Narcissism' as a springboard, Frank Lachmann updates KohutâÇÖs proposals for contemporary clinicians.á Transforming Narcissism: Reflections on Empathy, Humor,áand Expectations draws on a wide range of contributions from empirical infant research, psychoanalytic and psychotherapeutic practice, social psychology, and autobiographies of creative artists to expand and modify KohutâÇÖs proposition that archaic narcissism is transformed in the course of development or through treatment into empathy, humor, creativity, an acceptance of transience and wisdom.á He asserts that empathy, humor, and creativity are not the goals or end products of transformations, but areáan intrinsic part of the ongoing therapist-patient dialogue throughout treatment.áThe transformative process is bidirectional, impacting both patient and therapist, and their affect undergoes transformation - for example from detached to intimate - andánarcissism or self-states are transformed secondarily as a consequence of the affective interactions.áMeeting or violating expectations of emotionaláresponsivity provides a majorápathway for transformation of affect.áFor beginning therapists, Transforming Narcissism presents an engaging approach to treatment that incorporates the therapeutic action of these transformations, but also leaves room for therapists to develop styles of their own.áFor more experienced therapists, it fills a conceptual and clinical gap, provides a scaffold for crucial aspectsáof treatmentáthat are often unacknowledged (because they are not 'analytic'), or are dismissed and pejorativelyálabeled 'countertransference.'áMost importantly, Lachmann offers a balance between therapeutic spontaneity andáprofessional constraint.á Focused and engaging,áTransforming Narcissism provides a bridge from self psychology to a rainbow of relational approaches that beginning and seasoned therapists can profitably traverse in either direction.áDr. Lachmann contributed to an article on empathy in the April, 2008 issue of O magazine, pp. 230.