Nancy McWilliams, PhD

May 12-14, 2023

JCFS/216 W. Jackson/Suite #700

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Zoom

Dr. McWilliams is a retired professor of clinical psychology at Rutgers University’s Graduate School of Applied & Professional Psychology and practices in Lambertville, New Jersey. She is author of Psychoanalytic Diagnosis (1994, rev. ed. 2011), Psychoanalytic Case Formulation (1999), Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (2004) and Psychoanalytic Supervision (2021) and is associate editor of both editions of the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual (2006, 2017). A former president of Division 39 (Psychoanalysis) of the American Psychological Association, she has been featured in three APA videos of master clinicians. She is on the Board of Trustees of the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, MA. Her books are available in 20 languages, and she has taught in 30 countries.

Seminar title: Personality Differences and Their Implications for Psychotherapy

Seminar Description: Many of us chose a vocation in psychotherapy because we were fascinated with individual differences. Research on psychotherapy supports this focus, in that personality and relationship variables are consistently found to have more influence on treatment outcome than type of treatment. This seminar will conceptualize personality differences as they have emerged from clinical experience and empirical research rather than according to the trait-based personality disorder categories in the DSM and other psychiatric classifications that have influenced contemporary paradigms for psychological treatment. It will emphasize subjective as well as objective means of appreciating patients’ individuality, including a disciplined attention to countertransference reactions, mutual enactments, cultural and subcultural differences, and context. The focus will be on the practical value of understanding clients’ personalities in depth whether or not a person’s personality itself is “disordered.” Dr. McWilliams will present material from her own practice and encourage the sharing of clinical vignettes from candidates.

Selected Readings: Core Readings:

Lingiardi, V., & McWilliams, N. (Eds.) (2917). Psychodynamic diagnostic manual, 2^nd ed. (PDM-2). Adult P-Axis (Chapter 1: Personality Syndromes). New York: Guilford.

McWilliams, N. (2012). Beyond traits: Personality as intersubjective themes. Journal of Personality Assessment, 94, 563-570.

McWilliams, N., Grenyer, B., & Shedler, J. (2018). Personality in PDM-2: Controversial issues. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 35(3), 299-305.

Recommended readings:

Caligor, E., Kernberg, O. F., Clarkin, J. F., & Yeomans, F. E. (2018). Psychodynamic therapy for personality pathology: Treating self and interpersonal functioning, esp. chs. 1-3. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

Diamond, D., Yeomans, F. E., Stern, B. L., & Kernberg, O. F. (2021). Treating pathological narcissism with transference-focused psychotherapy. New York: Guilford.

Freud, S. (1916). Some character-types met with in psycho-analytic work. Standard Edition, 14, 311-333.

McWilliams, N. (2011).  Psychoanalytic diagnosis: Understanding personality structure in the clinical process, rev. ed.  New York: Guilford.

McWilliams, N. (2006). Some thoughts about schizoid dynamics. Psychoanalytic Rev., 93, 1-24.

McWilliams, N. (1999).  Psychoanalytic case formulation.  New York: Guilford.

Reich, W. (1933). Character analysis. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1972.

Shapiro, D. (1965).  Neurotic styles.  New York: Basic Books.

Steiner, J. (1993). Psychic retreats: Pathological organizations in psychotic, neurotic, and borderline patients. London: Routledge.