177th APA Annual Meeting – New York

Description

Narcissistic disorders are prevalent and have long been a challenge to clinicians. Narcissistic patients cling to an internal system of thought that interferes with establishing relations and successfully integrating into and functioning in the world. While aggrandizing the self, either overtly or covertly, those with narcissism devalue and dismiss others. Even though some people with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) may appear to lead successful lives, their capacity for experiencing satisfaction and intimacy is severely limited. An initial challenge for the clinician is that NPD has multiple presentations depending on the subtype or the level of personality organization.

Therefore, our course will first describe the different types and levels of narcissism. After describing the types of narcissism, our course will present a theoretical framework for understanding NPD and a practical approach to treating individuals with the disorder. Once the therapy has begun, NPD patients can engender powerful feelings in the therapist, including boredom, incompetence, anger, and resentment. Experiencing these feelings and using them therapeutically is an essential part of the work of therapy.

The specific treatment approach we will present is a manualized psychodynamic psychotherapy, Transference-Focused Psychotherapy (TFP), that has been modified to treat patients with NPD. We will review the therapeutic techniques that can help clinicians connect with and treat these patients. These techniques start with an emphasis on establishing an adequate frame for the therapy in the treatment contracting phase. The work then proceeds to using techniques to help the therapist maintain full empathy with the internal world of the NPD patient in all its emotional intensity as the therapist helps the patient move beyond his or her defenses to gain access to painful internal states that must be dealt with before the patient can establish a full sense of self and have a chance of experiencing the expectable satisfactions of life. 

Learning objectives:

1. The participant will be able to differentiate the different clinical types of narcissistic pathology
2. The participant will be able to diagnose the specific psychological structure that underlies narcissistic personality disorder
3. The participant will be able to distinguish and use the characteristic countertransferences to narcissistic patients
4. The participant will learn to employ an effective clinical approach to treating narcissistic personality disorder

Follow this link for more information https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/meetings/annual-meeting

Modalities

Tuition fee: follow this link to have access to the different tuition fee

Faculty

Frank Yeomans, Eve Caligor, Diana Diamond, Otto Kernberg

Contact

If you have any questions contact the APA

Registration

This session requires advance registration and an additional registration fee.

Early Registration: January 10, 2023 – February 22, 2023
Advance Registration: February 23, 2023 – April 4, 2023
Late Advance Registration (Online Only): April 5, 2023 – May 24, 2023
On-site Registration: May 20, 2023 – May 24, 2023

For more information, please visit https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/meetings/annual-meeting/registration.

REGISTRATION