Psychotherapy with the hysterical personality: an interpersonal approach

Personality disturbances are increasingly being defined in terms of person-environment transactions. Puzzling individual behavior may take on fresh significance when viewed within a broader system of forces (Andrews 1966, 1974; Carson 1969; Coyne 1976; Watzlawick et al. 1967). Psychotherapy, in particular, can usefully be viewed as a dyadic system in which both parties endeavor to define the relationship. The purpose of the present paper is to explore the interaction patterns associated with the hysterical personality from this perspective; and to identify relationships between these patterns and the therapeutic tactics which have proven most fruitful with hysterical patients. Since the bulk of clinical literature on hysteria is psychoanalytically based, the main emphasis of this paper will be on psychodynamic therapy. The smaller but growing body of material dealing with behavior therapy provides a fruitful basis for comparison and contrast. New case material will also be introduced to illustrate the main therapeutic principles discussed.