Last September, the Los Angeles Psychoanalytic Society and Institute hosted a conference which dealt with Otto Kernberg's viewpoint on Narcissistic Personality Disorders. An overflow audience of almost 600 people heard Dr. Kernberg present three new and unpublished papers, entitled “Present Controversies Regarding the Concept of the Self,” “Contemporary Psychoanalytic Theories of Narcissism,” and “Technical Aspects in the Psychoanalytic Treatment of Narcissistic Personalities.”

The high points, as reflected in the overwhelmingly positive audience response, were in the clear delineation of Kernberg's views, and the areas of agreement and disagreement with the theories of Heinz Kohut and Melanie Klein. The contrasts were heightened by a number of discussants, most prominently Drs. Jerome Oremland and Bernard Brandchaft.