ABSTRACT

This book introduces the importance of echoism as a clinical entity and a theoretical concept. In Ovid's version of the myth of Echo and Narcissus, the character Echo receives equal attention to her counterpart, Narcissus, yet she has been completely marginalised in the pervasive literatures on narcissism.

The author draws upon her work with patients who have experienced relationships with narcissistic partners or parents, and have developed a particular configuration of object relations and ways of relating for which she uses the term echoism. She uses psychoanalytic theory and existential philosophical ideas to underpin her formulations and inform her clinical thinking.

Donnna Savery explores the question 'Am I an Echoist?' and introduces the concept of Echoism in the following YouTube video: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEyjolXL7lA

chapter |8 pages

Introduction

part I|49 pages

Important theories in understanding echoism

chapter Chapter 1|12 pages

The myth of Echo and Narcissus

Deconstructing dominant readings

chapter Chapter 2|18 pages

Adam’s rib

A psychoanalytic approach to understanding echoism

chapter Chapter 3|17 pages

To be or not to be

An existential approach to understanding echoism

part II|32 pages

Types of echoism

chapter Chapter 4|14 pages

Chimeras and chameleons

The defensive echoist

chapter Chapter 5|16 pages

Hosts and henchmen

The self-destructive echoist

part III|31 pages

Over-valued ideas, god-like objects, and faith

chapter Chapter 6|16 pages

Mistaken identity or what you will?

Internal voices, narcissistic objects, and the echoist

chapter Chapter 7|13 pages

Hera’s curse

Faith and reason – a complex paradox

part IV|26 pages

A dynamic understanding of an echoistic-narcissistic complex

chapter Chapter 8|17 pages

Characters in search of an author

Echoistic-narcissistic complexes and group dynamics

chapter Chapter 9|7 pages

Is there anybody in there?

The therapist as echoist

part V|20 pages

Conclusions and future directions

chapter Chapter 10|18 pages

Prometheus’ fire

Being and becoming: an approach to treatment