This clinical guide describes a different way to treat borderline personality disorder. Rather than using the currently available therapies, the author presents a trans-theoretical approach that combines the essential elements of all effective treatments. The book offers a framework for understanding the nature and origins of borderline personality disorder that is used to define treatment targets and strategies. Building on this foundation, systems for organizing treatment are presented around change mechanisms common to all effective therapies. Interventions are presented in modules, allowing therapists to select treatment according to the needs of patients. Treatment is explained by dividing therapy into phases, each addressing different problems. Methods are described to promote engagement, manage suicidality, treat crises, improve emotional regulation, restructure maladaptive interpersonal behaviours, construct a new sense of self and identity, and build a life worth living. The volume will interest mental health professionals from all disciplines and different levels of expertise.

Originally published in 2007, this book is about understanding and managing patients with severe personality disorders. It covers biological, psychoanalytic and cognitive behavioral approaches and provides a pragmatic guide to best practice. As well as discussing issues of severity, treatability and the range of appropriate management options, the content explores the common elements of effective interventions and covers early prediction, countertransference, disruptions of the therapeutic alliance, suicidal crises and what to do when dealing with dangerous, refractory and stalking patients. The chapters are authored by an international cast of distinguished investigators and innovators from the field. This is a holistic, practical guide to the treatment of patients with a range of these disorders and it should be read by members of the mental health team dealing with this challenging clinical group.

This book is about understanding and managing patients with severe personality disorders. It covers biological, psychoanalytic and cognitive behavioral approaches and provides a pragmatic guide to best practice. As well as discussing issues of severity, treatability and the range of appropriate management options, the content explores the common elements of effective interventions and covers early prediction, countertransference, disruptions of the therapeutic alliance, suicidal crises and what to do when dealing with dangerous, refractory and stalking patients. The chapters are authored by an international cast of distinguished investigators and innovators from the field. This is a holistic, practical guide to the treatment of patients with a range of these disorders and it should be read by members of the mental health team dealing with this challenging clinical group.

*Eagerly awaited major revision of a key handbook--80% new material includes 21 new chapter topics. *Critiques DSM-5 categories and describes tremendous progress in the last 15+ years toward better understanding and treating personality disorders. *Treatment research has grown dramatically; the volume identifies and describes all therapies that have been shown to work. *Authoritative: from leading international researchers and clinicians.

The leading reference on personality disorders and their treatment, this authoritative work is now significantly revised with 80% new content reflecting important advances in the field. Preeminent experts provide in-depth coverage of conceptual and taxonomic issues, psychopathology, epidemiology and longitudinal course, etiology and development, and specific diagnoses. Diagnostic issues are explored and available assessment instruments discussed. All available evidence-based treatments are reviewed in consistently organized chapters that cover theoretical and empirical foundations as well as clinical strategies, facilitating comparison of the various approaches. New to This Edition *Incorporates more than 15 years of major research advances; includes 21 chapters on new topics. *Critically examines DSM-5 diagnostic criteria. *Chapters on additional treatments--mentalization-based treatment, schema-focused therapy, transference-based psychotherapy, and systems training for emotional predictability and problem solving. *Chapters on dimensional models, longitudinal studies, and personality pathology in children and adolescents. *Chapters on specific diagnoses: antisocial/psychopathic, borderline, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. *Integrative section introductions by the editors. See also Integrated Treatment for Personality Disorder, edited by W. John Livesley, Giancarlo Dimaggio, and John F. Clarkin, which weaves multiple well-established intervention strategies into a systematic modular approach.

Rather than arguing for one best approach for treating personality disorder, this pragmatic book emphasizes the benefits of weaving together multiple well-established intervention strategies to meet each patient's needs. A framework is provided for constructing a comprehensive case formulation, planning treatment, and developing a strong therapeutic alliance. The clinician is guided to utilize techniques from all major therapeutic orientations to address transdiagnostic personality symptoms and problems involving emotion regulation, interpersonal functioning, and self and identity. Showing how to pick and choose from "what works" in a thoughtful, coordinated fashion, the book features rich clinical illustrations, including a chapter-length case example. See also Handbook of Personality Disorders, Second Edition, edited by W. John Livesley and Roseann Larstone, the leading reference that surveys theory, research, and evidence-based treatments.

This volume takes a multi-level approach to understanding and treating personality disorder, identifying core symptoms and problems that many patients share and providing a comprehensive framework for clinical intervention. Rather than presenting a particular model of therapy, W. John Livesley shows how a wide variety of empirically supported interventions can be used to manage specific components of an integrated treatment plan. Drawing on etiological knowledge as well as outcome research, the book identifies effective strategies for addressing key areas of the patient's psychosocial and biological functioning. The clinician learns how to conceptualize the phases of treatment and use the stages-of-change model as a guide for sequencing and selecting appropriate interventions. Pragmatic and flexible, the research-based strategies presented here are applicable in diverse settings, in therapies ranging from crisis intervention to long-term treatment.