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The Research on the Phenomenon of Narcissism in Working with Clients of Photopsychology Project

Student: Lyanguzova Yuliya

Supervisor: Maria Gruzdeva

Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences

Educational Programme: Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Business Consulting (Master)

Final Grade: 10

Year of Graduation: 2020

The main goal of the Master’s dissertation is to test the hypothesis that arose in the process of the practical studies of the phenomenon of narcissism in working with the clients as part of the Photopsychology project. The hypothesis of this work consists of the following ideas: 1. In the process of photographing, in which the client, psychodynamic coach/therapist and photographer participate, there is an increased narcissistic investment of the client, the client’s identity (Self) can be restored 3 times faster, thanks to the eyes of the psychodynamic coach/therapist, photographer and camera lens (“I am seen - it means I exist”, according to Winnicott’s ideas). The Photographer and his camera are supposed to be the fantasy objects, on which the client’s libidinal drives converge, additionally exciting the client to life and investing in his primary narcissism. 2. In the process of analyzing ready-made and selected photographs, the psychodynamic coach/therapist talks with the client about his feelings, fantasies and experiences regarding the moment the photographs were taken; such talks seem to open up a faster access to the unconscious of the client, cause fantasies contribute to symbolization. As a result, the client not only quickly recreates his identity and builds a system of visual representations and patterns of his behavior depicted in the photographs, but also receives visual confirmation of his existence as a subject and strengthens his ability to develop object relationships. The theoretical task of the work is to systematize knowledge of: 1) the concept of narcissism and the development of the narcissistic concept in Sigmund Freud’s works; 2) ways of developing the phenomenon of narcissism in theoretical studies of representatives of various psychoanalytic schools; 3) the practical application of various theoretical approaches to narcissism in working with clients and the specifics of processing the resistance of the client, as well as narcissistic seduction; 4) historical and conceptual parameters of unconscious fantasies and the role of visual (graphic) representation in creating a system of representations of the subject and the development of his symbolic thinking; 5) photo as a “transitional” object participating in the processes of symbolization and narcissistic investment of the subject. The practical task is to apply the results obtained from testing a hypothesis in working with narcissistic clients in the format of psychodynamic business coaching. Based on the tasks that were posed in the part of the practical study of the phenomenon of narcissism in working with clients within the framework of the Photopsychology Project, several conclusions can be drawn confirming the main tasks of the theoretical research and the main hypothesis. Firstly, a theoretical study of the problems of narcissism in working with clients and photography as an intrusive projective identification and symbol for restoring the identity of the subject and creating a new representation system for him confirmed the hypothesis put forward in this work. The main evidence for this was presented in the “Conclusions” section of the first theoretical chapter. Secondly, the practical work within the framework of the Photopsychology project confirmed that the use of a psychoanalytic approach to working with narcissistic issues and the use of a photo as the method, and a camera and photographer as the tools in working with narcissism, are justified.

Full text (added June 1, 2020)

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