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“Livesley takes the challenging task of working with personality disordered patients and makes it seem less daunting....A useful resource for many disciplines. It provides a framework for dealing with patients that clinicians can adapt to their own setting and style....As a resource book for teaching about psychotherapy of personality disorders, this book is terrific. Its practical and flexible strategies will be of use to both the novice and the experienced clinician.”

—The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease


“Dr. Livesley is one of the world's leading experts on the assessment and treatment of personality disorders. His latest book is a must for all clinicians who seek an empirical, evidence-based and conceptual account of the essential developmental and structural features of the various personality disorders encountered in clinical practice. While drawing on the most significant theoretical and clinical literature within the psychoanalytic and cognitive-behavioral traditions. Dr. Livesley's strength lies in his capacity to provide a systematic integration and synthesis of the core issues that underlie the disorders and which in turn inform his multi-pronged treatment approach.”

—Leo Goldberger, PhD, Behavioral Science Book Service Advisory Board Member


“Livesley offers a systematic schema and sequence for treating personality disorders, which he conceptualizes as failures in adaptive functioning. He presents an integrative treatment model that can be tailored to contain the individual's symptoms, regulate affects and impulses, and remediate interpersonal problems and maladaptive traits. This clearly written book will prove highly useful as a guide for professionals, residents, and graduate students alike, pointing out new avenues for managing not only the classical personality disorders, but also psychopathology in general.”

—Theodore Millon, PhD, DSc, Institute for Advanced Studies in Personology and Psychopathology


“This is a wonderful book, a breath of fresh air in a fast-growing, important literature. Written with clarity and broad perspective, this book successfully integrates an astonishing range of material. A systematic portrait of human personality, both normal and abnormal, is presented, from which is derived a logical, coherent, individualized plan of treatment for those who need it. The comprehensive nature of this book makes it ideal for use in the classroom in a wide range of educational settings, from psychology to psychiatry.”

—John M. Oldham, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina


“With this book, Dr. Livesley provides one of the most creative and innovative contributions in many years to the conceptualization, understanding, and treatment of personality disorders. This text will be widely cited, discussed, and considered for years to come. It is a 'must read' for both clinicians and researchers who are interested in going beyond the traditional diagnostic and treatment literature. Dr. Livesley beautifully brings together a sophisticated understanding of a vast research literature with years of direct, intensive clinical experience. He offers systematic, pragmatic advice for clinicians involved in the frustrating task of treating personality disorders, demonstrating how meaningful change in personality functioning can and does occur. Clinicians and researchers will find common ground in this text, which exemplifies the best of both worlds.”

—Thomas A. Widiger, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. A Framework for Understanding Normal and Disordered Personality

3. The Origins of Personality Disorder

4. The Process of Change

5. Assessment

6. Treatment Planning and the Treatment Contact

7. General Therapeutic Strategies

8. Safety and Containment: Treating Symptoms and Crises

9. Regulation and Control: Treating Affects and Impulses

10. Regulation and Control: Treating Trauma and Dissociative Behavior

11. Exploration and Change: Treating Self and Interpersonal Problems

12. Exploration and Change: Treating Maladaptive Traits

13. Integration and Synthesis: Treating Core Pathology

14. Implementation and Concluding Comments

Appendix: Self-State Description

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About the Author

W. John Livesley, MD, PhD, is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia, Canada. His research focuses on the structure, classification, and origins of personality disorder, and on constructing an integrated framework for describing and conceptualizing personality pathology. His clinical interests are directed toward developing a unified approach to treatment. Dr. Livesley is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He is a past editor of the Journal of Personality Disorders.

• All titles by W. John Livesley

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Audience

Clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, clinical social workers, and other practitioners treating individuals with personality disorders. Also of interest to advanced students.

May serve as a text in graduate-level psychotherapy courses.

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Course Use

May serve as a text in graduate-level psychotherapy courses.