Shame: The Underside of Narcissism [Paperback]

Andrew P. Morrison (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0881632805 | ISBN-13: 978-0881632804 | Publication Date: June 3, 1997

Morrison provides a critical history of analytic and psychiatric attempts to make sense of shame, beginning with Freud and culminating in Kohut's understanding of shame in terms of narcissistic phenomena. The clinical section of the book clarifies both the theoretical status and treatment implications of shame in relation to narcissistic personality disorder, neurosis and higher-level character pathology, and manic-depressive illness.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The experience of shame is universal; yet, the subject has not been explored until recently in psychoanalytic writings.  With this thoughtful and important book, Morrison brings shame to the forefront and demonstrates its central role in clinical work.  Shame: The Underside of Narcissism represents the first systematic effort to integrate relevant psychoanalytic writings and to develop a comprehensive conceptualization of shame."

- Ruth Dean, DSW, Clinical Social Work Journal

"Morrison's work is thoughtful, engaging, and clincally useful.  Its new insights, thought-provoking hypotheses, and compelling clinical material help to focus attention on an ubiquitous and singularly painful aspect of human experience."

- Erik Kulick, M.D., Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic

"Morrison has succeeded in moving forward the study of shame, beyond drive theory and ego psychology, to the work of Kohut...It is a carefully reasoned and scholarly addition to the evolving psychoanalytic study of shame."

- Milton Eber, Ph.D., Psychoanalytic Books

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Routledge (June 3, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881632805
• ISBN-13: 978-0881632804
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #454,901 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shame on You, August 11, 2001

By 

Sam Vaknin (Skopje, Macedonia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shame: The Underside of Narcissism (Paperback)

Shame and guilt - often experienced during childhood and early adolescence - are the two relentless drivers of the veering car of pathological narcissism. Narcissistic Shame is the experience of a humiliating Grandiosity Gap (the tormenting abyss between the narcissist's reality and his grandiose fantasies). Subjectively it is experienced as a pervasive feeling of worthlessness (the regulation of self-worth lies at the crux of pathological narcissism), "invisibleness" and ridiculousness. The patient feels pathetic and foolish, deserving of mockery and humiliation. Narcissists adopt all kinds of defences to counter Narcissistic Shame. They develop addictive or impulsive behaviours. They deny, withdraw, rage, engage in the compulsive pursuit of some kind of (unattainable, of course) perfection. They display haughtiness and exhibitionism and so on. All these defences are employed primitively (or are primitive, like splitting) and involve projective identification. This book is the best study there is of the incestuous relationship of narcissism and pernicious shame. Sam Vaknin, author of "Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited".

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Book, February 18, 2011

By 

zoostra - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shame: The Underside of Narcissism (Paperback)

This book has been one of the most important books in my life, given its role in my ongoing recovery from Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

Aged 37, I have been undergoing psychotherapy 2-3 times per week for 7 years. Until now, I have been totally split off from any feelings of shame but now fully recognise it as one of the most fundamental drivers of my personality.

This is a thorough overview of all writing on Shame and Narcissism from Freud, to Kohut to the Object Relations crowd. However probably 60% of the material is the author's own, based on decades of treatment of patients and insightful self-reflection. The author points out that Shame is an emotion that has been primarily neglected in psychology and he uncovers the important role it plays in narcissism.

I wish someone would lock this author in a box and make him write more. He is the best writer I have ever come across in making complex academic subjects readily understandable. The vocabulary and language aren't simplified, rather his clarity of thought means each word, sentence and paragraph is clear, unambiguous and illuminating.

It is still definitely an academic book and is thoroughly focused on the topic of the title. If narcissism/shame are of interest this book nails the subject.

My copy is underlined throughout and I benefit from reviewing those parts occasionally.

I have had John Bradshaw's books on Shame for a long time but didn't connect with them.

8 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Basic Text on the Subject, February 19, 2008

By 

Struggling student (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shame: The Underside of Narcissism (Paperback)

This is a complete psychoanalytic exploration of the problem of shame by one of the chief experts in the field. This text can be a basic introduction or a thorough review, and as such there is no better.