Personalities

There are many approaches to the treatment of patients with borderline personality disorder. In this fascinating volume, the editors interview the major proponents of these approaches. The book contains fourteen interviews with a diverse range of therapists. The questions are the same, but the answers are as different as the personalities of the respondents. They discuss the major principles of their treatment, their professional development, and their differences. The interviews also reveal the people behind the theories. What personal motives made them want to work with patients so often considered "difficult"? Why did they choose or develop the specific methods that they use? The therapists represented in this comprehensive volume are Gerald Adler, Salman Akhtar, Lorna Smith Benjamin, John Clarkin, Robert Cloninger, Arthur Freeman, Glenn Gabbard, Otto Kernberg, Marsha Linehan, John Livesley, James Masterson, Lawrence Rockland, Michael Stone, and Jeffrey Young. These master clinicians explain what they would do in very specific situations, such as the middle-of-the-night suicidal phone call or the chance encounter with a patient at a social gathering. The answers are instructive, sometimes surprising, and always reflective of the differences and similarities of these great therapists. The editors have provided a contemporary picture of the many ways one can go about treating people with severe personality problems.