Presenter: |
Kim Richardson, MA |
Chair: |
David S. Solomon, MD |
Discussant: |
Mary E. Gales, MD |
Self Psychology Page | 20th Conference Program
"The mirror transference represents a therapeutic revival of the grandiose self, which awakens a demand for validation from a responsive selfobject who recognizes, admires, and appropriately praises the patient (Lee & Martin, 1991, 129)".
In this paper I address the responsiveness of the therapist to the 'difficult' patient's mirror longings; and the struggle to find a balance between what is necessarily facilitative, and what is overstimulating. I will make use of clinical material to illustrate interactions which arise in the presence of the need for 'mirroring'. I hope to stimulate discussion around: (1) the therapeutic action of such responses; (2) the actual meaning of concepts such as 'mirroring' and 'active mirroring'; and (3) the misuse of 'mirroring' and the ways in which grandiosity is unwittingly inflated, to the patient's disadvantage.