The ego’s stability is dependent upon an inner sense of being mirrored by the Self. But when collective forms of religion fail to contain the numinosity and symbolic presence of the Self, the ego is especially hard put to gain a sense of being mirrored from the Self within. And as individuation is a process in which the ego is challenged to develop toward greater wholeness (as imaged by the Self), at every stage there is a need for external mirroring, all the greater when really radical personality changes are necessary…. Any creative task is severely hindered by the absence of an external, mirroring presence along the way.

—Nathan Schwartz-Salant, Narcissism and Character Transformation: The Psychology of Narcissistic Character Disorders [1982]