Treatment of Severe Personality Disorders

Author: Otto F. Kernberg, M.D.
Publisher: American Psychiatric Pub
ISBN: 1615371435
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 322

Book Description
In Treatment of Severe Personality Disorders: Resolution of Aggression and Recovery of Eroticism, the influential psychoanalyst and psychiatrist Otto Kernberg presents an integrated update of the current knowledge of personality disorders, their neurobiological and psychodynamic determinants, and a specific psychodynamic psychotherapy geared to resolve the psychopathology of these conditions -- namely, the syndrome of identity diffusion and its influence on the capacity for emotional wellbeing and gratifying relationships with significant others. The author updates the findings of the Personality Disorders Institute of the Weill Cornell Medical College Department of Psychiatry, which are derived from the empirical research and clinical investigation of severe personality disorders, and addresses the effectiveness of transference-focused psychotherapy, a specific psychodynamic treatment for these disorders developed at the Institute. The volume focuses particularly on an essential group of techniques common to all psychoanalytically derived treatments and clarifies the corresponding differential features of various psychodynamic treatment approaches. In prose both precise and evocative, the author: Examines the classification of personality disorders, the way competing viewpoints have influenced the evolution of DSM-III and DSM-IV, and the impact of new knowledge on the classification of DSM-5, with emphasis on how conflicts between scientific and political considerations have hindered the classification of personality disorders in the past. Illustrates in detail how present knowledge of neurobiological structures and neurotransmitters intertwines with the psychodynamic determinants of how psychic experience is organized. Explores psychodynamic psychotherapies and contemporary developments and controversies in the field. For example, the role of interpretation in borderline pathology is examined using a clinical case, and a new formulation of supportive psychodynamic psychotherapy is described. Addresses severe narcissistic pathology -- its diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. Specifically, the book presents an overview of treatment options for severe narcissistic personality disorder, explores the distortions in verbal communication that may arise during psychotherapy with these patients, and focuses on the differential diagnosis of antisocial behavior. Examines the diagnosis and treatment of sexual pathology, and explores the vicissitudes of the love lives of patients with severe personality disorders. Concludes with a chapter on the essential preconditions in the education of psychodynamic psychotherapists to carry out the challenging and complex psychotherapeutic work in this field. In describing both the limits and the advances in therapeutic effectiveness, the Treatment of Severe Personality Disorders: Resolution of Aggression and Recovery of Eroticism performs a great service, and it will surely become a classic of the psychoanalytic literature.

Severe Personality Disorders

Author: Otto F. Kernberg
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300053494
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 402

Book Description
In this important book, one of the world's foremost psychoanalysts provides the clinician with tools to diagnose and treat severe cases of personality disorder, including borderline and narcissistic structures. Dr. Kernberg not only describes techniques he has found useful in clinical practice but also further develops theories formulated in his previous work and critically reviews other recent contributions. "A splendid book . . . of great value for anyone involved in psychotherapy with patients suffering from one or another variety of personality disorder, as well as for anyone who is teaching or doing research in this field. . . . An outstandingly fine and valuable book.--Harold F. Searles, M.D., Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease "Kernberg is a synthesizing, creative eclectic on the contemporary psychoanalytic and psychodynamic scene, broadly based in theory and in practice, a powerful intelligence, a prolific writer, and a man of ideas....This is a challenging and provocative book."--Alan A. Stone, M.D., American Journal of Psychiatry "A major work that brings together in one volume a host of clinical insights into people with a variety of severe personality disorders.... Anyone who has attempted to work with patients with severe personality disorders will be rewarding by studying this book." --Robert D. Gillman, Psychoanalytic Quarterly

Transference-Focused Psychotherapy for Adolescents With Severe Personality Disorders

Author: Lina Normandin, Ph.D.
Publisher: American Psychiatric Pub
ISBN: 1615373144
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 278

Book Description
Transference-Focused Psychotherapy for Adolescents With Severe Personality Disorders is a manual for clinicians who wish to learn an effective psychodynamic treatment for young people with personality disorders (PDs). Despite converging evidence that PDs emerge in childhood and are clearly evident in adolescence, research on effective treatments has been limited. The editors have therefore created a book that details treatment models with strong theoretical foundations and examines systematic interventions designed to explore and resolve the conflicts and behaviors, common to PDs, that impede normal adolescent development. The book begins with an overview of psychopathology and normal adolescent development from a psychodynamic perspective. The next section offers therapeutic approaches, including a discussion of the major goals and strategies of TFP-A, the clinical evaluation and assessment process, establishment of the treatment framework and collaboration with parents, and finally, the techniques and tactics of TFP-A. The last section of the book reviews the phases of treatment and discusses the strengths and competencies a therapist must have to successfully conduct transference-based therapy. Authored by experts in the field (including Dr. Kernberg, a pioneer in object relations), Transference-Focused Psychotherapy for Adolescents (TFP-A) with Severe Personality Disorders teaches clinicians how to conduct TFP-A, with the ultimate goal of resolving the intrapsychic restrictions that interfere with normal adolescent development.

Broken Structures

Author: Salman Akhtar
Publisher: Jason Aronson, Incorporated
ISBN: 1461627680
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 443

Book Description
This book integrates psychiatry and psychoanalysis to present deeper and sounder clinical profiles of the personality disorders than have been hitherto available.

Moderating Severe Personality Disorders

Author: Theodore Millon
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470127600
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 360

Book Description
A revolutionary, personalized psychotherapy approach for the treatment of Axis II personality disorders, by renowned expert Dr. Theodore Millon Acknowledging the primacy of the whole person, Moderating Severe Personality Disorders: A Personalized Psychotherapy Approach takes into account all of the complexities of human nature - family influences, culture, neurobiological processes, unconscious memories, and so on--illustrating that no part of human nature should lie outside the scope of a clinician's regard. Part of a three book series, this book provides you with a unique combination of conceptual background and step-by-step practical advice to guide your treatment of Axis II personality disorders. Detailed case studies are provided throughout the text to illustrate the strategies of personalized psychotherapy for: Retiring/Schizoid Personality Patterns Shy/Avoidant Personality Patterns Pessimistic/Depressive Personality Patterns Aggrieved/Masochistic Personality Patterns Eccentric/Schizotypal Personality Patterns Capricious/Borderline Personality Patterns Destined to become an essential reference for trainees and professionals, this book makes a revolutionary call to return therapy to the natural reality of each patient's life, seamlessly guiding you in understanding the personality and treatment of the whole, unique, yet complex person.

Handbook of Dynamic Psychotherapy for Higher Level Personality Pathology

Author: Eve Caligor
Publisher: American Psychiatric Pub
ISBN: 1585626422
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 296

Book Description
Offering a sophisticated introduction to a contemporary psychodynamic model of the mind and treatment, this book provides an approach to understanding and treating higher level personality pathology. It describes a specific form of treatment called "dynamic psychotherapy for higher level personality pathology" (DPHP), which was designed specifically to treat the rigidity that characterizes that condition. Based on psychodynamic object relations theory, DPHP is an outgrowth of transference-focused psychotherapy (TFP) and is part of an integrated approach to psychodynamic treatment of personality pathology across the spectrum of severity -- from higher level personality pathology, described in this volume, to severe personality pathology, described in a companion volume, Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality: Focusing on Object Relations. Together, they provide a comprehensive description of an object relations theory-based approach to treatment of personality disorders, embedded in an integrated model of personality. As a guide to treatment, Handbook of Dynamic Psychotherapy for Higher Level Personality Pathology provides a clear, specific, and comprehensive description of how to practice DPHP from beginning to end, presented in jargon-free exposition using extensive clinical illustrations. The authors offer a comprehensive description of psychodynamic consultation that includes sharing the diagnostic impression, establishing treatment goals, discussing treatment options, obtaining informed consent, and establishing treatment frame. Throughout, the book emphasizes fundamental clinical principles that enable the clinician to think through clinical decisions moment-to-moment and also to develop an overall sense of the trajectory and goals of the treatment. Among the book's benefits: Takes a diagnosis-driven approach, presenting a clear model of both the psychopathology and its treatment; Explains underlying theory and basic elements of DPHP for those first learning dynamic therapy; Offers an integrated, innovative synthesis of contemporary psychodynamic approaches to personality pathology and psychodynamic psychotherapy; Describes goals, strategies, tactics, and techniques of the treatment to demonstrate its flexibility over a relatively long course of treatment; Provides sophisticated discussion of integrating dynamic psychotherapy with medication management and other forms of treatment. DPHP offers a broad range of patients the opportunity to modify maladaptive personality functioning in ways that can permanently enhance their quality of life. Handbook of Dynamic Psychotherapy for Higher Level Personality Pathology provides experienced clinicians with a hands-on approach to that method, and is also useful as a primary textbook in courses focusing on the technique of dynamic psychotherapy or in courses on psychodynamics.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)

Author: American Psychiatric Association
Publisher: American Psychiatric Publishing
ISBN: 9781955245180
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Book Description

Psychotherapy for Personality Disorders

Author: John G. Gunderson
Publisher: American Psychiatric Pub
ISBN: 1585628204
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 187

Book Description
Defined by stable, long-term, subjective distress and/or social impairment, personality disorders affect up to 18% of the population. Social impairment and health care usage are far more prevalent among people with personality disorders than among people with major depressive disorders. Personality disorders are highly prevalent, variable, and notoriously difficult to treat, and they continue to challenge the therapeutic community and represent a formidable public health concern. This volume ably addresses personality disorders as one of the top priorities of psychiatry for the new millennium, offering a thorough and updated review and analysis of empirical work to point up the issues central to developing a therapeutic model for treatment as well as current research challenges. A review of extant research yields the heartening conclusion that psychotherapy remains an effective treatment for people with personality disorders. An examination of psychodynamic treatment for borderline personality disorder speaks to its efficacy. An analysis of the rationale for combining psychotherapy and psychopharmacology emphasizes the importance of identifying temperament and target conditions. A well-documented and reasoned treatise on antisocial personality disorder makes the crucial point that clinicians must acquire a depth of understanding and skill sufficient to determine what the cut-off point is for treatable versus nontreatable gradations. With the caveat that evidence supporting the efficacy of cognitive treatments for personality disorders is slight and that such approaches require tailoring, a strong case is made for their validity. This timely volume both answers and reframes many stubborn questions about the efficacy of psychotherapy for treating personality disorders.

Transference-Focused Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality Disorder

Author: Frank E. Yeomans
Publisher: American Psychiatric Pub
ISBN: 1585625434
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 430

Book Description
Transference-Focused Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality Disorder: A Clinical Guide presents a model of borderline personality disorder (BPD) and its treatment that is based on contemporary psychoanalytic object relations theory as developed by the leading thinker in the field, Otto Kernberg, M.D., who is also one of the authors of this insightful manual. The model is supported and enhanced by material on current phenomenological and neurobiological research and is grounded in real-world cases that deftly illustrate principles of intervention in ways that mental health professionals can use with their patients. The book first provides clinicians with a model of borderline pathology that is essential for expert assessment and treatment planning and then addresses the empirical underpinnings and specific therapeutic strategies of transference-focused psychotherapy (TFP). From the chapter on clinical assessment, the clinician learns how to select the type of treatment on the basis of the level of personality organization, the symptoms the patient experiences, and the areas of compromised functioning. In order to decide on the type of treatment, the clinician must examine the patient's subjective experience (such as symptoms of anxiety or depression), observable behaviors (such as investments in relationships and deficits in functioning), and psychological structures (such as identity, defenses, and reality testing). Next, the clinician learns to establish the conditions of treatment through negotiating a verbal treatment contract or understanding with the patient. The contract defines the responsibilities of each of the participants and defines what the reality of the therapeutic relationship is. Techniques of treatment interventions and tactics to address particularly difficult clinical challenges are addressed next, equipping the therapist to employ the four primary techniques of TFP (interpretation, transference analysis, technical neutrality, and use of countertransference) and setting the stage for and guiding the proper use of those techniques within the individual session. What to expect in the course of long-term treatment to ameliorate symptoms and to effect personality change is covered, with sections on the early, middle, and late phases of treatment. This material prepares the clinician to deal with predictable phases, such as tests of the frame, impulse containment, movement toward integration, episodes of regression, and termination. Finally, the text is accompanied by supremely instructive online videos that demonstrate a variety of clinical situations, helping the clinician with assessment and modeling critical therapeutic strategies. The book recognizes that each BPD patient presents a unique treatment challenge. Grounded in the latest research and rich with clinical insight, Transference-Focused Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality Disorder: A Clinical Guide will prove indispensable to mental health professionals seeking to provide thoughtful, effective care to these patients.

Treating Pathological Narcissism with Transference-Focused Psychotherapy

Author: Diana Diamond
Publisher: Guilford Publications
ISBN: 1462546684
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 490

Book Description
Filling a crucial gap in the clinical literature, this book provides a contemporary view of pathological narcissism and presents an innovative treatment approach. The preeminent authors explore the special challenges of treating patients--with narcissistic traits or narcissistic personality disorder--who retreat from reality into narcissistic grandiosity, thereby compromising their lives and relationships. Assessment procedures and therapeutic strategies have been adapted from transference-focused psychotherapy (TFP), a manualized, evidence-based treatment for borderline personality disorder. Rich case material illustrates how TFP-N enables the clinician to engage patients more deeply in therapy and help them overcome relationship and behavioral problems at different levels of severity. The volume integrates psychodynamic theory and research with findings from social cognition, attachment, and neurobiology.