Psychoeducation for Pathologic Narcissism and Narcissistic Personality Disorder: A Review and Proposal for a Good Psychiatric Management-based Six-week Group Program

Abstract

Pathologic narcissism (PN) and narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) are 2 common and stigmatized clinical constructs that are known to have large consequences for patients’ functioning and mental health-related outcomes. To date, no treatment for these conditions has been empirically validated, but there is a relative consensus about the importance of psychoeducation. Here we present a model for a psychoeducational intervention for patients with PN or NPD. We start with a review of the current evidence on the role of psychoeducation in different treatment models for PN, and we discuss several aspects regarding the content and format of this type of intervention. Based on this review, we outline a 6-week Good Psychiatric Management-based psychoeducation group program that we developed. We also describe how such a psychoeducational intervention can be implemented individually, with fewer resources, in general care settings. Finally, we discuss the strengths and limitations of our approach and elaborate on the rationale for our proposal. We believe that this program proposal is a first step in the development of psychoeducational programs for PN and NPD that can be further corrected and enhanced.