Page 125 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 10

Narcissistic Injury and Self-Healing History
The “fourth saying” occurs in this isolated with- Our embrace of relational psychoanalysis was
drawal. Needing healing, but now alienated, preceded by a desire for more authentic Chri-
the humiliated soul seeks inner solace for both stianity which led us to study with Francis and
external and internal wounds. The sufferer be- Edith Schaeffer at l’Abri in Huemoz, Switzer-
lieves there is need of no one, and relies exclu- land. There, our desire was fulfilled through
sively on the self. Psychoanalysts refer to this both teaching and caring human relating. The
state as one of “omnipotent control”, a state of loving community of l’Abri informs our psy-
an illusory feeling of safety and security. chotherapeutic orientation. The cognitive and
behavioral decrees of Sinai are fulfilled and
Lorgus’ “fifth saying” describes an ill-fated de- transcended by the incarnation, crucifixion,
cline toward grandiosity, a self-healing gambit and resurrection of Jesus. These redemptive
to feel superior to others. This self-coronation of movements were elaborated by G. W. F. Hegel
self-esteem is defensively maintained through (1807/1977) in his Phenomenology of Spirit
the primitive defenses of denial, projection, and and unwittingly recapitulated in the develop-
projective identification. ment of relational psychoanalysis.

The Insufficiency of Self-Healing Incarnation
Finally, a “sixth saying” is Lorgus’ assessment Incarnation was God’s loving initiative to be
of these primitive defenses as merely palliative, with us in our brokenness, and model for us
and never curative. He concludes with the im- what we were meant to be. Jesus’ early kenotic
portant question of how psychotherapists can movement to become human was the commen-
help such injured persons. It is to this clinical cement of His redemptive tasks. In similar fa-
dimension that we now turn. shion, mother and infant and psychotherapist
and patient become mutually identified with
Clinical Perspectives: Relational Psychoana- one another. A mother becomes “preoccupied”
lysis and the Christian Narrative (Winnicott, 1959) with her infant whose nar-
Overview cissism does not distinguish mother as separa-
“We are all of us born in moral stupidity, taking te, but directs the symbiotic union through its
the world as an udder to feed our supreme sel- needs and helplessness. Likewise, the psycho-
ves…” (Eliot, 1871/1965, p. 243). With this quo- therapist sets aside needs and desires and beco-
tation, Jessica Benjamin (1990)--scholar and mes “preoccupied” with the suffering of the pa-
psychoanalyst in the relational psychoanalytic tient, a patient who may not perceive the thera-
tradition—begins her exploration of the deve- pist as a separate person with needs and desires.
lopment of mutual recognition from the ubi-
quitous narcissism of infancy, to the capacity Crucifixion
for respect of another individual as an equal. As patients come to our office bound in the
As Christian psychoanalysts, we both recognize defensive posture of omnipotent control, they
pride as a reaction to discreet injury, and also initially find us adapting as much as possib-
a narcissistic condition into which we are all le to their need. As Winnicott suggested, the
born. Developing a capacity to relate to others is patient like the infant feels that they cause the
the heart of much psychotherapeutic work and mother/therapist to materialize in response to
more profoundly, our original calling as made their need. Narcissism is reflected in the com-
in the image of God to love God and one ano- mon patient’s remark that the only reason we
ther. offer care is because we are paid, i.e.,we are con-
We will now describe a relational psychoanaly- trolled by them. Invariably, such omnipotent
tic treatment model that is informed by Chri- control is challenged as the relationship reveals
stianity. Parallels between this model and the a clash of needs.
Christian narrative will be elucidated.

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