Psychoanalytic Diagnosis

Understanding Personality Structure in the Clinical Process

By: Nancy McWilliams PhD

Narrated by: Allison Posner

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. A wealth of illustrative clinical examples are featured.

Winner—Canadian Psychological Association's Goethe Award for Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Scholarship

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2011 The Guilford Press (P)2024 The Guilford Press

Critic reviews

"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

Excellent overview of personality

This is an excellent overview of the modern psychoanalytic theory of personality structure, based on the drive theory. Provides clear and cogent explanation of the relationship between psychodefenses, pathology and personality structure.

Excellent

Perhaps her best book, McWilliams lays out the subject expertly and enjoyably. I highly recommend this for your commute or around the house.

Absolutely fantastic!!!

She manages to explain very difficult theories in a very easy to understand way. She reminds me of Daniel Goleman in that sense. This book is truly comprehensive!! An outstanding piece of work!! I am looking forward to more audiobooks by Nancy McWilliams. The print editons are available on Amazon, but I also enjoy listening to excellent books like this one, over and over....

Thorough and in depth

Really clear, really extensive with stories and examples, a lot to get through but author makes it very manageable and organized

Fascinating and clinical useful

McWilliams does an excellent job focusing on clinical distinctions within disorders, within character organization, and in differential diagnosis that focuses the diagnostician on clinically (treatment) relevant distinctions. In other words, she answers elucidates not only how to distinguish types of presentation, but why it matters for the treatment course.