Understanding and Treating Narcissistic Personality Disorder: Effective Therapies

Individuals with narcissistic personality disorder have a heightened sense of self-importance and a strong need for attention. It is one of the most difficult personality disorders to treat.

Individual Therapy

• Intensive, lengthy therapy with a licensed professional is the treatment foundation for recognizing unhealthy and negative behaviors and learning healthy replacement attitudes.

Family Therapy

• Because narcissism affects the entire family, therapy with the immediate family members is helpful to teach the family and narcissist to communicate openly. Learning to effectively problem solve is a major goal.

Group Therapy

• Group therapy is helpful for the narcissist to meet others with the same disorder and share problems and solutions. Listening to others with a similar set of dynamics and problems is helpful in enabling self-recognition.

Goals

• Psychotherapy is not a quick fix, and it may take months or years for the narcissist to recognize traits that need developing in a healthy way. The goal is for the individual to develop skills that will allow him to interact in society in a more appropriate and honest manner.

Medications

• There are no medications that help with this disorder. However, because depression and substance abuse are linked to this mental illness, antidepressants may be prescribed to help.