The core elements of narcissism concern the dificulty individuals encounter with the separating process and their use of the mechanism of splitting. Through the work of American thinkers (such as Kernberg and Kohut) on the advancement of the understanding of narcissistic disturbances is well known, the contribution of the British school has had a comparatively low profile.

This book seeks to redress the balance by providing an up-to-date presentation of the work in this area of British psychotherapists and psychoanalysts of different theoretical orientations - contemporary Freudian, Kleinian and independent.