Identifying and Understanding the Narcissistic Personality
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: March 24, 2005
Language: eng
Number of pages: 256
ISBN-13: 9780195148732
First sentence: Paradoxically, the Narcissus myth by Ovid (Melville, 1986, pp. 61-66), which in our time has come to represent self-love or self-reflection actually described the tragic inability to love at all (Winge, 1967).
Description: Narcissists have been much maligned, but according to clinicians who study personality, there are many productive narcissists who succeed spectacularly well in life because they can articulate a vision and make others follow. The author presents a balanced, comprehensive, and up-to-date review of our understanding of narcissistic personality disorder, explaining the range from personality trait, which can be productive, to full-blown disorder, which can be highly destructive. Through case histories, she shows us the inner life of narcissists, the tug of war that exists within them between self-confidence and arrogance on the one hand and painful shame and insecurity on the other. It is the first integrated clinical and empirical guide to assist clinicians in their work with narcissistic patients.