ABSTRACT
The handling of narcissism is among the most difficult issues of technique confronting us as analysts, whether in narcissistic transferences or in those object-related conflicts which bear a heavy narcissistic investment. Dealing with narcissism is more complex. How much more people ask of a patient when they ask him to detach himself from an experience of gratification that seems to him vital to the integrity of his sense of self. Tact is defined as the "ready and delicate sense of what is fitting and proper in dealing with others, so as to avoid giving offence, or win good will; skill or judgement in dealing with men or negotiating difficult or delicate situations; the faculty of saying or doing the right thing at the right time". Tact refers to a function involving the analyst's activity towards the patient. It is intimately related to, but must be distinguished from, another subfunction of the analyst's work ego, empathy.
