Primer on Personality Disorders

Personality Disordersis an up-to-date, evidence-based, and accessibly written review to assist psychiatry, psychology, social work, and mental health trainees and seasoned practitioners in their understanding and treatment of patients with various personality styles and personality disorders. The work is divided into three sections, which include clinical illustrations and wisdom from well-known expert clinicians. Section I provides an overview of the assessment of personality styles and disorders and a general clinical approach, including epidemiology, interviewing, and developing a categorical and trait diagnosis. Section II describes the major evidence-based multi-clinical treatment approaches for personality disorders, such as general management, cognitive and behavioral therapies, dialectical behavioral therapy, psychodynamic psychotherapies, schema focused psychotherapy, mentalization-based treatment, and family and group therapy. Section III covers the major specific personality disorders, their treatments, and management of relevant co-morbidities.
Each chapter offers key point summaries, provides useful resources for patients, and scholarly references for psychiatry trainees and clinicians. Chapters are written from a bio-psycho-social-cultural perspective using either a single theoretical approach or a multi-modal treatment approach. This book is the most comprehensive guide to personality disorders to date, detailing a wide array of multi-theoretical and inclusive clinical treatment approaches.