Synopsis: In my book Echoism: The Silenced Response to Narcissism, I propose a new theory of Echoism. This phenomenon is observed most often in those who find themselves in repeated relationships with narcissistic partners, or who are recovering from narcissistic parenting. I base my research on seven years work with patients who have come to identify themselves as echoistic, or who have echoistic traits that may predispose them to seeking out, often unconsciously, relationships with narcissists, resulting in what I call an Echoistic-Narcissistic Complex. I return to the myth of Echo and Narcissus, as it is correctly called when referring to the work of Ovid, and consider the roles and feelings of the character Echo, in much the same way as Näcke and Ellis used the same version of the myth to provide understanding from the presentation of Narcissus, for the condition Narcismus, which later became widely known as narcissism. This talk questions why so much attention has been given to Narcissus from the original myth, in the extensive studies into narcissism, while the character Echo as a subject, has been largely ignored in psychoanalytic theory. I go on to discuss how Echo’s clinical counterpart the echoist is prone to being missed, silenced and even mistaken for a narcissist unless we as therapists stay open to experience and to our countertransference.

Biography: Donna Christina Savery is a daseinsanalyst, psychotherapist and analytic group therapist. Having trained originally as an existential therapist, she has recently completed an intensive training under Alice-Holzhey Kunz in Daseinsanalysis – an integrated form of psychoanalysis and existential therapy – in Zurich, Switzerland. She is also a qualified Groupwork Practitioner, having studied at the Institute of Group Analysis. Her research, clinical approach and analytic thinking are informed by the many years she spent working in the field of drama, as an academic and a theatre director. After working for MIND as an individual and group therapist and in Harley Street as a therapist, she is currently in private practice in Buckinghamshire.

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