ABSTRACT
This chapter devotes a detailed description of the group treatment of a narcissistic personality, a married woman in her mid-thirties who was admitted to the hospital after a suicide attempt. The treatment occurred during a bygone era in which long term hospitalization consisted of more than a month or two and this woman was an in-patient for well over a year while she was attending a twice-a-week group. Group psychotherapy is a modality uniquely suited for helping persons modify earlier patterns of egocentrism, demandingness, and greed in favor of a capacity to give as well as receive. Those individuals who failed to develop the mature patterns necessary for adult living in their original nuclear family are provided a second chance in this family-like experience. Group psychotherapy presents patients with the dual task of not only disclosing their own personal struggles but also requires them to devote an interest in the struggles of others in the group.
