Therapists’ experience of clients with narcissistic injury

Abstract

Narcissistic injury is defined as damage to one’s self-esteem when the ‘real self’ is perceived to be exposed. This study examines narcissistic injury in the therapeutic relationship from the therapists’ standpoint. Five warranted psychologists and psychotherapists above thirty years of age of diverse gender took part in this study. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to analyse the data from the participants' compiled narratives. From this analysis five major themes emerged: Meeting the false self, Negative Transference, Pain in the family, Factors that support therapists’ and Trait versus State. The main findings of this study indicated that even though narcissistic injuries in therapy were difficult and negatively experienced by therapists’, they managed to minimise the potential damage to their selves by exercising self-care and by supporting themselves in various ways. These include making use of various grounding and self-calming techniques, availing themselves of supervision and setting strict boundaries. The results evidenced that therapists witnessed a variety of degrees of narcissistic injuries within their clients. Participants also expressed the understanding that narcissistic injuries are exhibited as a result of deep-seated fragility within clients. The findings were evaluated and explored in the context of previous research on the subject.