65th Annual Conference

Thursday, February 21

Morning Workshops

10:00 A.M.-1:15 P.M.

Master Workshop 12         

The Runaway Honey: Working with the Narcissistic Inability to Form a Mature Relationship

Open to participants with more than ten years of group psychotherapy experience.

Chair:   

Phyllis F. Cohen, Ph.D., Psy.D., CGP, FAGPA, Chair, Advisory Council, Faculty and Director of Psychoanalytic Program, Blanton-Peale Graduate Institute, New York, New York

The power of the group experience which allows for experimenting with intimacy in a safe climate, can affect positive change in the narcissistic patient. This workshop will illuminate their early fears of abandonment and engulfment and share stories and interventions designed to resolve such difficult resistances to maturational growth.
Sharing of work experiences-experiential-didactic-demonstration

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Identify the covert need behind the narcissistic action of fleeing from relationships.
2. Demonstrate methods by which therapists can better aid groups in translating non-verbal communications of intimacy fears into words.
3. Practice their repertoire of group techniques for working with pre-oedipal patients to resolve this resistance.
 

Course References:

1. Bergmann, Martin S. "Finding an Object".(2001) Modern Psychoanalysis, Volume Twenty-Six, Number One, pp.3-13.
2. Cohen, Phyllis F. "The Practice of Modern Group Psychotherapy: Working with Past Trauma in the Present". (2001)International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, Volume Fifty-One, Number 4,
pp.489-503.
3. Fisher, James V.(1999) "The Uninvited Guest: Emerging from Narcissism towards Marriage". London, England, H. Karnac Books Ltd.