The Book 

This paper will consider different forms of narcissistic character (‘thick-’ and ‘thinskinned’) in terms of a developmental model of the experience of psychic reality described in papers with Peter Fonagy. The psychotherapeutic process will be briefly explored in terms of the protected separation of two early modes of psychic reality. Working through then involves reintegrating emotional experiences felt in ‘psychic equivalence’, made safe by the ‘pretend’ frame of analysis. In severe character disturbance psychoanalytic technique may need to be modified, taking these ideas into account, to engage the patient before more standard interpretation can be tolerated.

The Lecturer Mary Target, PhD is Reader in Psychoanalysis at University College London (UCL) and Professional Director of the Anna Freud Centre. She is a Fellow of the British Psycho-Analytical Society, and Course Organiser of UCL’s Masters in Theoretical Psychoanalytic Studies. She carries out research on child attachment and treatment outcomes, and has a part-time adult