Overview

Narcissism: Psychoanalytic Clinicians and Researchers in Dialogue presents current research and practice on working psychoanalytically with narcissism. The contributors discuss a broad spectrum of approaches for understanding narcissism, from cultural-theoretical and social perspectives to clinical psychoanalytic observations and conceptual clarifications of terms, and new interdisciplinary and extra-clinical psychoanalytic research. Part I deals with the social danger posed by the close, unconscious link between pathological narcissism and extreme destructiveness. Part II is devoted to insights gained from years of psychoanalysis and long-term psychoanalytic treatment of patients with narcissistic pathology. Part III discusses how psychoanalysis tries to meet contemporary cultural challenges, and this book concludes with three chapters devoted to the important issue of narcissism in adolescence and young adulthood. This book will be essential reading for psychoanalysts in practice and in training.

Full Product Details

9781032932989

Table of Contents

Reviews

“This book provides an excellent, up-to-date psychoanalytic view of the clinical and growing extra-clinical phenomenon of narcissism. The book's collection of papers by leading psychoanalytic clinicians and researchers illustrates the complex nature of narcissistic experience and narcissistically motivated behaviours, providing a contemporary understanding of narcissism as a broad affective spectrum between the poles of a lively, realistically positive self-esteem and a possible self-aggrandizement with varying consequences for the quality of interpersonal relationships. In the course of this presentation, a fascination grows for the connection between clinical psychoanalysis and extra-clinical psychoanalytic research as well as for the inclusion of individual-centred as well as cultural-theoretical and social perspectives. Anyone who wants to know what contemporary psychoanalysis means in the 21st century will find central answers here that will stimulate their own thinking.” —Dr. med. Heribert Blass, Training Analyst, German Psychoanalytic Association (DPV), IPA-President elect “As pathological narcissism drives polarization, science denial, and political deception, this book provides a crucial psychoanalytic perspective on our time. Are we living in a 'narcissistic age,' where malignant, omnipotent leaders exploit unresolved vulnerabilities to manipulate the masses? Through rigorous clinical and empirical research, this work unpacks the deep entanglement of individual and collective pathologies shaping today’s crises. Understanding these forces is not just necessary—it is urgent! A must-read for anyone unwilling to succumb to illusory grandiosity, regression, and the seductive pull of destructive power.” —Prof. Dr.med. Ricardo Bernardi, Training analyst Uruguayan Psychoanalytic Association (APU), Former Dean of the Medical faculty of Universidad de Montevideo “This rich, timely, and vitally important book includes chapters by an international collection of sophisticated psychoanalytic theorists, researchers and clinicians presenting a much-needed broad spectrum of perspectives for understanding narcissism. Seeking a stronger interlinking between psychoanalytic knowledge of the largely unconscious individual mind and wider interdisciplinary dialogue, the chapters offer a contemporary understanding of narcissism’s impact on trauma, depression, as well group dynamics, collective regression, and the role of malignant leadership. Finally and most significantly in today’s turbulent times marked by autocratic turns and threats to democracy, the book sheds considerable light on powerful social issues and difficult cultural challenges. This is a book that should stimulate thinking and deepen awareness among social scientists, serious scholars, and psychoanalysts and other practitioners.” —Michael J. Diamond, Ph.D, Training and Supervising Analyst, Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies; Author, Ruptures in the American Psyche: Containing Destructive Populism in Perilous Times and Masculinity and Its Discontents: The Male Psyche and the Inherent Tensions of Maturing Manhood.

Author Information

Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber is a professor emeritus of psychoanalysis at the University of Kassel, Germany. She is a former director of the Sigmund-Freud-Institut in Frankfurt am Main, a senior scientist at the University of Medicine in Mainz, a training and supervising analyst, and the author of numerous books and articles. She is the recipient of awards, including the 2016 Sigourney Award and the IPA’s Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award. Stephan Hau, PhD, is a professor of clinical psychology in the Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Sweden. He is also a member of the Research Committee and a member of the Research Grants Subcommittee of the IPA, as well as a co‑chair of the IPA’s RTP/Sandler Conference Subcommittee. He is the editor‑in‑chief of Scandinavian Psychoanalytic Review and the author of numerous books and articles. Rogério Lerner, PhD, is a professor at the Institute of Psychology and the Faculty of Medicine (Department of Psychiatry) of the University of São Paulo. He is also a member of the Research Committee of IPA, co-Chair of Joseph Sandler Psychoanalytic Research Conference and Research Training Programme, and an associate member of the Brazilian Psychoanalytic Society of São Paulo. Erik Stänicke is professor of clinical psychology at the University of Oslo, Norway, and a training psychoanalyst. He is an experienced supervisor and teacher, and is the author of numerous books and articles. Siri Erika Gullestad is professor emeritus of clinical psychology at the University of Oslo, Norway. She is a training and supervising psychoanalyst, and she was awarded the Sigourney Award in 2019. She is an experienced teacher and supervisor, and is the author of numerous books and articles, including The Theory and Practice of Psychoanalytic Therapy: Listening for the Subtext (with Bjørn Killingmo, Routledge, 2020).

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