This acclaimed clinical guide and widely adopted text has filled a key need in the field since its original publication. Nancy McWilliams makes psychoanalytic personality theory and its implications for practice accessible to practitioners of all levels of experience. She explains major character types and demonstrates specific ways that understanding the patient's individual personality structure can influence the therapist's focus and style of intervention. Guidelines are provided for developing a systematic yet flexible diagnostic formulation and using it to inform treatment. Highly readable, the book features a wealth of illustrative clinical examples.
New to This Edition *Reflects the ongoing development of the author's approach over nearly two decades. *Incorporates important advances in attachment theory, neuroscience, and the study of trauma. *Coverage of the contemporary relational movement in psychoanalysis.
Winner--Canadian Psychological Association's Goethe Award for Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Scholarship
Nancy McWilliams, PhD, ABPP, teaches in the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and has a private practice in Flemington, New Jersey. She is a former president of the Division of Psychoanalysis (39) of the American Psychological Association and is on the editorial board of Psychoanalytic Psychology. Dr. McWilliams's books have been translated into 14 languages, and she has lectured widely both nationally and internationally. She is a recipient of honors including the Rosalee Weiss Award for contributions to practice from the Division of Independent Practitioners of the American Psychological Association; Honorary Membership in the American Psychoanalytic Association; and the Robert S. Wallerstein Visiting Scholar Lectureship in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis at the University of California, San Francisco. A graduate of the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis, Dr. McWilliams is also affiliated with the Center for Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy of New Jersey and the National Training Program of the National Institute for the Psychotherapies in New York City.
Title: Psychoanalytic Diagnosis, Second Edition: Understanding Personality Structure in the Clinical Process
Author: McWilliams, Nancy
ISBN: 9781462543694
Binding:
Publisher: Guilford Publications
Publication Date: 2020-04-17
Number of Pages: 426
Weight: 0.5882 kg
This is a book for all clinicians who aspire to understand their clients deeply and help them live more richly and authentically. McWilliams synthesizes a century of cumulative clinical wisdom and offers it in a form that is accessible and useful to clinicians of any theoretical persuasion. The first edition of Psychoanalytic Diagnosis was an instant classic; the second edition is exceptionally lucid and masterful. This is McWilliams, master clinician and teacher, at her very best.--Jonathan Shedler, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado School of Medicine
In revising Psychoanalytic Diagnosis, McWilliams has surpassed herself. The original--deservedly regarded as a classic--was an integrative tour de force; the second edition is even better. Informed by current advances in neuroscience and infant research, and reshaped in light of the 'relational turn' in contemporary psychoanalysis, this book distills a vast literature on development, psychopathology, and therapy into an extraordinarily useful map of the clinical terrain. It is at once an indispensable resource for beginning therapists, a valuable teaching tool, and a comprehensive reference for seasoned clinicians.--David J. Wallin, PhD, private practice, Mill Valley and Albany, California
In this accessible and impassioned book, McWilliams provides organizing principles to help us understand psychopathology without oversimplifying or evading the difficult questions raised by diagnosis. Reading McWilliams's book will make you feel like you know her. Her extraordinary humanity, wisdom, deep sense of ethics, and steady concern for her patients are evident throughout. The second edition includes an updated presentation of attachment theory, addresses the contributions of relational theory and neuroscience research, and integrates a contemporary understanding of somatization and defense. A 'must read' for every clinician in training.--Joyce A. Slochower, PhD, Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, New York University
-This essential text is highly useful to all practitioners of any theoretical orientation....[McWilliams's] writing style is much like she describes her therapy sessions....Her personal sharing gives the text a soul and you feel you are with a warm and wise teacher....This text [is] as enjoyable as it is enlightening....It goes into great detail about personality organization, defensive functioning, and character styles and describes how they impact treatment.--DIVISION/Review, 4/1/2013ffWith humor, warmth, and enthusiasm, Dr. McWilliams instills confidence while making the book a delectable read. There is no doubt that the goal of 'enhancing practice' has been achieved. This book is highly recommended to any clinician-in-training as a foundation for psychoanalytic thinking and also to any practicing therapist as a well-structured and comprehensive resource....This book will be a rich addition to learning about psychoanalytic diagnosis (and psychoanalytic concepts) for any younger mental health professional who is seriously interested in depth psychology. It will also be a valuable tool for more experienced clinicians and educators who would like assistance in translating fairly complex concepts into language that can be appreciated by learners of a variety of different levels of sophistication and disciplinary backgrounds.--Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 10/1/2012ffIf a 'charming textbook' seems like an oxymoron, then welcome to Nancy McWilliams's Psychoanalytic Diagnosis. Her book is just such a wonder....McWilliams has succeeded in producing a book for initial learning that will remain on her readers' desks as a frequently thumbed manual. (on the first edition)--Psychoanalytic Books, 7/16/2011ffThanks to McWilliams's excellent book, those of us who teach or supervise can at last offer our students and supervisees a comprehensive, exceptionally well-organized text on diagnosis, grounded in evolving psychoanalytic theory and focused on linking diagnosis to the appropriate therapeutic response....Experienced therapists will enjoy a thorough 'refresher' course while also absorbing new ideas, and less experienced clinicians will gain a solid structural foundation and essential guidelines for their clinical work. (on the first edition)--Contemporary Psychology, 7/16/2011
