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Psychotherapy for the personality disorders: working with traits
1McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic
|August 15, 1998
Summary
Personality disorders are challenging to treat due to difficulties in forming therapeutic alliances. Effective treatment requires understanding these conditions as amplified normal traits, focusing on adaptive trait utilization.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Clinical Psychology
- Personality Science
Background:
- Empirical research validates clinical observations regarding the treatment resistance of personality disorders.
- Personality pathology significantly impedes psychotherapy progress, primarily through impaired alliance formation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To underscore the need for etiological theories in developing future personality disorder treatment models.
- To propose a conceptualization of personality disorders as pathological amplifications of normal personality traits.
Main Methods:
- Review of empirical research and clinical observations on personality disorder treatment.
- Theoretical analysis of personality disorder etiology and stability.
Main Results:
- Personality disorders present significant challenges in psychotherapy, often linked to alliance difficulties.
- The temporal stability of these disorders is attributable to genetic influences on personality traits.
Conclusions:
- Future treatment models must integrate a comprehensive understanding of personality disorder etiology.
- Effective therapeutic interventions should focus on guiding patients toward more adaptive trait expression and utilization.