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Kohut. Heinz THE ANALYSIS OF THE SELF: A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO THE PSYCHOANALYTIC TREATMENT OF NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDERS. New York: International Universities Press, Ine 1971 368 pp.. $12.50
In his approach to the treatment of narcissistic personality disorders, Dr. Kohut focuses on the analysis of the self, because he believes that the central psychopathology in these disturbances is a defective self image. The defect is due to the incomplete differentiation of self and object which results in the persistence of archaic self-objects. Because his libido is deployed to maintain his fragile self, the narcissistic personality, unlike the neurotic, is unable to invest objects with libido. While the neuroticfears the loss of love of the object, the narcissistic personality fears the loss of the object.
The narcissistic personality results from experiences with parents who treat their children as extensions of themselves and are unable to allow them to develop independently. They do not respond appropriately to the phase specific needs of the child for encouragement and approval. The child of such parents grows into an adult who does not view himself or his parents realistically as he has not had the opportunity to either modify his granthose notions of...