An abridged version of The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Personality Disorders, this volume presents the essentials of this topic and is updated with the recent growth of knowledge in the neurosciences and the new technologies being used to tackle the treatment of complex psychiatric disorders. In Essentials of Personality Disorders, 35 international authorities--all contributors to the parent text--offer a balance of theory, research, and treatment geared toward ready application in a busy practice. This volume begins with a review of our evolving understanding of personality disorders and the major theories that have influenced thinking about their nature. A succinct guide to clinical evaluation follows, presenting the defining features of DSM-IV-TR personality disorders, complementary approaches to clinical assessment, patterns of Axis I and Axis II disorder comorbidity, and clinical courses and outcomes. Chapters on etiology reflect the most recent data on epidemiology, progress in understanding underlying neurobiology, a developmental perspective on recognizing early patterns of behavior suggestive of future disorders, and the relevance of childhood experiences to the development of maladaptive personality traits. Eleven chapters on treatment then offer guidelines for determining the appropriate intensity of treatment for patients, followed by a presentation of therapeutic options and considerations ranging from psychoanalysis and group treatment to boundary issues and collaborative treatment.

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

Through dozens of tables, illustrative figures, and real-life case examples, established experts in the field, as well as a new generation of scientists, examine clinical concepts; risk factors for and impact of personality disorders; treatment options (including a new chapter on early identification of borderline psychopathology in children); special populations; and future directions for the field.

This new edition of The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Personality Disorders has been thoroughly reorganized and updated to reflect new findings, expanded treatment options and considerations, and future directions, such as translational research, enhancing the text's utility while maintaining its reputation as the foremost reference and clinical guide on the subject. In four exhaustive and enlightening sections, the book covers basic concepts of personality disorders, etiology, clinical assessment, diagnosis, and treatment, and it addresses special issues that may arise with specific populations or settings. In addition, the text offers many features and benefits: Several chapters describe the intense efforts to identify the scientifically strongest -- and clinically relevant -- approaches to conceptualizing and enumerating personality traits and pathology. The book does not sidestep ongoing controversies over classification but addresses them head-on by including chapters by experts with competing perspectives. The hybrid dimensional/categorical alternative model of classification for personality disorders included in the DSM-5 is included in an appendix and thoroughly referenced throughout the volume and discussed in detail in several chapters. Coverage of current research is up-to-date and extensive. Longitudinal naturalistic studies, which have shown surprising patterns of improvement in patients with selected personality disorders, as well as new and more rigorous treatment studies, have yielded critical findings in recent years, all of which are thoroughly addressed. Dozens of vivid and detailed case examples are included to illustrate diagnostic and treatment concepts. The editors have selected a roster of contributors second to none, and the text has been scrupulously edited for consistency of language, tone, and coverage. As clinical populations become better defined, new and more rigorous treatment studies are being conducted with increasingly promising results. The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Personality Disorders offers clinicians, residents, and trainees in all disciplines a front row seat for the latest findings and clinical innovations in this burgeoning field.

Since the second edition of this authoritative text was published in 2002, the research base supporting the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality disorder has more than quadrupled. As a result, the vast majority of this volume is new.

Concisely explains major personality disorders and illustrates each with examples from daily life.

"Personality is not about what disorders you have but about who you are. It refers to a person's characteristic patterns of thought, feeling, behavior, motivation, defense, interpersonal functioning, and ways of experiencing self and others. All people have personalities and personality styles. While there are as many personalities as people, clinical knowledge accrued over generations has given rise to a taxonomy of familiar personality styles or types. Most people, whether healthy or troubled, fit somewhere in the taxonomy. Empirical research over the past two decades has confirmed the major personality types and their core features.1-5 Most clinical theorists do not view the personality types as inherently disordered. They are generally discussed in the clinical literature as personality types, styles, or syndromes-not "disorders." Each exists on a continuum of functioning from healthy to severely disturbed. The term "disorder" is best regarded as a linguistic convenience for clinicians, denoting a degree of extremity or rigidity that causes significant dysfunction, limitation, or suffering. One can have, for example, a narcissistic personality style without having narcissistic personality disorder. The same personality dynamics give rise to both strengths and weaknesses. A person with a healthy narcissistic personality style has the confidence to dream big dreams and pursue them; they can be visionaries, innovators, and founders. A person with a healthy obsessive-compulsive style excels in areas requiring precise, analytic thinking; they may be successful engineers, scientists, or academics. A person with a healthy paranoid style looks beneath the surface and sees what others miss; they may be investigative journalists or brilliant medical diagnosticians. Our best and worst qualities are often cut from the same psychological cloth"--