1st Edition

Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy for Personality Disorders A treatment manual

    278 Pages 13 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    278 Pages 13 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Patients with personality disorders need targeted treatments which are able to deal with the specific aspects of the core pathology and to tackle the challenges they present to the treatment clinicians. Such patients, however, are often difficult to engage, are prone to ruptures in the therapeutic alliance, and have difficulty adhering to a manualized treatment.

    Giancarlo Dimaggio, Antonella Montano, Raffaele Popolo and Giampaolo Salvatore aim to change this, and have developed a practical and systematic manual for the clinician, using Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy (MIT), and including detailed procedures for dealing with a range of personality disorders. The book is divided into two parts, Pathology, and Treatment, and provides precise instructions on how to move from the basic steps of forming an alliance, drafting a therapy contract and promoting self-reflections, to the more advanced steps of promoting change and helping the patient move toward health and adaptation.

    With clinical examples, summaries of therapies, and excerpts of session transcripts, Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy for Personality Disorders will be welcomed by psychotherapists, clinical psychologists and other mental health professionals involved in the treatment of personality disorders.

    Introduction. Personality Disorder Psychopathology: Form and Contents of Subjective Experience. Personality Disorder Psychopathology: Functions. Assessment and Case Formulation in Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy. Step-By-Step Formalized Procedures. Therapeutic Relationship. Shared Formulation of Functioning: Enriching Autobiographical Memory, Improving Access to Inner States and Reconstructing Schemas. Promoting Differentiation. Construction of New Self-Aspects: Access to Healthy Parts, Exploration, Increase in Agency, Overcoming Avoidances. Promoting the Understanding of the Other’s Mind and Integration. Treating Symptoms and Promoting Mastery of Relational Problems. Comparison of Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies. Appendix: Diagnostic Instruments Usually Adopted in MIT.

    Biography

    Giancarlo Dimaggio is a co-founding member of the Center for Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy. He is the author of four books and numerous articles.

    Antonella Montano is a founding member and director of the psychotherapy school A.T. Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy. He is a teacher and supervisor of the Associazione Italiana Analisi e Modificazione del Comportamento (AIAMC), a certified trainer/consultant/speaker/supervisor of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy (ACT), a member of the International Association for Cognitive Psychotherapy (IACP) and a member of the International Society for Sexual Medicine (ISSM).

    Raffaele Popolo is a co-founding member of the Center for Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy, a trainer at the Società Italiana di Terapia Comportamentale e Cognitiva (SITCC)a trainer of the psychotherapy school ‘Studi Cognitivi’.

    Giampaolo Salvatore is a co-founding member of the Center for Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy, a trainer at A.T. Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy.

    "Metacognitive interpersonal therapy for personality disorders by Giancarlo Dimaggio, Antonella Montano, Raffaele Popolo and Giampaolo Salvatore is an innovative, sophisticated and intriguing new approach to the treatment of personality disorders. Filled with clinical wisdom, fascinating conceptualizations, and case material, therapists will find exciting and useful new ideas in this significant contribution to the clinical literature. I highly recommend this book to therapists, regardless of theoretical orientation."- Robert L. Leahy, Ph.D, Director, American Institute for Cognitive Therapy

    "Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy for Personality Disorders is a remarkable new book, it provides a long needed contribution to treatment of inhibited personalities such as the avoidant and the dependent. Dr. Dimaggio and his associates have created a new language to liberate the inhibited mind and give the clinicians a new vocabulary to understand and treat these disorders. I strongly recommend this book, both to novice and experienced therapist within the field." - Professor Erik Simonsen, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen

    "This is a book for therapists who subscribe to a wide variety of theoretical orientations. It draws upon multiple therapeutic traditions, is experience-near (with multiple case examples), and, best of all, truly clinically useful. How to work effectively with treatment-resistant personality-disordered clients has been one of the great challenges facing all psychotherapists, and this excellent, thoughtful, clinically sensitive (and quite persuasive) book will surely prove extremely helpful to all who work with this often difficult-to-treat population."- Barry A. Farber, Ph.D., Professor; Director of Clinical Training, Teachers College, Columbia University, Editor, Journal of Clinical Psychology: In Session

    "A new inspiring, reader-friendly, clear, concise book written to help clinicians deal better with the most difficult-to-treat patients in their caseloads.

    "Based on unique case formulations the book intends not only to teach patients about their vulnerabilities but also how these vulnerabilities impact their relations with others. The authors elegantly discuss how to alter cognitive/metacognitive and affective processes, interpersonal and metacognitive functioning to better regulate affect and behaviour. The book does not only teach clinicians how to master metacognitive interpersonal therapy interventions but also guide them in building better therapeutic relationship skills given the fact that there is low satisfaction levels both for therapists and patients, high dropout rates and reduced treatment adherence during the course of the treatment. As there are no pathognomonic features that identify a specific personality disorder and high comorbidity exits between different personality disorders, the authors propose a treatment model that can be applied consistently in all personality disorders. A book that needs to be read by all clinicians to inspire hope and confidence in treatment of personality disorders. No doubt they will highly benefit from reading this book." - Mehmet Sungur, Professor of Psychiatry, Psychiatry Dept of Marmara University Hospital, Istanbul, President of the Turkish Association for Cognitive Behaviour Psychotherapy (TACBP)