Case Studies in Narcissism

The course “Narcissism: The Basics” covers the definition, diagnostic criteria, and aetiology of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), while differentiating between healthy narcissism and various sub-types of pathological narcissism. Its companion course, “Treating Narcissism In and Around Your Clients”, explores the types of treatment formats and therapy responses which are most effective when working with NPD. It looks into how therapists can help support clients who are victimised by others' narcissism. While gaining knowledge of the basic theory and effective therapeutic response to a disorder are crucial “bones” supporting a skeleton understanding, it is helpful to put some “flesh” on the skeleton. This course does that with an in-depth look into several case studies of pathological narcissism. Over this course you will have the opportunity to explore the NPD cases of a man, a woman, and a couple. You will be able to see the symptoms “in action” in the case study subjects' lives, and the huge impact the disorder has had on significant others in their lives. Neither the man nor the woman was ever able to receive professional help for the narcissism, so they do not know how therapy might have assisted them. Only one of the three parties - the couple - attended therapy for the disorder, but they terminated the therapy prematurely, so little change was able to be achieved for them either (a typical outcome when narcissists go to counselling). Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to recognise symptoms of NPD as they occur in clients or others.