ABSTRACT
Dear Consultant: I need help! Adam, one of eight members of my psychodynamic group, has been monopolizing a number of the sessions and it has been very hard to get him to stop. The frustration of several of the other group members has been expressed in eye rolls, obvious lack of attention, even direct comments to Adam that he is taking up more than his share of time. In addition, when Adam is momentarily chastened to the point of refraining from speaking, he then barely listens to the other group members, and when he does respond, his comments are typically self-referential, tangential to the point being made, and never responsive to the affect being expressed. Once, a female group member shouted at him, “Adam, you’re unbelievable. You’re such a narcissist!” Adam turned to me to ask whether I allowed name-calling in the group, to which I responded, I am ashamed to say, that “narcissist” was a diagnostic category rather than a name.
