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Empirically Informed Clinical Interviewing for Personality Disorders

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Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Research

Part of the book series: Current Clinical Psychiatry ((CCPSY))

Abstract

Individuals with diagnosed personality disorders constitute a sizable proportion of patients receiving outpatient psychodynamic therapy [1, 2]. Beyond the DSM-IV diagnosable conditions, personality is still a significant diathesis for psychopathology [3] and plays a predominant role in how patients use and respond to psychotherapy [4, 5]. How can clinicians gather information about personality functioning and psychopathology in a way that is both empirically reliable and clinically sensible?

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Notes

  1. 1.

    While the CDI offers direct questions about pertinent symptoms and personality problems, it cannot be used to apply DSM-IV diagnostic algorithms for each disorder, which require direct inquiry about the nature, length, and duration of hundreds of symptoms for disorders that may or may not be clinically relevant.

  2. 2.

    Reliability and validity coefficients depend on both the psychometric properties of the instrument used as well as the quality of information obtained from an interview. We present this information in support of the CDI and in the ­context of the other advantages already described for the systematic clinical interview process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Jared A. DeFife Ph.D. (Research Scientist)

  2. Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Drew Westen Ph.D.

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  1. Jared A. DeFife Ph.D.
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  2. Drew Westen Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Jared A. DeFife Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Parkman St., Boston, 02114, Massachusetts, USA

    Raymond A. Levy

  2. Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Morrimac Street 101, Boston, 02114, Massachusetts, USA

    J. Stuart Ablon

  3. and Psychoanalysis, International Psychoanalytic University, Department of Clinical Psychology, Stromstr. 3, Berlin, 10555, Germany

    Horst Kächele

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DeFife, J.A., Westen, D. (2012). Empirically Informed Clinical Interviewing for Personality Disorders. In: Levy, R., Ablon, J., Kächele, H. (eds) Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Research. Current Clinical Psychiatry. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-792-1_31

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