Narcissistic Defenses in the Distortion of Free Association and Their Underlying Anxieties

Abstract

This paper examines particular distortions in the process of free association characteristics of patients with narcissistic personality disorders. The author proposes that the dominant narcissistic transference developments typical of the early and middle phases of the analytic treatment of these patients are reflected in these distortions of free association. This paper gathers the various patterns that these defensive distortions present, along with technical interventions geared to deal with them.

• Narcissism
• defenses
• free association
• Transference Focused Psychotherapy (TFP)
• personality disorders
• analytic technique
• countertransference
• intellectualization
• interpretation
• grandiosity
• omnipotence
• “thick-skinned” narcissistic patients