Partly by using the concept of a house as a metaphor, the author describes the difficult situation of client-centered therapy in continental Europe, especially in the Netherlands. Three saving magic formulas are discussed: person-centeredness, process-differentiation, and integration of psychotherapy. The former two were the topic of an international conference in Egmond (July 2003). This topic is elaborated upon along the lines of the development of narcissistic defence as an important sign of our time. We will study it from the perspectives of psychopathology as a language phenomenon, the new phenomenon of self-pathology, the broader and social perspective of identity loss, and finally the development of a new postmodern type of man. Next we present a process-based type of treatment for this kind of defence. Finally, we re-examine the previously mentioned magic formulas. We conclude that to deal with narcissistic defence as a challenge of our time we need both person-centeredness and process-differentiation. We discuss the tension that exists between those, and get rid of a couple of misunderstandings.
client/person-centered therapy, experiential therapy, narcistic defence, process differentiation, postmodern type, self-pathology
The tPeP (Journal Person-centered experiential Psychotherapy) is the scientific journal for Dutch and Flemish psychotherapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists, that work from, or are interested in a client-centered perspective.
