Robert is joined by author, Integral philosophy teacher, and 40+ year veteran psychotherapist Dr. Keith Witt to explore a topic that is sometimes considered a “four letter word” in today’s culture—narcissism. Though typically thought of in narrowly defined terms, Dr. Keith Witt helps broaden our perspective through various lenses: historical, political, psychological, and Integral/developmental. Discover how there is both a narcissist and a wise self in all of us. Warning: this episode goes down some intellectual rabbit-holes as we Integral theory geeks tend to do.
Some of the topics we explore include:
- The Roman poet Ovid’s original portrayal of Narcissus
- Narcissistic traits vs. Narcissistic Personality Disorder
- The Trump phenomenon
- Authoritarian systems and narcissism
- Practices for authentic self-love
- The importance of having a sense of humour
Show notes:
1:49 - Introducing Dr. Keith Witt
4:28 - Ovid’s story of Narcissus
6:42 - Freud turns psychology into a science
10:03 - The introduction of the term “narcissism”
12:18 - Everything is relationships
15:13 - A limited number of therapy sessions with narcissists
18:54 - The difference between narcissistic traits and NPD
20:15 - The introduction of shame in children and regulation
22:14 - The Jean Piaget experiment for cognitive development
23:58 - All cultures have hierarchies
25:32 - Historical timeline of how humans developed self-awareness
27:48 - Historical figures throughout time who looked at the world through an Integral lens
29:15 - There is an epidemic of how we relate with mental illnesses
31:39 - Integral theory and Spiral Dynamics: Tribal
33:50 - Authoritarian systems and narcissism
34:43 - The Trump phenomenon
39:38 - How narcissism gets internalized at different stages of development
45:15 - Keith’s journey of learning about psychology
47:53 - The biggest blindspot in modern business is middle-management
49:24 - Regulation and the rock star/child celebrity example
52:32 - Service is one of the main vehicles out of narcissism
55:10 - Recovering from the addiction of narcissism
57:22 - Extreme opportunities to re-author self after traumatic events
1:01:25 - We are social beings
1:00:54 - Covert narcissism
1:02:34 - The importance of having a sense of humour, “hurts more, bothers us less”
1:04:47 - Using projection to help narcissists grow
1:05:24 - Looking in the mirror at both our strengths and weaknesses
1:06:04 - Different lines of development
1:06:50 - Maturity around protecting good, true, and beautiful assets like language
1:10:24 - There’s a wise self in all of us
1:11:07 - Giving feedback in a plus/delta format, focusing on strengths as well as weaknesses
Dr Keith Witt is a licensed clinical psychologist, lecturer and author dedicated to studying, teaching, and creating transformative healing systems. He’s been practicing psychotherapy in Santa Barbara, California for over 40 years, where he’s conducted over 55,000 therapy sessions with individuals, couples, and groups. Find his books, trainings, and more here: https://drkeithwitt.com/
