PERSONALITIES

There are many approaches to the treatment of patients with severe personality disorders. The editors of this book interviewed thirteen theoreticians/psychotherapists who are very prominent in this field, some of them being founders of a specific school of psychotherapy. They are: Gerald Adler, Salman Akhtar, Lorna Smith Benjamin, John Clarkin, Robert Cloninger, Arthur Freeman, Glen Gabbard, Otto Kernberg, Marsha Linehan, John Livesley, Lawrence Rockland, Michael Stone and Jeffrey Young. They discuss the major tenets of their approach, their professional development, and their differences. The interviews also address tbc pcople behind the theories: what personal motives made them want to work witli patients wilth a personality disorder, so often considered to be 'difficult' patients? And, why did they choose or develop their specific approach? Finally: what do they practice? All interviewees explain what they would do in very specific situations, for instance: what would you do, if in the middle of the night one of your patients calls you and tells you that he is suicidal? Their answers are very instructive, sometimes surprising, and show their differences and similarities. This book, with many photographs of these major contributors to the treatment of personality disorders, is intended for professionals in the field of psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, psychiatry and psychology, and for those who are interested in the ways contemporary psychotherapists think and work.