Product Description
People with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) challenge those close to them with their often bewildering mood shifts and unpredictable behavior. For those people who have relationships with persons with BPD, whether they be relatives, friends, spouses, parents, or children, this book should prove a godsend. It delineates the ways in which borderline individuals (BPs) behavior and communications frustrate and perplex those around them but goes further in articulating specific strategies that those close to the person with Borderline Personality Disorder (nonBPs, as they are termed in this book) can effectively cope with these kinds of behaviors. Larry J. Siever, M.D. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fantastic - Very helpful!
This book was very insightful into the BPD's issues as well as the non-bpd's responses. After reading it I felt a lot more empathy for the BPD, but also felt like the tools were there to cope better with the BPD in someone's life. The book will probably be more helpful to someone with a BPD who is primarily in their life, like a spouse, parent, child, etc. Does offer some help to those who have a periphery BPD in their life, for example a cousin, uncle, friend, son-in-law, etc. I highly recommend it! ... Read more

Product Description
Now in a fully revised and expanded second edition, this landmark work brings together in one volume the most important current perspectives on personality pathology. Chapters from leading experts have been extensively rewritten to reflect a decade's worth of significant theoretical, empirical, and clinical developments, and two entirely new chapters have been added. Coverage encompasses psychodynamic, interpersonal, attachment, ecological, psychometric, and neurobiological models, all presented in a consistent format to facilitate ready reference and comparison. The volume also explores similarities and differences among the various theories, identifies potential avenues of integration, and discusses key implications for research and clinical care.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Relative to the 1996 First Edition...
While Strack's =Handbook of Personology and Psychopathology= is more current and extensive, it'll also set you back a good $80.00 or so to lay your hands on one at this time. The "flooring" here is '90s vintage, but it's pretty solid construction both theoretically and empirically. The nine contributors hereto were all among the top people in personality theory at the time, with Aaron Beck, Lorna Benjamin, Otto Kernberg and Teddy Millon ranking at the =very= top of the heap.

Of necessity in a book this size, =Major Theories...= is a tree-topper much of the way, but three of the five conceptualizations are plenty deep for beginning (or even intermediate-level) readers. Kernberg, Benjamin and Millon (with sometime co-author Roger Davis) go =long=, and though the sledding can get pretty soggy here and there (Millon can be a trial for anyone), full attention is well rewarded.

Kernberg (arguably The Man on borderline personality) gives one of the most coherent presentations of his career here. Moreover, he brings a =very= modern perspective to the psychoanalytic theory that (at least for me) used to make Kernberg's extremely important work pretty verbally opaque. One can see it all quite clearly here.

Benjamin summarizes her work in =Interpersonal Reconstructive Therapy= in detail, then clarifies how it relates to personality in crystal clarity. Her explanation of the "important person and their internalized representation" is one of the most literate descriptions of psychodynamic theory I've ever come across.

Millon and Davis make you work for it, but as has been the case every time I've gone down the road with Teddy, the meat =is= all there on the bone (and, perhaps unfortunately, then some; some of the material here seems irrelevant). For those who have read Millon's epic =Personality Guided Therapy= (1999), here, at least, is the "how" and "why" of his remarkable illuminations.

Beck (and co-author James Pretzer) make a convincing case for personality as the behavioral result of core beliefs, ideals, values, assumptions, convictions and attitudes driving current appraisals, evaluations, interpretations, judgments, analyses and/or attributions of meaning. The depth here is not what it is in Beck's and Freeman's =Cognitive Theory of Personality Disorders= (strongly recommended), but it is adequate to establish a grasp of what is currently the most accessible and widely utilized theory in current psychotherapeutic practice.

Due to my own training in personality theory, behaviorism, object relations theory (and psychodynamic psychology in general), and cognitivism, I was personally most impressed with the foregoing sections of =Major Theories=. But my more limited schooling in millennial-era "neuropsychology" met with disappointment in Depue's solid but limited article on the biology of personality. While he certainly covered impulsivity in spades, I saw as much relevance in Millon's notions about the bipolar nature of personality-disordered behavior and how they might fit into both essentially manic and essentially depressive, as well as truly Axis I "bipolar" schemes.

I surely would have looked more deeply into the "condition" of the bits and pieces of the limbic system's "brake lining," into dendritic growth or decay in affective memory centers, into excitotoxicty (a =major= issue in the paranoid, schizotypal and borderline PDs), and into the autonomic nervous system in general and post-traumatic stress disorder in particular. (The data was available in the mid-'90s; see Louis Cozolino, Michael Gazzaniga, Joseph LeDoux, Alan Schore and Bessel van der Kolk, just to name a few.)

In whatever event; the rest of the book is =so= worthwhile, I am forced to give it a nice "high five." ... Read more

Product Description
Accounts of Multiple Personality Disorder have usually been written by mental health professionals as texts or case studies. Now, in Becoming One, Sarah Olson has allowed us the rare privilege of entering her internal world in her first-person account of her journey from fragmentation to wholeness. Two little girls, the author and her sister, were routinely terrorized and assaulted over a period of years by a family friend. One grew up closed and withdrawn, the other angry and self-destructive. And, most painful of all, their common suffering resulted in estrangement from each other. Becoming One began as Olson's attempt to provide a written account of her memories for her sister as a means of reconciliation and healing. The author's courage and generosity in candidly sharing her remarkable experiences provide important insights into the world of dissociation. Here is at once a highly personal look into an individual life, the dynamics of a troubled family, and the healing power of the therapeutic process. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

excellent resource
I've not read the book in its entirety only skimmed through it. It's a great resource and I am glad I added it to my collection of MPD/DID resources. I am learning more and more about this diagnosis. It is more than I learned in medical school. Thanks. The book is in perfect condition and the seller is great to deal with. I highly recommend further purchases from this seller and I certainly recommend the book, especially if you are MPD/DID.

AMAZING!!!
I have read many books and articles on DID (MPD)--more than 50--this is the best I have encountered.The interspersed transcripts of therapy, the detailed (though not exploitative or sensationalized) accounts the abuse, and the thorough description of the environment which both created the need for DID and sent the double messages that sustained it are a welcome addition to the literature.

In process myself and working through much of what Sarah describes, I could only say that I feel validated and believed, and perhaps for the first time, understood, by someone else.I felt like I was reading my life in so many ways--years behind her in the process, hearing my therapist in her transcripts--it gave me hope that there is a point where things come together and it doesn't rule your life anymore.I'm thankful that she told her story and I hope that when people read her book they are able to understand the truth in what she's saying.It means a lot to be believed.

Meandering outbursts of anger and bitterness...
While I am glad that Ms. Olsen found the courage to speak out about the effects of severe child abuse, I found this book to be one woman's meandering tyraid against practically everyone and everything in her life, past and present.It was difficult to follow and depressing...and I also have DID.I did not find it the least bit inspiring or encouraging for fellow multiples.Rather, I found it to be written in an almost self-pitying and egocentric manner.
This very well could have been a message of personal testimony coupled with inspiration and encouragement.However, the book is filled with one-sided rants that are very difficult to follow.
If you are a multiple, do not look to this book for any hope or encouragement.

Excellent book
I found this book interesting and easy to read.It is written inflashback style. It offers an insight to the intimate details of a therapy process. The writer is very candid about what caused the trauma. We get the benefit of knowing the journey she took to heal from the horror of her childhood. Helpful and Hopeful.

Highly Recommended!
This book gives incredible insight into the work required by both the therapist and the patient with DID.I cried for the little girls who were so brutally treated and then ignored by those who should protect, and for Sarah and her Alters as they struggled with the aspects of integration and the resulting consequences for each of them.

Becoming One is a book which reveals the internal struggles through transcripts from therapy sessions and diaries.Personal notes reveal the inside story and the wisdom gained from hindsight and the very hard work and courage that was needed to heal.

It was a lengthy search for me to obtain a copy of this book and it certainly was worth the effort.It has brought me strength as I begin my own journey, and hope which is such a necessity.I have immense admiration for Sarah Olsen for overcoming such horrors, physical and emotional pain, and for having the courage to come forth to help others.I recommend Becoming One for both therapists and for those who continue to suffer from Dissociative Identity Disorder. ... Read more

Product Description
Patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) are among the most challenging patients for clinicians to treat. Their behaviors and emotions can shift abruptly. As a result, these patients can seem like therapeutic moving targets, and improvement can be vexingly slow.

A Developmental Model of Borderline Personality Disorder is a landmark work on this difficult condition. The book emphasizes a developmental approach to BPD based on an in-depth study of inpatients at Chestnut Lodge in Rockville, Maryland, during the years 1950 through 1975 and the authors’ thirty years of clinical and supervisory experience. Using information gleaned from the original clinical notes and follow-up studies, the authors present four intriguing case studies to chart the etiology, long-term course, and clinical manifestations of BPD.

This book will help practitioners develop understanding and empathy for these patients by illuminating the disorder to help interpret its causes and course. Clinicians will find a wealth of insight and guidance for providing individual psychotherapy and designing the best mental health services to optimize outcomes in patients with BPD. ... Read more

Product Description
Practical introduction to the DSM-IV personality disorders. Covers diagnosis, theoretical and therapeutic principles. Each chapter covers a different personality. Synopsis of the text Disordered Personalities ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Concise, accurate, fun to read overview
This 186 page paperback is a wonderful synopsis of the more thorough text, Disordered Personalities, 2nd Ed. It should be in the office of every mental health professional. The book includes DSM-IV criteria, as well as athorough overview of therapeutics, including etiology, ego defenses,therapeutic techniques, MSE, mnemonics, etc. The reader will find separatechapters describing 10 different disorders, as well as a discussion of thepassive-aggressive individual, the "organic" personality, andmultiple personality. The graphics and caricatures are simply wonderful!The information is current and accurate, and the price is very reasonable.Professionals and lay people alike will learn much from this gem, and havefun in the process! Highly recommended!

I am a medical student.This is a helpful Psychiatry adjunc
This book is really good.If you are a medical school student like me and would like a book that explains the DSM IV disorder classifications, you would do very well with this book.For the lay person, this is a good bookbecause it gives you an insight to the many different personalities--notjsut necessarily disorders.There are personality behaviors that everyonepossess but are not to the severity of being considered a disorder.If youread this book, you will understand people much better. But you have tounderstand, not everyone who meets some or a few of the criteria of aparticular disorder has the disorder.A person can have certain traits ofa particular disorder (for example: passive-aggressive) without actuallyreally having the disorder.It is a matter of degree and the number ofcriteria the person meets.A person can have passive-aggressive treats,but to have a diagnosis of "passive aggressive personalitydisorder," there needs to be more specific behaviors!It is allexplained in the book. ... Read more

Product Description
For some 5 to 16 million Americans, borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a pervasive pattern of instability that begins early in life. What are the three subgroups of BPD? How do you differentiate BPD from other disorders? What is the likelihood of recovery? Is group or individual therapy more effective? What environmental, genetic, and biological influences may cause BPD? How do medications impact BPD symptoms? This book will help answer these and many other questions.At-a-glance features include:7 typical characteristics of those with BPD Differential diagnostic concerns Treatment strategies for interpersonal, cognitive, dialectical behavior, and group therapy 13 predisposing factors for suicide 4 psychometric assessment tools New self-report and interview instruments Treatment dialog examples for various theoretical approaches Comparison table of 6 classes of medications used to treat BPD 6 key relapse prevention treatment strategies ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Disappointing ending
While this book, in all it's earlier chapters does an excellent job of explaining the full mental, emotional and psychological make-up of someone suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder I was hugely disappointed and more than a bit let down towards the end when I read "Research has found no psychopharmacological agent to be superior to another for the broad spectrum of BPD symtoms. Clinicians have found these medications most effective for acute symptoms. MEDICATIONS GENERALLY SHOW LIMITED EFFICACY WHEN USED FOR MAINTENANCE."

It seems that the general, underlying advice which this author gives is one of communal support groups or finding therapists who have the necessary knowledge of dealing with BPD.

For those unfortunate people out there who know that they do have BPD but who either cannot afford a suitable therapist or who do not have themeans of joining up with BPD support groups (due to distances involved or other insurmountable difficulities)- one feels let down after finally discovering the diagnosis as to what exactly ails you.

A short section regarding available and used medications for BPD is discussed, together with their side effects too, but other than that - anyone who suffers from BPD will not get full guidance just how they can go about learning to deal with this most incapacitating illness.

If you are looking for answers as to how to deal with your illness - this book sadly falls flat towards the end...

I liked this book. Found it very useful and informative.
The book is very clear and to-the-point. It provides very important information without going too much into useless details (like silly dramatic stories of very extreme cases I read in many other books that donot apply to me) Each chapter has a very clear, consise summaryand repeatsdefinitions used in the text. What I found most useful is that the authorprovides comparison of different therapies available to-date based onscientific research, not her opinion allowing me to make my own choice.Having read this book, I know that my next step should be looking for DBTtherapy with emphasis on cognitive schema-based approach. I also, found outthat I should avoid not-so-helpful supportive therapy used with otherdisorders. The only drawback of this book, is that the author did notprovide information of how to access appropriate therapies. ... Read more

Product Description
This book chronicles the life of Dr. Leah Sims and her battle with borderline personality disorder. She was sexually abused at the age of six, was a prostitute at sixteen, was a soldier at seventeen, and was married five times. She became a psychologist and a philanthropist. Leah is a true inspiration to women who suffer from borderline personality disorders. Her life teaches us the lessons of faith, love, loss, determination, and success.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

awesome
This book is awesome!!! I started reading it late the other night and couldn't put it down. awesome i tell you!! It feels like im there in the story and can place myself in the settings of the story. Such a tragic story!

A must read for African-American women, looking to break the cycle
Dr. Leah is off the hook and yet I feel myself connecting so well with her.Growing up in a rural town with a dysfunctional family I could definitely see myself within the revolving pages.There were moments where I was sad, moments where I laughed out loud, and moment where I was just in disbelief.But regardless of Dr. Leah situations, she managed to "Keep the faith." ... Read more

Product Description
Antisocial behavior takes on many forms, from rebellious teens with green hair and pierced skin to the truly dangerous homicidal individuals whose horrible stories fill our newspapers. Parents worry about their children as they are exposed to the heated climate of violence in contemporary society, a time of decaying morals and values. The rise in sociopathic behavior among adults and children, whether in tense inner cities or in tranquil suburban and rural settings, is masterfully chronicled by Dr Benjamin Wolman, a leading psychologist and noted national expert who has studied these trends for over half a century.'There is a growing incidence of sociopathic antisocial behavior ...coupled with an attitude of moral apathy', Dr. Wolman asserts. He cites international statistics pointing to a showdown between dangerous individuals - the violent, the charming, and the passive - and the societies that create them. How has the spread of democratic ideals actually increased the potential for antisocial behavior? What social and cultural factors must be changed if free societies are to reduce this alarming trend?Rather than simply complain about the problem, Dr Wolman examines the familial and societal causes, and proposes clear-cut solutions to the problem - including radical changes to our educational system and the mass media. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

NOT A BOOK OF RESEARCH
This book reads like a personal anecdotal essay and not a professional scholarly piece of research. It's terrible in that respect but for theory it's not too bad. Be very careful because the author really just gives his unsubstantiated opinions on why the world is going to hell. As a professional and with 40+ years experience I expected way more. It's as bad as the "kids who play violent video games are more violent and that's why the world is so violent argument" which any academic or laymen with a mouse knows holds no real empirical evidence and is just a huge ball of yarn with loose tying threads of shallow correlations and hypothesis made to look solid.

The author is a primitivist with an all too transparent distain of the modern world and society. It has clearly corrupted his judgment. He all too often jumbles up the definitions of sociopathy, antisocial personality disorder, antisocial behaviour, and narcissm making the terms appear as one when the truth is that all of those are quite different with different diagnosing criteria. Only once does he provide a trimmed down version of Antisocial Personality Disorder from the DSM-IV but mentions all of the other disorders with no clear line of distinction between them. What's more of a scientific crime is how he would often refer to certain subjects, people, and entire groups as antisocial from a simple description you would get from a simple news clip. His book would lead one to believe that sociopaths are an epidemic and will soon outnumber the "well mannered" population. After reading several books and articles on psychopathy, ASPD, and sociopathy (all related but not the same as he suggest or fails to mention) it was really hard getting through this one. I would suggest books from Robert Hare for a real objective and empirical look at these disorders.

Incisive but Informative
This was a very helpful book in getting an overall perspective on antisocial behavior. Though it came off a bit caustic at times - and also seemed to overly generalize to the exclusion of specifics - Wolman's book is an easy, accessible, and informative read for anyone curious about sociopathic/psychopathic behavior, its origins, and its implications for "society" at large.

A Social Disorder
A Social Disorder

Wolman explores the foundations of antisocial behavior: pathological narcissism, self-indulgent culture, and promiscuous parenting. In an age of political correctness and moral relativism, the author does not hesitate to point to ethical upbringing as the solution. He traces the psychodynamics of deviant behavior back to childhood abuse and trauma - though he regrettably emphasizes nurture almost to the exclusion of nature. The book could use editing - but it is a worthwhile contribution to the topic. Sam Vaknin, author of "Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited".

A lucid and comprehensive study of deviant behavior!
Antisocial behavior is an extraordinarily well-written book. It reveals the psychological nature of the psychopaths. Moreover, Wolman makes an attempt to explain what factors give rise to antisocial behavior. Admittedly, he does this very well. Psychopaths are described as being indifferent, cunning, immoral, impulsive and insidious individuals. What is more, they usually show no signs of remorse for their gruesome deeds. The implication here is that they totally lack compassion for their fellow beings. Wolman unveils that psychopaths are narcissistic individuals; they have a tendency to think that they are entitled to other people's things and that they deserve to be loved. The above mentioned traits are thought to be characteristic of highly maladaptive individuals. However, Wolman also points to environmental determinants as possible causes of deviant behavior. Parents and teachers can sometimes contribute to the rise of antisocial and sociopathic behavior. Wolman emphasizes that hyper-permissive parents do not teach their children the importance of morality and consequently their children will fail to distinguish right from wrong. According to Wolman, the primary purpose of morality is to inhibit inborn instincts and impulses. Furthermore, the way that parents rear their children can be crucial. Parental rejection can adversely affect their children's self-confidence and self-reliance. Undeniably, these children will feel neglected and unwanted if their parents are not affectionate and considerate. Needless to say, abusive parents foster deviant behavior in myriad ways. Children of abusive parents are usually very aggressive, hostile and tend to hate their parents. These children cannot however behave aggressively toward their parents as they fear that they might retaliate. Instead, they behave aggressively toward weak people who are unable to fight back. In conclusion, I highly recommend this book to all students of psychology. It is very interesting and informative.

Best book on psychopathy I've read yet
Dr. Wolman hits the nail on the head.

He is truly right when he says that declining morals and apathy are a few reasons why psychopaths (sociopaths/antisocials) are more and more prevalent in our society and the world in general.But the question is, how did it come to be this way?

Here is Wolman's basic theory:He ascribes this mostly due to what he calls our "Teenage Culture."Yes, the Teenage Culture, a relatively new phenomena (there was a time when children were expected to be "young adults") is what is creating a society of selfish, immature individuals, whether they're teenagers, young adults, or worse, 40 and 50 year olds who just want to "feel good" and live it up.(While there is nothing wrong with feeling "good" per se, what Wolman is describing is a total preoccupation with hedonism and greed, which contributes to our society being the most psychopathic on the planet).

This book will probably not be very popular, since there are so many selfish people in our society who only care about their net profits, their flashy cars, and sexual conquests, among other things of that nature, so I don't expect it to get a lot of good reviews.I think what we do need in our society though, is a sense of balance.We've become too wrapped up in our self-centred capitalist society. The only cure for a sociopathic society is to get rid of this "Teenage Culture" and for adults to behave like the mature adults they should be and show a good example.This includes giving our children a better example regarding the things we value in life.True happiness and social harmony, not Hummers and "sexual enhancement aids."

... Read more

Product Description
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.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

=Superior=, Millennial Neo-Eclecticism -- Top Knotch
Published just ahead of the further manualization of Linehan's Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Livesley's =PMofPD= may be one of the last gasps of "reasoned eclecticism" (Allport's terminology) before DBT -- admittedly a fine method -- becomes the HMO-mandated "standard" for personality disorders throughout the realm.

(I =love= DBT, but I do not wish to become a slave to it because the insurers say it's the =only= thing they'll pay for if the patient has been diagnosed with the typical mixture of DSM-IVR, Axis II presentations.)

Livesley has done a remarkable job here of packaging object relations, self psychology, interpersonal reconstructive, psychodynamic, psychoanalytic, cognitive, behavioral, neurobiological =and= DBT in an algorithmic framework. The "Livesley Method" might take more than one reading to grasp for those who may become boggled in all the diverse theorethical orientations used in combination. But for the five- or ten-year (or more) veteran in the personality disorder trenches who's looking for more tools, the investment is likely to be worth it.

=PMofPD= offers a platform of...

1) conceptual foundations based on specific PD traits and evidence-based treatment =of= those specific traits;

2) empirically supported ground rules about functional interventions and how to combine them into effective =clusters= of therapeutic activity;

3) an operational =sequence= of themes and interventions from safety and containment through control and regulation on to exploration and change, and finally, integration and synthesis; and

4) a view of the stages of change ("problem recognition, exploration, acquisition of alternatives, and consolidation and generalization") similar -- but not precisely so, and therefore additionally illuminating -- to Prochaska's and DiClemente's and my own (denial/pre-contemplation, contemplation/consideration, identification/acceptance, commitment/action, relapse prevention/maintenance).

Livesley's way of organizing the whole "therapeutic product" is decidedly millennial and thus comprehensive. My own work (e.g.: Self-talk Identification, Questioning and Revision; the Drop Drill; the CDDCR Therapeutic System) may be far more neurobiologically-grounded, but his is far better organized (at least at this time) into a complete and cohesive, therapeutic "system."

In no small part, this is because Livesley has gone to very great lengths in =PMofPD= to address the complex ego defenses of those with PDs and how to breech them. As any experienced therapist knows, "therapy" is relatively easy; helping the complex PD'd patient to identify/accept and commit/take action -- let alone maintain that action -- is THE challenge. (Read after a solid grounding in Millon's =Personality Guided Therapy= and/or Beck's and Freeman's =Cognitive Therapy of Personality Disorders=, =PMofPD= may seem "heaven-sent.")

If there is any single weakness in =PDofPM=, it is that the explosively expanding understanding of brain function resulting from computer-aided scanning and mapping, neurobiology (e.g.: excitotoxicity, precise neural plasticity) and psychopharmacology (e.g.: the relation between the dopamine channels, the adrenergic and autonomic nervous systems) is not investigated, even in summary form. For that, of course, there's a fast-growing library of =profound= work by people like Cozolino, Gazzaniga, Grigsby and Stevens, Goldstein and Beers, Kaszniak and Venga.

For those who =do= understand "neuropsychology," however, Livesley's theories and methods are often "neurobiologically appropriate."

Another concern is that the author does not seem to understand anxiety and its cognitive and behavioral upshots in PD "formats" from as empathic a perspective as I experience to be necessary to gain trust, bridge the "autonomy gap," and gain access to initiative (as Erickson and I define those concepts). Admittedly, however, one may have had to =be= personality-disordered - perhaps even in the extreme - and have recovered from it sufficiently to realize experientially how the various PD traits serve to protect the severely compromised ego's defensive-protective capacities.

As Wilson put it in =Alcoholics Anonymous= 70 years ago (paraphrasing), the alcoholic who has recovered can gain the trust of a suffering alcoholic because he knows from his own experience what it's like. The therapist who =can= do that, however, will acquire a fist full of extremely useful understanding and technique from this excellent book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

thorough, sensible and helpful
Concise and thorough overview of critical issues in the treatment of DID. Helpful to clinicians seeking overview of salient areas in understanding etiology and management ofthis complex post traumatic stress response.The author does not refer to any "widespread satanic conspiracy" as the reviewer doerksen complains; he must have confused this with a different book

Paging Doctor Caligari!
(...) Thankfully, Braun's insane belief in a widespread Satanic conspiracy has been debunked, and his license to [practice] medicine have been revoked. (...) ... Read more

Product Description
In this extraordinarily distinctive, exquisitely crafted memoir, one that began as a suicide note, Jane Phillips, a woman with "disassociative identity disorder" writes about the intimate details of her life. The Magic Daughter is a harrowing, moving, inspiring, and ultimately triumphant account of a woman's journey toward wholeness. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Page turner
I have read three other books by people who suffered from dissociative identity disorder (DID): I'm Eveby Chris Sizemore,Fractured Mind, A: My Life with Multiple PersonaIity Disorderby Robert Oxnam, and When Rabbit Howls by Truddi Chase.I thought this one was the most engaging."Jane Phillips" is a very good writer.There is no excess verbiage in this book, just enough colorful detail to bring her experience to life.I was reading it in every spare minute because I couldn't wait to find out what would happen next.The author comes across as very honest and insightful, open about her flaws and mistakes.I was amazed by the mercy she showed to the people who abused her by publishing under a pseudonym and not trying to take revenge.Although much of the story is sad, the author's resilience and sense of humor make it hopeful rather than depressing.

The Lone Dissenter
While this book is a refresher from the cliches about Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), formerly Multiple Personality Disorder that "Sybil" and "The Three Faces of Eve" created, I was still sorely disappointed in this book.One thing that bothers me that there are people who view DID as an exotic condition and who go to great lengths to try to convince others they are hosts to other personalities.Instead of being exotic, it is a devastating condition that has cost people their jobs, families and in some cases their lives.Cases have been reported where one personality was out to kill another and as a result, the "host" or "core" personality was the casualty.

The author, who is identified as "Jane Phillips" started this book as a suicide note.A survivor of fraternal incest and neglectful parents, she makes her way through therapists and treatments until one therapist, with whom she has established rapport finally realizes through researching DID that she does indeed have this condition.

To this book's credit, Phillips is nothing like the stereotypes that currently exist about DID.She does not have any extraordinary artistic ability that "surfaces" in other personalities; she is a college professor; she is somehow able to keep herselves in check while at work.Embarrassing moments do crop up, such as when she has no recollection of someone her alters have met.

One part that I really loved was when Jane went toy shopping at the behest of her child alters.They implored her not to buy "some dumb bear with a dumb expression on his face" and "no dumb bears, ever!"As one who also dislikes bears, that made me smile.

Sexual abuse is often the taproot of DID.Jane was raped by her older brother; when she was in college, she became involved with a violent man named "Jack" who raped her when she insisted that he move out.

Like the famous (or infamous) Sybil before her, Jane had "fugue" states that she dated back to middle school.She finally, at age 30 enlists therapy after suffering from migraines and panic attacks.

Her childhood was paradoxical.On the one hand, she was cherished as she was the only daughter and girls were a rarity in her family.On the other hand, she was penalized for her feminity.Jane's mother bought her a doll one Christmas that Jane didn't want and insisted she play with it; whenever Jane left it alone for long intervals, her mother would hound her to play with it, all the while telling her how lucky she was to have such a thing.

Jane's growing feminity was measured and recorded by her mother; her breasts, hips and cycles were duly noted and she was not given any privacy regarding these very intimate matters.When Jane makes decisions for herself, such as going into therapy in adulthood, her parents systematically and symbolically cut her out of their lives by having pictures of her removed.Her mother makes irrational comments such as Jane's silver baby cup "is none of her business."That sounded completely illogical.

I didn't like this book and felt it "glided" through some of the more harrowing aspects of DID.This book is like bare bones compared to many other excellent, well-rounded works on this subject.I recommend "First Person Plural," "Katherine It's Time," "Shatter," and all the books Chris Sizemore, aka Eve has written about her own experiences with DID.

Profoundly moving
Most of us think of Multiple Personality Disorder in terms of 'Sybil,' or 'The Three Faces of Eve,'or that California serial killer who claimed the rest of him was innocent. To us, it's an exotic craziness that either doesn't exist or is sensationally unpredictable and dangerous.

Phillips, pseudonymous author of 'The Magic Daughter,' not only makes the disorder (now called Dissociative Identity Disorder) credible, she puts one scared and human face on it. Phillips' memoir began in April 1993 as a suicide note. But in trying to explain why life was too difficult to bear, she became absorbed in the project and it eventually became a means of integrating her "selves."

Phillips fits none of the stereotypes. She's a college professor whose students and colleagues are unaware of her disorder. She was considered thorough - because several selves would independently do her work, each needing to ensure it was done correctly - unbeknownst to Jane herself. She learned to cover when greeted by people she didn't remember. Nothing was more relaxing than hours spent gazing into the mirror, communing with a parade of faces, young, old, boyish, feminine, wise and foolish - none of which seemed to be hers. But just getting through a normal day could be exhausting as she fought to control conflicting emotions and maintain a moment to moment chronology.

Since junior high she had been secretly aware of something wrong. "Mostly I just never seemed to be who I really was - although I had no idea who that was." All through college, through marriage to an alcoholic, she thought of seeing a psychiatrist but all she could think to ask was "What's wrong with me? Why is life so hard?"

At 30, she finally sought help after a summer tormented by headaches, profound depression and uncontrollable bouts of terror and anger during which she tore out all the flowers in her beloved garden, carried a gasoline can to the house intending to burn the place down and spent hours in her closet crying because none of the clothes seemed to belong to her. But she was still, despite the psychologist's prodding, unable to express what she wanted out of therapy.

Probing her childhood, the therapist precipitated a wrench back in time. "Suddenly, weirdly, I was nine years old again." Out came memories - the anger and violence of her older brother, Hank, who had tormented his younger siblings. And attempted to rape his sister Jane, failing only because their parents arrived home unexpectedly. "I couldn't tell if I had remembered it or made it up."

Her brother's attacks and elaborate malice - much of it sexual - continued throughout her childhood. But there was another side to her home life. On both sides her family was overrun with boys. She was the girl all the adults had been waiting for. She was petted and loved and expected to rectify all the deficiencies of her mother's childhood. Failure to measure up was met with anger and recriminations. It was a turbulent, tormented childhood, but many children suffer worse horrors.

Multiplicity, says Phillips, has three main causes. The first is a predisposing brain chemistry, second is trauma and third is a lack of recognition or acceptance of that trauma by adults.

While she was recognized as dissociative early on, she was not diagnosed as a multiple until five years into therapy. Her memoir brings home to the reader how thin the line is between normal emotional turmoil and a fragmented personality. Even some of her truly bizarre symptoms, such as an inability to distinguish between current and remembered pain, or to explain symptoms before another personality takes over and the symptoms disappear, arouse empathy.

This passionate, harrowing journey towards self-understanding and, ultimately, integration, makes unusual demands on the reader. Perception is a solitary thing - Phillips believed for years that everyone had psyches like hers but other people were braver and smarter about life. It's not the fragments themselves that defy comprehension but the wholeness and separateness of them - the personalities that remain forever 5 or 15, personalities that know only fear or loneliness or anger. With this book, Phillips makes it possible to understand how she protected her core by snapping off bits of herself which then took on particular functions in daily life, setting up a cycle which made her days almost impossible to negotiate.

Insightful, surprisingly hard to put down
The Magic Daughter: A Memoir of Living With Multiple Personality Disorder, by Jane Phillips (pseudonym) is the first-person narrative of a woman who suffers multiple personality disorder -- more precisely dissociative identity disorder (DID) -- most of her life.Since the author does not have the typical chronological concept of time until, for the most part, the end of the narrative, the book is composed of snippets of recollections and experiences with each chapter encompassing a theme.Oddly, however, the book does nonetheless have a peculiar linear fabric to the recollections.Apparently, to some extent, the author also recognizes this toward the end of the book.

My reading this book was not one of choice.I was assigned this topic in an Abnormal Psychology course two years ago.However, after finding this book, I was still reluctant upon reading it, expecting it to be dull.(My apologies to those suffering from DID who found support and enlightenment in this book.)Suprisingly I found the book very engaging, regardless of its non chronological sequence, and the author's quite fluid writing style.

Nonetheless, on the negative side, most of the way thru it I found myself feeling doubtful.I began doubting either the authenticity of this work or the writer's sincerity.However, that feeling is probably groundless....

The negative criticisms I have are that there are certainly some unanswered questions; for that matter unraised questions in the text.But, if this work is authentic, it very well may have been that the writer wrote this more for herself than for others.

Secondly, it is interesting to note again that if Jane had MPD, her disorder was not nearly of the severity as other noteworthy cases I have read about including the case of Chris Sizemore upon whose experiences the book and movie The Three Faces of Eve were based.There are similarities between Chris Sizemore's experiences and Jane's, however, it is difficult to get beyond the sense that much of Jane's supposed MPD symptoms and experiences did not result after, and as a result of the diagnosis of MPD.

Nevertheless, it was a very good read.Engaging, thought provoking.

I Saw Myself in Her
Like only a handful of books written about multiplicity, this one was written by the multiple herself, rather than her therapist. However, unlike so many other multiple-written books, this one was actually decently composed. Which, after attempting such poorly-crafted tomes as I'm Eve and Prism, was an enthusiastically received change.

The Magic Daughter also differs from other multiplicity books in one other, significant way. Though arranged in rough chronological order, this book is more a series of personal essays than an autobiography. While this is frustrating in one regard--in that not all "plot threads" are adequately resolved--it allows the writer to avoid rehashing less than interesting moments in her life and concentrate on the issues that she truly wants to handle.

Although I know multiples who truly hated this book, I enjoyed it highly. On numerous occasions, I found myself reflected in its pages. I was easily able to identify with passages such as:

"Life is hard! I want to shriek. My head aches, my mind roars with voices, I have no extra money, I'm exhausted, and I can barely think straight. I scream in the night, my body aches with remembered abuses, and therapy requires that I recall and then relive those old, horrifying traumas."

Perhaps if she had focused on the happier moments of multiplicity, her story may have been more endearing to empowered multiples. To her, however, multiplicity is something that needs to be cured, though she does acknowledge it may have causes completely unrelated to abuse.

"I suddenly felt unnerved. Her therapist was a man who'd made a substantial name for himself because of his work with abuse survivors; he often lectured and offered workshops. For some reason, I blurted out that I'd been multiple three, maybe four years before I was sexually abused." (Italics mine.)

Sadly Phillips does not deal with natural multiplicity for more than a few paragraphs. Perhaps such an exploration would have been out of place in this book, which is focused more or the end of multiplicity than its beginnings. It does not end happily with integration, though. While Phillips does make inroads towards that goal in the final half of the book, she is only at the start of the process when the book ends, with much work still ahead of her.

How she handles integration may make many multiples wary. She simply decides to stop dissociating, that she's had enough. It's not that cut and dried, but that is the brunt of it. And, as she is seen in this book very much as the core personality, she believes that she can simply stop, much as one can stop chewing their nails. Multiplicity is simply a more elaborate and debilitating habit.

And that's where she'll lose a lot of multiples, especially those that truly love and care for their system mates. Still, whether or not I agree with her, I enjoyed reading about her opinions and struggles. The book was very well constructed and a fast read. With that in mind, I'd recommend it, though it may drive some empowered, non-trauma-based multiples crazy. ... Read more

Product Description
Based on former FBI Special Agent Joe Navarro’s experience as a criminal profiler and behavior specialist, How to Spot a Borderline Personality, provides the average person the tools necessary for identifying and assessing individuals who suffer from Borderline Personality Disorder. This is a must read for anyone who wants to protect themselves, their children, or their loved ones from such a personality.

This short practical guide and checklist includes the 100 behaviors that are closely associated with this prevalent disorder. It is easy to use and intended for the average layperson: you truly don’t have to be a psychiatrist to use this.

This short booklet will not only give you insight, it will also lay to rest any fears or concerns you have about this disorder, so that you can do something about it. Practical, fast, easy to read and simple to understand. ... Read more

Product Description
In this thought-provoking book, Marshall L. Silverstein applies a self psychological viewpoint, as formulated and broadened by Kohut, to understanding the personality disorders designated on Axis II of the DSM-IV.He recasts the disorders as disorders of the self, grouping them into one of three patterns: those that center on (1) combating devitalization, (2) forestalling fragmentation, or (3) seeking alternative pathways to a cohesive self.For each group, he outlines the descriptive psychopathology and main theoretical viewpoints and then presents a self psychological reformulation of how the behavior and symptom patterns represent deficits in self-cohesion.The author's aim is to demonstrate how psychoanalytic self psychology, as originally developed by Heinz Kohut and further elaborated by colleagues, can explain personality disorders. He addresses both theoretical and clinical aspects of what are characterized as disturbances of the self. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description

Customer Reviews (14)

Living in the Dead Zone: Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison: Understanding Borderline Personality Disorders
Psychoanalyzing the dead?That's a good one.
I think I have to quote Britney Spears here."Huh?"
All one needs to do is go to an AA meeting and you will find hundreds of people with your so called "borderline personality disorder."It's called alcoholism.Try growing up with them for parents.Talk about needed therapy.

Assumptions
The authors made an assumption about Jim before research was undertaken and I feel this coloured subsequent research. There's much more information available about Jim than was read by the authors who seem to have taken information that supports their point of view and ignored the rest. Jim's stage persona was a carefully orchestrated act based on a book called "Mass Hysteria and Crowd Control".He was playing a part. They were after all film graduates and film heavily influenced their stage presentations. Jim's poems were apocalyptic but that was his genre. The therapy sessions in the book are non-existent and are based on the authors' own preconceptions. Jim was extremely shy (said one Door and confirmed by another), there is some evidence he had a nervous breakdown, his home life was volatile and he drank. He couldn't keep up the act. He hated heroin and wouldn't take it deliberately. Where's the examination of the paramedics' reports to the Parisian police?Increasingly severe asthma attacks led to a prescription which he neglected to fill. A rock star's death by something as common as a heart attack caused by chronic asthma is not newsworthy. I'm disappointed in the lack of examination of all evidence before drawing a conclusion of BPD. The authors have analysed the myth, not the man.

Finally an explanation that makes sense!
Nowhere in the literature is there an analysis and narrative like this. Intense, compelling and riveting, the book explains why these two icons were so tragically self-destructive. In doing so,
they have illuminated and clarified for the public, the complex nature of the poorly understood borderline disorder. So many peoplecan benefit from reading "Living in the Dead Zone".Bravo gentlemen!

Insightful analysis of two deepyl troubled people
I was unable to put this book down once I began reading the accounts offered by Faris and Faris.Their analysis of the borderline disorder was so disturbingly realistic in my own experience with my son that I thought they were writing to me.The therapy sessions they created with Janis and Jim were not only revealing but astonishing when you consider how good their music was.

This book is a most excellent read, filled with insights into the behavior of the borderline. And I truly did appreciate the sociological observations as well which contextualized the 1960s so well...and I do remember them as if it was yesterday.

Final Response to J
To J one more time, I promise:

My brother and I have had a good laugh at your latest response, not that your other responses weren't just as laughable. But your latest was the most sweeping and most revealing and therefore the most pathetic. This will, however, be our last effort to have a reasonable discussion with you.We see no reason to continue a conversation with someone who reveals his ignorance and arrogance in almost every sentence.You love Jim Morrison, you love his poetry, you dismiss entirely psychiatry and psychology, we are completely wrong about everything. You're the only one who apparently can KNOW anything.And you think we don't understand you?

In the cute way that people who really don't understand a discipline do, you accuse us of psychoanalyzing you. There's no doubt that you do not understand the fields of psychology or psychiatry, and psychoanalysis-they are all very different modes of investigation, not that you would trouble yourself with such distinctions since you already know everything you need to know from the misreadings of Szasz, and Laing.You might try reading pioneers in the field, who really do KNOW something from extensive empirically-based and theoretically well-grounded research. Read John Gunderson's work from Harvard, Otto Kernberg's from Cornell, James Grotstein from Stamford, to name a few.But of course they are all part of the psychobabble industry to you, aren't they.You ask us to stick to what we know best, rather than critique your hero's poetry? You don't appear to impose any restrictions on your statements about psychology and psychiatry. That must be because you think you already KNOW. Right? Wow. Must be comfortable to live in such a fatuous world.

Since you don't appear to know anything about serious empirical research in psychiatry, although I'm sure you think you're a quick study, in the absence of that knowledge you don't appear to be in any position to comment on what we can or cannot know. Borderline personality disorder is now one of the most carefully researched, empirically confirmed diagnoses available to us today. And the possibility for moving backward, historically, to look at what we do know about popular figures and legends, although messy and complicated is not IMPOSSIBLE (Should I drop the caps?) and can be very helpful in popularizing such a disorder to the public. Nor is it unethical to do so.

Among the reasons we believe so confidently that you are only superficially familiar with these fields rests fundamentally on your citation of Szasz, and Laing, for example, not to mention your wild-eyed claim that one cannot really KNOW anything (your emphasis) about the psychology of other people.Szasz and Laing, the most often misunderstood and at the same time most often cited by those pseudo critics, hostile in the extreme to psychiatry and psychology, would never have made such silly claims that we can never KNOW.

You wrote that "the entirely subjective nature of your science," as if there's no such thing as major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and personality disorders, anxiety and panic disorders, posttraumatic stress disorders, identity disorders, to cite a few. These diagnoses are neither subjective nor unscientific. Your dismissal of them as such reveals such ignorance that we choose not to bother you with more complete accounts of the works of brilliant clinical researchers, especially since you appear to have a comic book view of Szasz and Laing as dismissing those serious folks. And we believe any further conversation with you is both pointless and distasteful.P.S. I am not a therapist, my brother Gerald is, a fact you would have known if you had read our book-not to trouble you with a little thing.This was our last response but we are sure that the hero-worshipper within you will compel you once again to respond. ... Read more

Product Description
Dr. Otto Kernberg, the internationally renowned psychoanalytic theorist and clinician, here examines the factors affecting the success and failure of sexual love in couples, from adolescence to old age.Dr. Kernberg considers both so-called normal and pathological relationships, including the role of narcissism, masochism, and aggression in each.The result is a book that expands the boundaries of our current understanding of love relations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The Infant and the Deviant
Kernberg has arguably contributed more than anyone - even more than Kohut - to the understanding of borderline conditions and pathological narcissism.
He is both a formidable theoretician and an outstanding clinician. This - a small part of his prodigious and erudite output - is a detailed and scholarly study of the role played in the dynamics of relationships by narcissism, aggression - both self-directed (as in masochism) and other-directed (as in sadism) - and the resulting perversions. It is disturbing to learn how central the role of hatred, envy and other transformations of aggression is in relationships and in antisocial behavior. There is a direct path from regressive infantilism to psychosis and sexual deviance (and one may add to political oppression). This tome is one of the best anatomies of psychological defenses gone awry. Sam Vaknin, author of "Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited".

Excellent book on aggression
Excellent book, author is an expert in narcissistic defenses and agression, but other personality disorders are also well covered. Kernberg deserves credit because personality disorders are difficult to describe because they are so disorganized, dishonest, and chameleon-like. The analysis of aggression in relationships is valuable for people in many fields.

Kernberg provides wonderfully candid descriptions of his own negative or inappropriate feelings towards patients, cases where pateints refuse to cooperate with treatment, and cases where these patients manage to use hospital politics (!) to thwart treatment.

My initial impression was that there seemed to be a bit too much jargon and the subsequent hair-splitting. As I read it, time and again I summarized long paragraphs by jotting down 5 to 10 words in the margin. But he does so as part of thorough overview of difficult literature, and considering the amount of ground he covers, this book could have been much longer.

Odd he doesn't mention Facism, when the description of violent narcissistic sadists who embrace tyrants is so evocative of strutting Nazis. And his final chapters on perversion versus healthy sexual function is strikingly similar to Krafft-Ebing's "An Attempt to Explain Masochism," who reached their conslusions long before Freud and developed a clearer definition of healthy functioning than Freud.

a treasure trove of clinical wisdom
Kernberg brings his clinical acumen and unique blend of ego psychology and object relations to bear upon the problem of aggression, particularly rage and its cognitively higher-level manifestation as hatred, in severe personality disorders.

He begins by offering a sensible formulation of affect theory, a developmental model which the clinician can use as a checklist:when the patient approaches an area of emotional sensitivity, is his affect primitive and disorganized or evolved enough to appear as an emotion?Is the somatic component there?The cognitive?And, since affect involves an object, is the object relation there too?If not, how far from consciousness?What defenses protect it?

The book is organized into sections on the role of affects, developmental aspects of broad-spectrum personality disorders (not necessarily (thank God) in the DSM sense), clinical applications of object relations theory (discusses the transference, structural change, and other such considerations), technical approaches to severe regression, and the dynamics of sexual perversion.

In this last section, Kernberg mentions that per classic analytic thought, homosexuality = unresolved Oedipal conflict.The man who loves a man is actually submitting to dad and thereby failing to identify with him and grow up.Explaining that the biological and clinical evidence is not yet in, Kernberg states, honestly enough, that in his clinical experience few homosexual men fail to present significant character pathology.But would a psychologically mature homosexual want to do therapy to begin with, especially within a tradition known to see homosexuality as infantile?And if the "I've always been like this" explanation given by my clients is true--and I think it is--then how is one to entirely escape significant pathology while growing up gay in a homophobic society?Unfortunately, these questions are not addressed in this otherwise indispensable work.

An extra gift is the author's obvious willingness to see beyond even the most destructive behaviors to the sense and suffering at their core. ... Read more

Product Description
A revolutionary, personalized psychotherapy approach for the treatment of Axis II personality disorders, by renowned expert Dr. Theodore Millon

Acknowledging the primacy of the whole person, Overcoming Resistant Personality Disorders: A Personalized Psychotherapy Approach takes into account all of the complexities of human nature--family influences, culture, neurobiological processes, unconscious memories, and so on--illustrating that no part of human nature should lie outside the scope of a clinician's regard.

Part of a three-book series, this book provides you with a unique combination of conceptual background and step-by-step practical advice to guide your treatment of Axis II personality disorders.

Detailed case studies are provided throughout the text to illustrate the strategies of personalized psychotherapy for:
*

The Needy/Dependent Prototype
*

The Sociable/Histrionic Prototype
*

The Confident/Narcissistic Prototype
*

The Nonconforming/Antisocial Prototype
*

The Assertive/Sadistic Prototype
*

The Conscientious/Compulsive Prototype
*

The Skeptical/Negativistic Prototype

Destined to become an essential reference for trainees and professionals, this book makes a revolutionary call to return therapy to the natural reality of each patient's life, seamlessly guiding you in understanding the personality and treatment of the whole, unique, yet complex person. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Must-Have for the Would-be PD "Expert"
With this, I've now waded through four of Dr. Millon's (and his various colleagues') tomes on the character disorders... and uniformly found them all to be terrifically informative and useful. But from the git (with his =Personality Guided Therapy=, 1999), I wondered why it was that Millon and his teams have had so precious little to say about the etiology of the specific disorders.

I may be a "neuropsychological cognitive-behavioralist" in the trenches, but psychodynamic principles have always helped me to deepen my empathy, emotional congruity and unconditional regard for troubled - and troubling - patients. And those Rogerian qualities have reliably proven to be entirely necessary to finesse the process of cognitive restructuring, as well as convincing the patient to surrender his will and his life to the higher power of EMDR, SIQR or some other messing about with his limbic system.

Blame it on Alice Miller, Claudia Black, Pia Mellody, Richard Kluft and Frank Putnam, I suppose. But it really does help (me, anyway) to have a firm grip on "what happened way back when" that's driving the patient's compulsions to repeat the trauma with his relentlessly dysfunctional defense mechanisms.

Over time, and surely with help from Beck's and Freeman's lists of what the specific personality disorder tends to believe, I began to figure that narcissistic injuries of one sort or another had occurred, and that it was likely that the perpetrators demonstrated no mean degree of the same sort of thing that I was seeing and hearing right there in front of me. Some time after that I began to sense that what had worked "well" for the perps was now working "well" for the patient, too.

And that moved me to theorize etiologies that I could then explore in real collaboration with the patient even as we moved right into identifying, exploring, questioning and revising their core beliefs, values, idea(l)s, assumptions, convictions, and attitudes. Millon and Grossman =touch= here and there on childhood suffering in this and the companion volume, =Moderating Severe Personality Disorders=; I suppose I just wish for the sake of those who are newer to the game that they'd expanded those notions a bit further.

Beyond that, there are some especially dandy sections in ORPD, including a fine treatise on the specific differences between the narcissistic and antisocial personalities, on the antisocial's specific mechanisms of imitating his abusers, and on the (obsessive-) compulsive's ironclad fixation with self-abuse driven by "learned perfectionism."

I know that the APA's knocked out a pretty slick (and comprehensive) tome of their own on the PDs, and one does well =as= well to look at Livesley, at Stone, at Clarkin and Lenzenwegger, and at the aforementioned Beck and Freeman. If one asserts oneself to be a true "expert" on the Axis II disorders, however, considerable exposure to Dr. M. seems warranted. ... Read more

Product Description

Is there a mild psychopath near you? Or in you? If so, what can and should you do? Find out in this riveting exploration of a personality disorder usually dismissed by the mental health profession, and never before the topic of in-depth scholarly exploration. We all recognize the true, full-blown psychopaths—the Hitlers, Stalins and Gacys of the world. But what professionals and lay people, alike often do not recognize is that we are surrounded by mild psychopaths, people who do not reach the level of their infamous counterparts, yet still share some of their traits. Fifteen-time author Kantor, a psychiatrist whose last work, Understanding Paranoia, also zeroed in on everyday problems, explains how to recognize, understand and cope with the mild psychopaths one encounters every day.

Who are these everyday psychopaths? They are politicians who lie to get votes, swindlers who phish the Internet to steal identities, salesmen who push cars or other products they know are lemons, businessmen who dupe the public in ways that barely skirt the law, doctors who perform unnecessary surgery because they need the money. The list goes on. Some would argue that each of us must use some of the means of the mild psychopath to be successful in life. Where is the line, and what do you do when those around you cross it? The Psychopathy of Everyday Life helps you decide.

Kantor spotlights and disproves widely-held beliefs about mild psychopathy, then shows us methods to deal with such people, and such traits in ourselves. His conclusions and vignettes drawn from the treatment room and from everyday life, for example, show that psychopathy is a widespread problem, not one confined to low life' people in jails, or to men and women in mental hospitals. Psychopaths are not all failures in life who could be labled either bad' or mad;' many are quite successful and held up as models. And they are not all guilt-free with no conscience; some do want to escape their aggressive and socially harmful world where being honest, forthright and ethical is abnormal. Kantor offers an eclectic approach based on classic therapies to facilitate help and self-help methods for the victim and the psychopath.

Customer Reviews (2)

A fantastic find, 5 stars!
In this thoroughly researched and beautifully written book Kantor helps the professional and layperson alike identify psychopathy, with an emphasis on spotting its milder forms, goes into its multiple causes ranging from the psychological (psychoanalytic, interpersonal, cognitive-behavioral and social) to the genetic-organic, and suggests ways for professionals to treat mild psychopaths and for laypersons to cope with them. As the blurb above clearly notes Kantor makes a central and surprisingly original point: that while many psychopaths are essentially guilt free due to a deficiency of conscience, not all are completely so, for the mildest ones do want to escape this inner demon and emerge into the world of altruism and empathy for their fellow men. Highly recommended, and also highly enjoyable.
Tom M.

A book you won't soon forget--incredible!
This latest scholarly work of Dr. Martin Kantor reads like a best-seller. It drew me in from the first page and I could not put it down! Finally I had explanations for some of the callous, hard hearted behaviors that I often see in people around me. Rich with real life examples and plenty of Dr. Kantor's characteristically brilliant insight and wit, The Psychopathy of Everyday life is a book that everyone could benefit from reading. Whether you are looking for deeper insight into the gray area of mild psychopathy toeffectively treat your patients or are a lay person trying to understand hurtful behaviors of the people around you or if others have identified some behaviors about you and you want to dig deeper, this book will not only enlighten you but also give you solutions, including extensive descriptions of the various individual and group therapies that work for the mild psychopath. Kantor doesn't forget the everyday victims of psychopaths either. Perhaps my favorite chapter of all is the final chapter, "Coping with Psychopaths of Everyday Life." Here the good doctor gives a six-step method that helps us to protect ourselves from the wrath of everyday psychopathic behaviors, by identifying our personal vulnerabilities and learning to stop enabling the psychopaths of our lives. This book is a must read. Give it as a give to your therapist, to a friend who too often lets other people upset her, or to a person who could use a hint about some of his or her own behaviors. This book contains a wealth of information and makes a great addition to anyone's library. Highly recommended. Raeleen D'Agostino, Ph.D.



... Read more

Product Description
Integrated Treatment for Co-Occurring Disorders addresses a complex client population, which presents service providers with significant professional challenges. Underlying personality disorders compromise treatment effectiveness for medical, other psychiatric, or trauma services, as well as the ability these individuals have in adhering to probation, parole, or court-ordered treatment requirements. A co-occuring substance use disorder amplifies the difficulties experienced by personality-disordered individuals, exacerbates the precarious nature of their relationships, and raises the skill level needed by service providers attempting to help them. There can be significant professional satisfaction in working effectively with the interplay of addiction and disorders of personality. The book brings focus to the specifics of assessment and treatment for this type of co-occurring disorder and suggests that greater adaptability, fewer self-sabotaging behaviors, and an abstinent lifestyle are all possible. Recovery from both disorders is the journey these individuals take toward greater maturation, reliable impulse control, and coping skills that are not dependent upon the evasion of the demands of living or use of substances to manage stress or uncomfortable affect. Recovery is possible, and service providers can assist these clients on their path to wellness. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A MUST OWN
Double your effectiveness as a clinician.This textbook is a must read, must own, comprehensive and optomistic guide for professionals working with clients diagnosed with both substance use and personality disorders. The organization of the book makes comparisons, cross referencing and quick extraction of information easy for clinicians to use as they apply theorectical concepts to practice. The clarity of writing style and depth of information in this text act as aguide for practice. This text needs to be on every clinicians bookshelf.

Excellent Text
This is an impressive book, clear, concise, a pleasure to read, and full of material pulled together from many fragmented resources and much experience. It is rare to find information that is both matter-of-fact AND compassionate in describing these disorders and the people who have them. Too often clinicians disparage people with even one of the disorders, let alone the two (co-occurring) disorders because the clients can't be "fixed" to our satisfaction. This book is a sound guide for both experienced clinicians and students learning the trade. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
Are You Extremely Happy One Moment And Extremely Sad The Next? Are You On Top Of The World Today And Suddenly Down In The Doldrums Tomorrow? Is Bipolar Disorder Really Making Your Life Miserable? Do You Want To Live Normally Once Again?


Finally! Discover Some Highly Effective Tips To Get Rid Of Bipolar Disorder...And Stay Happy And Excited Always! Don't Let Bipolar Disorder Ruin Your Life Anymore!

Understanding And Treating Bipolar Disorder
(97 Pages)

"Understanding And Treating Bipolar Disorder," a 97-page eBook that provides comprehensive information about this disorder, is a must read for everybody who wishes to enhance their knowledge about it. Revealing little-known facts, it offers an insight into the disorder. It explains in simple, layperson's terms the signs and symptoms of bipolar disorder and outlines various ways of managing it.

These Are Some Of The Tips You Will Find In The Book :

* Understanding Bipolar To Get Help
* Why Should I Get Help Anyway?
* Why So Many Struggle With Treatment
* Learning To Cope With Bipolar Disorder
* Why You Should Consider Support Groups
* Childhood Treatment Options For Bipolar Disorder
* What To Do If You Have A Bipolar Disorder Diagnosis
* Tips On Recognizing Bipolar Symptom And Its Importance
* Treatments For Bipolar Disorder: Getting Rid Of That Monkey On Your Back
* The Manifestations Shown By A Bipolar Child Helps In Proper Diagnosis
* A Bipolar Overview: Discovering Bipolar
* Medicine Or Talk Therapy: Common Bipolar Disorder Treatment
* Your Child And Bipolar Disorder: What You Should Know And What You Should Do
* Considering A Long-Term Medication For Bipolar? Choose LAMICTAL
* Pediatric Bipolar Versus Asperger's Disorder
* Tough Yet Rewarding Ways On Loving Someone With Bipolar Disorder
* Bipolar And Schizophrenia: Are Both Disorders The Same?
* What Are The Symptoms Of Bipolar Disorder?
* A Complete Guide To Bipolar Illness
* Living Your Life In Advantage Even With Bipolar
* Helpful Tips To Newcomers On A Bipolar Chat Room
* Understanding Bipolar Disorder Symptoms
* Bipolar Disorder - Symptoms And Effects
* Bipolar II Disorder - 13 Points To Remember
* Bipolar Online Quiz
* Are You Too Moody Or Are You Going Nuts? Analyze With A Bipolar Test!
* Signs & Symptoms in the Depressive Phase
* Signs & Symptoms in the Manic Phase
* Causes Of Bipolar Disorder - 11 Points To Remember
* Understanding The Bipolar Disorder Codes - 18 Codes You Must Know
* Medications For Bipolar Disorder - 10 Points To Remember
* Bipolar Disorder Among Children - 11 Key Symptoms
* CBT To Treat Bipolar Disorder
* Treatments For Bipolar Disorder
* Understanding Bipolar Disorder - 14 Basic Facts ... Read more