Severe Personality Disorders: Psychotherapeutic Strategies

by Otto F. Kernberg

In this important book, one of the world's foremost psychoanalysts provides the clinician with tools to diagnose and treat severe cases of personality disorder, including borderline and narcissistic structures. Dr. Kernberg not only describes techniques he has found useful in clinical practice but also further develops theories formulated in his previous work and critically reviews other recent contributions. "A splendid book . . . of great value for anyone involved in psychotherapy with patients suffering from one or another variety of personality disorder, as well as for anyone who is teaching or doing research in this field. . . . An outstandingly fine and valuable book.―Harold F. Searles, M.D., Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease "Kernberg is a synthesizing, creative eclectic on the contemporary psychoanalytic and psychodynamic scene, broadly based in theory and in practice, a powerful intelligence, a prolific writer, and a man of ideas....This is a challenging and provocative book."―Alan A. Stone, M.D., American Journal of Psychiatry "A major work that brings together in one volume a host of clinical insights into people with a variety of severe personality disorders.... Anyone who has attempted to work with patients with severe personality disorders will be rewarding by studying this book." ―Robert D. Gillman, Psychoanalytic Quarterly

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Psychoanalysis, Psychiatry

396 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1984

About the author

Otto Friedmann Kernberg (born 10 September 1928) is an Austrian-born American psychoanalyst and professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine. He is most widely known for his psychoanalytic theories on borderline personality organization and narcissistic pathology.

Reviews

[Angus]

really, really great book. I finally have the closure I needed to move forward. To leave the memories of the people that were eviscerated that day behind. Every moment of every day is a new beginning. All praise to Lucifer, Bringer of Light.

[Mindy Like]

Kernberg "nails it" again with this one! Love, love, love....

[Marina Andronova]

Это первая прочитанная мною книга Кернберга, поэтому первую половину книги я привыкала к стилю автора и тому, какое количество длинных слов он использует на одну синтаксическую единицу. Но потом я привыкла и с удовольствием внимала мудрости и клиническому опыту автора. Книга хороша тем, что в ней подробно и с примерами рассматривается широкий спектр личностных расстройств, в основном пограничных и нарциссических, и даются конкретные внятные рекомендации по технике лечения. Несмотря на явные проблемы с переводом (такое ощущение, что переводил непрофессионал, иначе откуда всякие «эмоциональная выжженность» и «отыгрывание вовне»), я очень рекомендую эту книгу всем, кто хочет повысить свою квалификацию в сфере психодинамической терапии. Квадратиш, практиш, гут.

[Vic]

DNF, I'll admit. I got about as far as when he seemed to be arguing BPD and narcissism were essentially the same if you dug deep enough before deciding this probably wasn't the philosophy I wanted to go with for understanding the nuances of Cluster B personality disorders. That's what I get for picking up a 35 year old reference manual and hoping to pull something meaningful from it, I guess.

[Pedro González]

Un libro obligatorio para los estudiantes de psicoanálisis. Nos da una perspectiva y entendimiento sobre los trastornos fronterizos y su tratamiento.

[Sabina-Nicoleta Furtună (Sally)]

Compasiune zero față de cei afectați.

[Foley]

this man is the goat

[Yingtai]

This was recommended to me because it has a very different view of psychopathy from Hare's. I'll say. As the title would suggest, this book is about personality disorders in general, with an emphasis on narcissism (not psychopathy). It's written for psychiatrists, not laymen, so what he discusses is problems of classification, differential diagnosis and treatment - not how to spot these people and cope with them in normal life.

I really didn't like it. He's so wedded to his theories that I don't think he even realises that facts can be separated from them. He has that really annoying lofty Freudian jargon, e.g. infantile personality demonstrates clinginess, you get it. In between all the theories, there are self-indulgent-sounding anecdotes, and a very intrusive "I" going all the way through.

This book is as close to unreadable as I have ever seen.

[Shannon]

it was a intreating read and i feel i learnt a lot for it.