{"id":487,"date":"2026-10-18T13:38:30","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T03:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/selfnmotion.com.au\/site\/?page_id=487"},"modified":"2026-10-18T14:10:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T04:10:07","slug":"beneath-the-surface-configurations-and-treatment-of-narcissism-using-sisp","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/selfnmotion.com.au\/site\/beneath-the-surface-configurations-and-treatment-of-narcissism-using-sisp\/","title":{"rendered":"Beneath the Surface: Configurations and Treatment of Narcissism using SISP"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Kohut enlivened the psychoanalytic world by bringing narcissism into the center of its modern theory, and creating a significant paradigmatic shift. Kernberg, joined Kohut in a significant role albeit with a slightly different emphasis than Kohut in his theory of narcissism.\u00a0 Nonetheless, by making narcissism\u2019s positive dimensions more central to treatment, Kohut and Kernberg were able to demonstrate better outcomes than their psychoanalytic predecessors.<\/p>\n

Dr. Ron Lee, my mentor and supervisor, explored the need for distinct, experience-near Self Psychologically-based \u2018strategies\u2019, particularly in the first phase of treatment. Efficacious clinical approaches, based on the key characteristics of the specific narcissistic configurations, were developed\u00a0 using a nuanced application of Somatic Intersubjective Self Psychology (SISP). \u00a0It was found that this attuned, empathic, and intersubjective approach regularly led to a deepening of the therapeutic relationship and a diminishing of the narcissistic behaviours.<\/p>\n

Additionally, once therapeutic relationship deepened, mirror hungry needs, as previously hypothesized by Heinz Kohut, began to emerge irrespective of the initial presenting behaviours.\u00a0 This mirror hunger is a deeply buried unmet need which emerges only after a deep, meaningful bond had been established.\u00a0 Our finding suggests that a client\u2019s peripheral self-organizing is an adaptation for survival during development when empathic attunement from caregivers is unavailable.\u00a0 If the first stage of treatment is successful, realising that it can be quite prolonged, a client\u2019s self-organizing increasingly shifts from costly anti-social survival patterns to growth-oriented relational experiences.<\/p>\n

A corollary observation related to the need for mirroring, is the therapy can fail when mirroring is introduced too soon.\u00a0 In a grandiose\/expansive presentation, premature mirroring can be brushed aside or dismissed with haughty contempt.\u00a0 Where emotional neglect has been significant or severe, premature mirroring can create confusion or even shame.\u00a0 And in other presentations, an impasse or stagnation in the therapy\u00a0 feeling similar to addiction can result.<\/p>\n

The cases described in this text focus primarily on the nuances of the early phase of treatment\u00a0 and reveal how an appropriate co-created therapeutic relationship can shift narcissistic patients from \u201csurvival strategies\u201d to \u201cadaptive growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The six narcissistic configurations discussed in this text include<\/p>\n