Challenges in the treatment of personality disorders: When the disorder demands comprehensive integration

Abstract

Major advances have been made in the theoretical constructs, classification, and treatment of personality disorders. Nevertheless, these disorders remain very challenging to treat and frustrating to many health care providers. Although we have witnessed a paradigmatic shift in the field of personology, there remains much more to do in this exciting field. A number of parallel trends have been made in diagnostic systems, models that make disorders of personality more understandable and more readily treated with both short-term and long-term psychotherapy. In fact, a number of issues in the field of personality disorders can be described as “breakthrough problems” for the field of psychotherapy and the mental health professions as a whole. This article presents the reader with a summary of these trends. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.