What is the prevalence of narcissistic injury among trainee counselling psychologists?

Full Abstract

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the level of narcissistic injury among trainee counselling psychologists using the Narcissistic Injury Scale (Slyter, 1991). This 38-item Likert scale is based on Miller's (1981) definition of narcissistic injury; a specific type of psychological damage which focuses on feelings about the self and past relationships related to self-development. Theorists suggest that if untreated, narcissistic issues can interfere with client work and lead to a number of problems for trainees, influencing drop-out rates and increasing burnout. The results of the study indicate that a high degree of narcissistic injury may be prevalent among trainee counselling psychologists and furthermore, that narcissistic injury does seem to be related to the quality of the perceived parent-child relationship. Consequently, the study suggests that therapeutic work could be affected in those trainees who fail to address their own narcissism. The study provides some tentative support for the utility of the Narcissistic Injury Scale.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Halewood, Andrea (A); Tribe, Rachel (R);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of East London, UK.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Psychology and psychotherapy (Psychol Psychother), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2003-Mar; vol 76 (issue Pt 1) : pp 87-102

Dates: Created 2003/04/11; Completed 2003/07/08; Revised 2004/11/17;

PMID: 12689437, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
Counseling - education
Education, Graduate
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Narcissism

Narcissism
Personality Disorders - diagnosis; epidemiology; psychology
Prevalence
Psychological Theory
Psychology - education
Questionnaires
Self Concept
Students - psychology; statistics & numerical data

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.