ABSTRACT
Freud first discussed 'omnipotence of thought' in Totem and Taboo (1912–13). It was a term taken from the analysis, in 1909, of the Rat Man, who believed that his thoughts would bring about the death of those he came into contact with. This chapter describes the main features in the analysis of a patient with a narcissistic/borderline personality in which omnipotence, magical thinking, and manic defence were all significant features, used in attempts to establish dominance over the analytic relationship. An unconscious phantasy of omnipotent aggression, terrifying in its potential to destroy, was at the heart of this patient's defensive personality organisation, which, when it became conscious, enabled movement in the analysis. The psychotic aspect of narcissistic and borderline functioning, in which there is a powerful, aggressive attempt to get the other to conform to his or her internal reality, is widely recognised, for example by Bell (2002).
