Psychoanalytic Diagnosis: Understanding Personality Structure in the Clinical Process

by Nancy McWilliams PhD

Overview

This acclaimed clinical guide and widely adopted text has filled a key need in the field since its original publication. Nancy McWilliams makes psychoanalytic personality theory and its implications for practice accessible to practitioners of all levels of experience. She explains major character types and demonstrates specific ways that understanding the patient's individual personality structure can influence the therapist's focus and style of intervention. Guidelines are provided for developing a systematic yet flexible diagnostic formulation and using it to inform treatment. Highly readable, the book features a wealth of illustrative clinical examples.

New to This Edition

• Reflects the ongoing development of the author's approach over nearly two decades.
• Incorporates important advances in attachment theory, neuroscience, and the study of trauma.
• Coverage of the contemporary relational movement in psychoanalysis.

Winner—Canadian Psychological Association's Goethe Award for Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Scholarship

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781462543694
Publisher:	Guilford Publications, Inc.
Publication date:	02/06/2020
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	426
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Nancy McWilliams, PhD, ABPP, is Visiting Professor Emerita at the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and has a private practice in Lambertville, New Jersey. She is author or editor of acclaimed books, including Psychoanalytic Diagnosis, Second Edition, and has published widely in professional journals. Dr. McWilliams is a past president of the Society for Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychology, Division 39 of the American Psychological Association (APA). She is the recipient of honors including the Gradiva Award from the National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis, the Erikson Scholar Award from the Austen Riggs Center, the Goethe Scholarship Award from the Section on Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Psychology of the Canadian Psychological Association, the Rosalee Weiss Award from the Division of Independent Practitioners of the APA, the Laughlin Distinguished Teacher Award from the American Society of Psychoanalytic Physicians, the Hans H. Strupp Award from the Appalachian Psychoanalytic Society, and the International, Leadership, and Scholarship Awards from APA Division 39. She is an honorary member of the American Psychoanalytic Association, the Institute for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy of Turin, Italy, and the Warsaw Scientific Association for Psychodynamic Psychotherapy. Dr. McWilliams’s writings have been translated into more than 20 languages. 

Table of Contents

Introduction
I. Conceptual Issues
1. Why Diagnose?
2. Psychoanalytic Character Diagnosis
3. Developmental Levels of Personality Organization
4. Implications of Developmental Levels of Organization
5. Primary Defensive Processes
6. Secondary Defensive Processes
II. Types of Character Organization
7. Psychopathic (Antisocial) Personalities
8. Narcissistic Personalities
9. Schizoid Personalities
10. Paranoid Personalities
11. Depressive and Manic Personalities
12. Masochistic (Self—Defeating) Personalities
13. Obsessive and Compulsive Personalities
14. Hysterical (Histrionic) Personalities
15. Dissociative Psychologies
Appendix. Suggested Diagnostic Interview Format

Interviews

Clinicians and students.

Editorial Reviews

"This is a book for all clinicians who aspire to understand their clients deeply and help them live more richly and authentically. McWilliams synthesizes a century of cumulative clinical wisdom and offers it in a form that is accessible and useful to clinicians of any theoretical persuasion. The first edition of Psychoanalytic Diagnosis was an instant classic; the second edition is exceptionally lucid and masterful. This is McWilliams, master clinician and teacher, at her very best."—Jonathan Shedler, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado School of Medicine

"In revising Psychoanalytic Diagnosis, McWilliams has surpassed herself. The original—deservedly regarded as a classic—was an integrative tour de force; the second edition is even better. Informed by current advances in neuroscience and infant research, and reshaped in light of the 'relational turn' in contemporary psychoanalysis, this book distills a vast literature on development, psychopathology, and therapy into an extraordinarily useful map of the clinical terrain. It is at once an indispensable resource for beginning therapists, a valuable teaching tool, and a comprehensive reference for seasoned clinicians."—David J. Wallin, PhD, private practice, Mill Valley and Albany, California

"In this accessible and impassioned book, McWilliams provides organizing principles to help us understand psychopathology without oversimplifying or evading the difficult questions raised by diagnosis. Reading McWilliams's book will make you feel like you know her. Her extraordinary humanity, wisdom, deep sense of ethics, and steady concern for her patients are evident throughout. The second edition includes an updated presentation of attachment theory, addresses the contributions of relational theory and neuroscience research, and integrates a contemporary understanding of somatization and defense. A 'must read' for every clinician in training."—Joyce A. Slochower, PhD, Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, New York University

From the Publisher

"With humor, warmth, and enthusiasm, Dr. McWilliams instills confidence while making the book a delectable read. There is no doubt that the goal of 'enhancing practice' has been achieved. This book is highly recommended to any clinician-in-training as a foundation for psychoanalytic thinking and also to any practicing therapist as a well-structured and comprehensive resource....This book will be a rich addition to learning about psychoanalytic diagnosis (and psychoanalytic concepts) for any younger mental health professional who is seriously interested in depth psychology. It will also be a valuable tool for more experienced clinicians and educators who would like assistance in translating fairly complex concepts into language that can be appreciated by learners of a variety of different levels of sophistication and disciplinary backgrounds."

Journal of Clinical Psychiatry

"If a 'charming textbook' seems like an oxymoron, then welcome to Nancy McWilliams's Psychoanalytic Diagnosis. Her book is just such a wonder....McWilliams has succeeded in producing a book for initial learning that will remain on her readers' desks as a frequently thumbed manual." (on the first edition)

Psychoanalytic Books

This essential text is highly useful to all practitioners of any theoretical orientation….[McWilliams's] writing style is much like she describes her therapy sessions….Her personal sharing gives the text a soul and you feel you are with a warm and wise teacher….This text [is] as enjoyable as it is enlightening….It goes into great detail about personality organization, defensive functioning, and character styles and describes how they impact treatment.

DIVISION/Review

"Thanks to McWilliams's excellent book, those of us who teach or supervise can at last offer our students and supervisees a comprehensive, exceptionally well-organized text on diagnosis, grounded in evolving psychoanalytic theory and focused on linking diagnosis to the appropriate therapeutic response....Experienced therapists will enjoy a thorough 'refresher' course while also absorbing new ideas, and less experienced clinicians will gain a solid structural foundation and essential guidelines for their clinical work." (on the first edition)

Contemporary Psychology

Presents psychoanalytic personality theory and its implications for beginning practitioners. Explains the major clinically important character types and suggest how an appreciation of individual personality structure should influence the therapist's style of intervention. Covers conceptual issues such as developmental levels of personality organization, primary and secondary defensive processes, types of character organization, borderline syndromes, and dissociative disorders. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews