Narcissism and Character Disorders

Peter Strathy is Vice-President Planning, Doctors’ Hospital, Toronto.

This work is the ninth volume to be issued in the Inner City Books series, “Studies in Jungian Psychology by Jungian Analysts.” This publisher was founded in 1980 to promote the understanding and practical application of the work of C.G. Jung, an early disciple of Sigmund Freud who, in the second decade of this century, left the master to develop his own theoretical approach to psychoanalytic therapy, training, and interpretation of human behaviour and experience. Jungian psychology, popular in the 1920s, largely disappeared from public and academic consideration in later decades, only to be rescued from obscurity in the mid-1960s by the emergence of energetic movements devoted to body-oriented psychotherapy and to a renewed interest in dream interpretation. The early works by Carl Jung and his students provided respected theoretical support and a tradition to explore.

An adequate explanation of the narcissistic character is a difficult subject, seldom attempted previously in any depth. The story of Narcissus’ involvement with his own reflection is an ancient theme in myth and literature, one that has been a source of thought, over the centuries, on the condition and nature of the human soul.

The focus of the author, a practising analyst, is on narcissistic character disorders and the restructuring of this personality in therapy. There is a great deal of interesting material on the management of the transference relationship in order to overcome blocks to the development of self-esteem and wholesome relationships. The work is thorough and well developed. The small quantity of illustrative case material is unfortunate.

This highly technical work will be of interest only to those engaged in the study and practice of psychoanalysis or to those academics in other fields who find psychoanalytic interpretations of human experience of value. It will be found only in large specialized academic collections and medical libraries.