Dimensions, Landscapes, and Clinical Aspects of Personality Phenomenological-Gestalt Perspectives on Personality Disorders

Introduction

Michela Gecele, Gianni Francesetti

Part I

1. Being and Becoming: Imitating, Classifying, Naming

Francesco Remotti

2. Personality Disorders: History and Problems of a Diagnosis

Paolo Migone

3. State of the Art and New Horizons in Personality Trait Research

Francesco Quilghini, Michele Settani

4. Personality Disorders and Neurodiversity

Michele Settanni, Francesco Quilghini

5. Witches and Personality Disorders

Michela Gecele

6. The Personality of the Situation: Personality as a Function of Self in Gestalt Therapy

Gianni Francesetti, Michela Gecele, Dan Bloom, Jan Roubal

Part II

Michela Gecele, Gianni Francesetti

Introduction to Personality Dimensions

7. The Borderline Dimension

Clinical case: Laura

8. The Hysterical Dimension

Clinical Case I: Amélie

Clinical Case II: Kate

9. The Narcissistic Dimension

Clinical Case I: Diego

Clinical Case II: Linda

10. The Schizoid Dimension

Clinical Case I: Tommaso

Clinical Case II: Stefano

11. The Obsessive-Compulsive Dimension

Clinical case: Anna

12. The Psychopathic Dimension

Clinical Case I: Marta

Clinical Case II: Antonio

Part III

Conclusion: What to Keep in Mind in Therapy: Cross-Cutting Elements of the Different Personality Dimensions

Michela Gecele, Gianni Francesetti

Biography

Michela Gecele, M.D., is a psychiatrist and Gestalt psychotherapist. She formerly coordinated, in Turin, a psychological and psychiatric service for immigrants. She is an international trainer and supervisor, co-director of the International Institute of Gestalt Therapy and Psychopathology (IPSIG) and of the Turin School of Psychopathology, and co-founder of the International Study Group on Emergent Self and Field Theory (IG-FEST).

Gianni Francesetti, M.D., is a psychiatrist, Gestalt psychotherapist, and adjunct professor at the Department of Psychology, University of Turin (Italy). He is an international trainer and supervisor, co-director of the International Institute of Gestalt Therapy and Psychopathology (IPSIG) and of the Turin School of Psychopathology, and co-founder of the International Study Group on Emergent Self and Field Theory (IG-FEST).

"This book doesn’t just deserve to be in the libraries of every psychotherapist, especially Gestalt therapists; it should be the study book and “bedside” reference for anyone who wants to improve their clinical practice.

With two clearly differentiated parts, the first, with the collaboration of several authors, provides the ground on which to understand and assimilate the second, more practical part in which Gestalt therapists Michela Gecele and Gianni Francesetti describe how to think and intervene in the psychotherapeutic process taking into account not only our basic field-based theory but also the personality disorders that affect Western society today. Practical examples help to better understand their proposals."

Carmen Vázquez Bandin, clinical psychologist and Gestalt therapist.

"This book impressively demonstrates how diagnosis in psychotherapy can align with the Greek origin of the word—knowing thoroughly. However, it does so without objectifying or dehumanizing clients, adopting a radically different perspective that regards both clients and therapists as parts of the situation they cocreate together. In this way, they can rigorously get to know each other—as well as the field conditions that shape who they become. Thus, exhaustive knowing and respect for the clients’ dignity can go hand in hand."

Frank-M. Staemmler, Ph.D., psychologist and Gestalt therapist.