From the Research
Treatment Options for Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD)
- Psychotherapies, such as transference-focused psychotherapy (TFP), can be effective in treating NPD, as seen in a case report where a young man with NPD showed improvement in self-reflection and empathy 1
- Individual psychotherapies that promote a sense of agency, vulnerability, and goal-setting can help patients with NPD move forward with their lives and therapy 2
- Treatment principles that may be useful for optimizing psychosocial, behavioral, and physical well-being in individuals with co-morbid NPD and life-limiting disease include exploring the impact of NPD on physical health, emotional well-being, and healthcare utilization, and describing psychotherapeutic methods for change 3
- Mechanisms of therapeutic change, such as developing a therapeutic alliance, using a treatment contract, and addressing treatment-interfering behaviors, can contribute to improvement in patients with NPD 4, 1
- Long-term psychotherapy can lead to significant improvement in personality and life functioning, including remission of the NPD diagnosis, with factors such as motivation, reflective ability, emotion regulation, and interpersonal engagement contributing to change 5
Common Pitfalls in Treatment
- Engaging in a power struggle with the patient, overindulging the grandiosity of the patient, directly challenging the grandiosity of the patient, and ignoring treatment-interfering behaviors are common mistakes to avoid in treating patients with NPD 2