“Top gun” games are distinguished by their competitiveness and underlying maladaptive narcissism. Therapists who play these games permit envy, fear of humiliation, and exaggerated desires for recognition to push them into competitive conflicts with each other. Emotions associated with experiences of inadequacy and superiority are payoffs that aggravate existing narcissistic injuries and act as incentives for renewed game play. Top gun games seriously compromise effective helping because they introduce destructive competition among professionals and shift the focus from the client's needs to the unmet intrapsychic needs of the therapist. Despite their destructiveness, Top gun games continue because of their advantages and because therapists are protected from insight by the same narcissistic processes that contribute to game play.
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