Personality Pathology

Personality pathology is rooted in early development and affects a wide range of affects, behaviors and cognitive processes. Every year thousands of articles about the etiology of personality pathology are published in various professional or scientific reviews. There is a growing distance between the generalist's practice and increasingly precise scientific knowledge. Since no one can read everything, it therefore behooves the professional to ask the following questions: Is the most recent better than what came before? Is the measurable and demonstrable necessarily clinically interesting? Must what interests the clinician be measured and proved? While theory and clinical research are becoming increasingly precise, innumerable socio-economic forces are pressing for a simplification in clinical practice. The generalist today finds himself torn between two opposing forces. He seeks to practice from a secure base and to keep his knowledge up to date, while being aware that this in turn will give rise to an increasingly varied clinical practice, in which he deals with serious pathologies as well as working with patients requesting help in more ordinary situations. Whatever the profile of his practice, the generalist has to be able to work with personality disorders and understand how they arise, enabling him to make informed clinical decisions. Personality Pathologyis designed to be of use to the generalist in his daily practice. The integrative structure on which this work is based is Relational Psychotherapy / Object Relational Gestalt-therapy. It is written for all psychotherapists interested in finding out about developmental issues.

Gilles Delisle, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and associate professor of clinical psychology at the University of Sherbrooke. He is the director of clinical training at the Centre d'Intgration Gestaltiste in Montreal, and a guest trainer at several training institutes abroad. He is a member of the International Society for the Study of Personality Disorders and of the International Neuropsychoanalysis Society. In 2010, he was appointed President of the State Advisory Council on Psychotherapy and was awarded the prestigious Noel-Mailloux Prize by the Quebec Order of Psychologists in recognition of lifetime achievement of scientific and professional excellence in clinical psychology.