Self Creation

10 Healing Narcissistic Wounds

Many of the patients discussed in this book suffered from a sense of defectiveness, as though a piece of the self were torn. Anna, for example, had little belief that her own judgment would lead her to a productive life and therefore used the approbation of others as the guide to her behavior. More deeply troubled, Helen had no sense of a subjectivity on which she could rely and was not even able to use others as a compass. Perry, whose depression brought him to psychotherapy, was terrified of failure despite a record of remarkable successes. Danny and Lisa, the subjects of the last chapter, were tormented by self attacks. For each of these patients, the self was damaged and, when exposed to the vagaries of interpersonal ...