Examine personality psychopathology from diverse perspectives and explore multiple research and treatment approaches with The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Personality Disorders. Capture the multifaceted range of nonpathological human behavior and develop a judicious understanding of the extremes of behavior that are called personality disorders.

No other textbook today matches the clinically useful scope and relevance of Textbook of Personality Disorders. Its comprehensive coverage of theory, research, and treatment of personality disorders, incorporating illustrative case examples to enhance understanding, reflects the work of more than 70 expert contributors who review the latest theories, research findings, and clinical expertise in the increasingly complex field of personality disorders.

The deeply informative Textbook of Personality Disorders is organized into six main sections:

• Basic concepts—Summarizes definitions and classifications of personality disorders, building on broader international concepts and theories of psychopathology and including categorical and dimensional models of personality disorders
  
• Clinical evaluation—Discusses manifestations, problems in differential diagnosis, and patterns of comorbidity; the most widely used interviews and self-administered questionnaires; and the course and outcome of personality disorders.
  
• Etiology—Includes an integrative perspective (personality disorders, personality traits, and temperament); epidemiology (one in ten people has a personality disorder) and genetics; neurobiology; antecedents of personality disorders in children and adolescents; attachment theory and mentalization therapy in borderline personality disorder; and the complex and variable interface between personality disorders and sociocultural factors
  
• Treatment—Covers levels of care and the full range of therapies, from psychoanalysis to pharmacotherapy; includes detailed information on schema therapy, dialectical behavior therapy (specifically developed for self-injuring/suicidal patients with borderline personality disorder), interpersonal therapy, dynamically-informed supportive psychotherapy, group treatment, family therapy, psychoeducation, the therapeutic alliance, boundary issues, and collaborative treatment
  
• Special problems and populations—Addresses suicide, substance abuse, violence, dissociative states, defensive functioning, gender and cross-cultural issues, and patients in correctional and medical settings
  
• New developments and future directions—Offers perspectives on brain imaging and translational research and asserts that the closer working relationship between clinical psychiatrists and behavioral neuroscientists—with neuroimaging techniques as the common ground—will result in more promising models to enhance our understanding of the neuroscience and molecular biology of personality disorders

Offering both a wealth of practical information that clinicians can use right away in their daily practice and an up-to-date review of empirical research, The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Personality Disorders is the definitive reference and clinical guide not only for seasoned clinicians but also for psychiatry residents, psychology interns and graduate students, and social work, medical, and nursing students.

Introduction. Part I: Basic Concepts. Personality disorders: recent history and future directions. Theories of personality and personality disorders. Categorical and dimensional models of personality disorders. Part II: Clinical Evaluation. Manifestations, clinical diagnosis, and comorbidity. Assessment instruments and standardized evaluation. Course and outcome of personality disorders. Part III: Etiology. A current integrative perspective on personality disorders. Epidemiology. Genetics. Neurobiology. Developmental issues. Attachment theory and mentalization-oriented model of borderline personality disorder. Role of childhood experiences in the development of maladaptive and adaptive personality traits. Sociocultural factors. Part IV: Treatment. Levels of care in the treatment. Psychoanalysis. Psychodynamic psychotherapies. Schema therapy. Dialectical behavior therapy. Interpersonal therapy. Supportive psychotherapy. Group treatment. Family therapy. Psychoeducation. Somatic treatments. Therapeutic alliance. Boundary issues. Collaborative treatment. Part V: Special Problems and Populations. Assessing and managing suicide risk. Substance abuse. Violence. Dissociative states. Defensive functioning. Gender. Cross-cultural issues. Correctional populations: criminal careers and recidivism. Medical settings. Part VI: New Developments and Future Directions. Brain imaging. Translational research. Development of animal models in neuroscience and molecular biology. Biology in the service of psychotherapy. Appendix. Index.

"This Textbook of Personality Disorders is timely. The book can bring improved recognition to personality disorders and help a broad range of clinicians in working constructively with this challenging group of patients. For a textbook to be successful, it should be informative and authoritative and should have an appropriate breadth of information and viewpoint. This book succeeds in meeting these criteria."—New England Journal of Medicine, October 2005

"This is an enormously important and definitive text on personality disorders, edited and written by distinguished authorities in our field. It is very well organized and referenced—moving from basic concepts and etiology towards very practical clinical information on treatment, special issues, and future research directions. Students, teachers, clinicians, and researchers will greatly benefit from this comprehensive work."—Michelle B. Riba, M.D., M.S., Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan

"These top scholars have written a book appropriate and useful for all interested clinicians, faculty, and most students in search of a comprehensive review of the topic of personality disorders. . . . The outstanding aspects of this book are the editors' success in obtaining contributions from so many leading writers, researchers, and clinicians, the comprehensiveness of coverage, and the clarity of the writing on complex subjects. . . The editors and the authors should be congratulated for assembling this outstanding textbook."—Doody's Book Review Service, September 2005

Renato D. Alarcon, M.D., M.P.H.
Gerianne M. Alexander, Ph.D.
Ann H. Appelbaum, M.D.
Samuel A. Ball, Ph.D.
Anthony W. Bateman, M.A., F.R.C.Psych.
Donna S. Bender, Ph.D.
Christina Boggs, M.S.
Martin Bohus, M.D.
Michael Bond, M.D.
Beth S. Brodsky, Ph.D.
Elizabeth Bromley, M.D.
John F. Clarkin, Ph.D.
C. Robert Cloninger, M.D.
Emil F. Coccaro, M.D.
Patricia Cohen, Ph.D.
Jeremy Coid, M.D.
Thomas Crawford, Ph.D.
Amit Etkin, M.Phil.
Peter Fonagy, Ph.D., F.B.A.
Alan E. Fruzzetti, Ph.D.
Glen O. Gabbard, M.D.
Mark S. George, M.D.
Kim L. Gratz, Ph.D.
Carlos M. Grilo, Ph.D.
Seth D. Grossman, Psych.D.
John G. Gunderson, M.D.
Thomas G. Gutheil, M.D.
Amy Heim, Ph.D.
Perry D. Hoffman, Ph.D.
Jeffrey G. Johnson, Ph.D.
Eric R. Kandel, M.D.
Janet Klosko, Ph.D.
Nathan Kolla
Kenneth N. Levy, Ph.D.
Paul S. Links, M.D., F.R.C.P.C.
Jos� R. Maldonado, M.D., F.A.P.M., F.A.C.F.E.
John C. Markowitz, M.D.
Wilson McDermut, Ph.D.
Pamela G. McGeoch, M.A.
Thomas H. McGlashan, M.D.
Michael J. Meaney, Ph.D.
Theodore Millon, Ph.D., D.Sc.
Chris Molnar, Ph.D.
Leslie C. Morey, Ph.D.
Stephanie N. Mullins-Sweatt, M.A.
Ziad Nahas, M.D.
Edmund C. Neuhaus, Ph.D.
John S. Ogrodniczuk, Ph.D.
John M. Oldham, M.D., M.S.
Joel Paris, M.D.
J. Christopher Perry, M.P.H., M.D.
William E. Piper, Ph.D.
Christopher J. Pittenger, M.D., Ph.D.
Christian Schmahl, M.D.
Abigail Schlesinger, M.D.
M. Tracie Shea, Ph.D.
G. Pirooz Sholevar, M.D.
Larry J. Siever, M.D.
Kenneth R. Silk, M.D.
Andrew E. Skodol, M.D.
George W. Smith, M.S.W.
Paul H. Soloff, M.D.
David Spiegel, M.D.
Barbara Stanley, Ph.D.
Michael H. Stone, M.D.
Svenn Torgersen, Ph.D.
Peter Tyrer, M.D.
Louisa M.C. van den Bosch, Ph.D.
Roel Verheul, Ph.D.
Drew Westen, Ph.D.
Thomas A. Widiger, Ph.D.
Frank E. Yeomans, M.D.
Jeffrey Young, Ph.D.
Mark Zimmerman, M.D.

John M. Oldham, M.D., M.S., is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina.

Andrew E. Skodol, M.D., is Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Director of the Department of Personality Studies at New York State Psychiatric Institute in New York, New York.

Donna S. Bender, Ph.D., is Assistant Clinical Professor of Medical Psychology in Psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Research Scientist in the Department of Personality Studies at the New York State Psychiatric Institute in New York, New York.