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THIS PAPER DESCRIBES THE DEVELOPMENT and gradual dissolution of narcissistic illusions, characterized by idealization, grandiosity and merger, in the psychotherapy of an 18-year-old girl.
Two different traditions regarding the understanding and treatment of narcissism originated in London. Klein and her followers (notably Kernberg) have emphasized the need to interpret these illusions as defensive retreats from acute ambivalence, while Winnicott considered that they represented developmental opportunities. This paper shows how there is value in both these approaches and suggests that more attention should be given to the wider role of object-relationships in the development of narcissism, a view supported by attachment theory.
Roberta was the second of three daughters born to parents who were national celebrities in the world of television. She sought help for depression and for a distressing feeling that she could never be satisfied. I found her to be a beautiful, vivacious adolescent of 18, fashionably and seductively dressed. Her account of herself was articulate