In this volume, Traumatic Narcissism: Relational Systems of
Subjugation, Daniel Shaw presents a way of understanding the
traumatic impact of narcissism as it is engendered developmentally, and
as it is enacted relationally. Focusing on the dynamics of narcissism in
interpersonal relations, Shaw describes the relational system of
what he terms the 'traumatizing narcissist' as a system of subjugation -
the objectification of one person in a relationship as the means of
enforcing the dominance of the subjectivity of the other.
Daniel Shaw illustrates the workings of this relational system of
subjugation in a variety of contexts: theorizing traumatic narcissism as
an intergenerationally transmitted relational/developmental trauma; and
exploring the clinician's experience working with the adult children of
traumatizing narcissists. He explores the relationship of cult leaders
and their followers, and examines how traumatic narcissism has lingered
vestigially in some aspects of the psychoanalytic profession.
Bringing together theories of trauma and attachment, intersubjectivity
and complementarity, and the rich clinical sensibility of the Relational
Psychoanalysis tradition, Shaw demonstrates how narcissism can best
be understood not merely as character, but as the result of the specific
trauma of subjugation, in which one person is required to become the
object for a significant other who demands hegemonic subjectivity.
Traumatic Narcissism presents therapeutic clinical opportunities not
only for psychoanalysts of different schools, but for all mental health
professionals working with a wide variety of modalities. Although
primarily intended for the professional psychoanalyst and
psychotherapist, this is also a book that therapy patients and lay
readers will find highly readable and illuminating.
