Change in Narcissistic Personality Disorder - When, How & Why?

Narcissistic psychopathology has long been considered difficult to change. However, recent studies have shown that patients struggling with this condition can change both in psychotherapy and through the influence of real life experiences.

This field is required.
This field is required.

6 Sessions: Wednesdays, Apr. 3, 10, 17; May 1, 8, 15, 2024
Time: 7:30-9:00 pm EDT 

This course will take place online. Seminar sessions are not recorded.

Change in Narcissistic Personality Disorder - When, How & Why? 

Narcissistic psychopathology has long been considered difficult to change. However, recent studies have shown that patients struggling with this condition can change both in psychotherapy and through the influence of real life experiences. The aim of this course is to increase awareness of conditions and processes involved in change in patients with pathological narcissism or narcissistic personality disorder. Factors that promote as well as challenge change in the range of narcissistic personality functioning will be discussed. Specific focus will be on understanding the process of change in these patient and apply timing of treatment strategies in psychotherapy to encourage change.

Instructor

Elsa Ronningstam, PhD
is an Associate Clinical Professor at Harvard Medical School, a psychologist at McLean Hospital affiliated to the Gunderson Outpatient Program specialized in treatment of personality disorders. She is a psychoanalyst and a member of the Faculty of the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, BPSI and have thoughts several courses in the Advanced Training Program in Psychotherapy and in the Exploration in Mind Program. She has over 120 publications primarily on the topics related to personality disorders, in particular narcissistic, and suicide.

 

This course is open to beginning and intermediate licensed mental health clinicians and trainees on the path to licensure. Continuing Education will not be offered for this program. 


Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this program, participants will be able to:

  1. Recognize different conditions and factors that can invite, encourage and promote change in patients' narcissistic personality functioning.
  2. Apply treatment strategies that can encourage patients' motivation for change in pathological narcissism.
  3. Describe how improvements in pathological narcissism can be mediated by therapeutic interventions aimed at stabilizing mentalization.
  4. Identify mechanisms of change that relate to improvement in psychotherapy with patients with narcissistic personality disorder.
  5. Discuss  narcissistic personality traits and dimensions that can contribute to challenges or obstacles in the process towards change in psychotherapy.
  6. Identify characteristics of pathological narcissism that decreased and characteristics of healthy narcissism that increased in psychotherapy. 

Scholarships are available for BPSI programs.

FEE:

$375 Course Fee
$50 Early Career Clinicians, Residents and Students
$350 Early Bird (available until 03/18/2024) Use Code at Checkout: EB2024NPD

The fee is waived for BPSI Members, Trainees, and Partners. Scholarships are available upon request.

 

This program is made possible by the generous support of BPSI members and friends. Your gift to BPSI supports psychoanalytic and psychotherapy education and ensures the future of our field. To help fund programs like this, please click here.
 
 
Program Administrator
Stephanie Cavanaugh: scavanaugh@bpsi.org

Program Chair
Holly Friedman Housman, LICSW: holly@housman.org
 

Continuing Education will not be offered for this program.
 
Explorations in Mind: Community Education at BPSI is made possible by the generous support of BPSI Members and friends. To make a gift to BPSI, contact Carole Nathan (cnathan@bpsi.org or 617-266-0953 x101),
go to www.bpsi.org, or send mail to BPSI, 141 Herrick Road, Newton Centre, MA 02459.
 
Event Cancellation Policies & Procedures
Any program participant requesting their individual program registration be canceled, must submit their request in writing via email to Stephanie Cavanaugh at scavanaugh@bpsi.org. For fee-based events, a request for cancellation (and refund using the original form of payment) must be received no later than 48 hours in advance of the event. Requests received later than 48 hours prior to the event will not be processed or accepted. All approved refunds are subject to a $10.00 administrative fee. If BPSI cancels an event, all registrants will receive a full refund of fees paid (no administration charge) no later than two business days following the scheduled date of the event, using the original form of payment.
 
Grievance Policy
Please address any questions or concerns about your experience at this or any program or event you have attended at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute to the Program Chair(s), via the Senior Administrator/Continuing Education Administrator, BPSI, 141 Herrick Road, Newton Centre, MA 02459; team@bpsi.org; 617.266.0953.
 
The Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, Inc., 141 Herrick Road, Newton Centre, MA 02459, does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, age, sexual orientation, national origin or handicap in the admissions to or administration of its educational programs, scholarship programs or employment.
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