ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a self psychologically oriented treatment of a female patient with severe narcissistic disorder and bulimia nervosa (BN). This treatment illustrates the challenge of facing a grandiose-exhibitionist self with grotesque manifestations. For example, in one session the patient said: " sit down and admire me." In particular, the chapter describes the intense countertransference raised by the patient's demanding grandiose self. The therapist acknowledged her countertransferential inclination to pop the patient's inflated self, expressed in grandiose terms, but succeeded in maintaining an empathic position, explaining to the patient her need to feel grandiose in order to decrease the vertical split between her inflated image and feelings of inferiority.
