This book offers clear, practical, and simple recommendations for
treating patients with personality disorders. The goals of the book are
twofold: 1) to describe the essential elements of Transference-Focused
Psychotherapy (TFP), an evidence-based treatment for Borderline
Personality Disorder, and 2) to describe how core principles and
techniques of TFP can be used in a variety of settings to improve
clinical management of patients with a broad spectrum of personality
pathology, even when patients are not engaged in individual
psychotherapy. A short introduction outlines in concise language the
core elements of TFP and its origins in object relations theory. The
book then takes the clinician through the process of: 1) comprehensive
diagnosis, 2) negotiation of the treatment frame, and 3) the overarching
strategies, techniques, and tactics used in the individual treatment,
including helpful, accessible clinical vignettes. Subsequent chapters
build on the literature of TFP in individual psychotherapy, broadening
its applications to include crisis management, family engagement,
inpatient psychiatry, pharmacotherapy, medical settings, psychiatry
residency training.
Fundamentals of Transference-Focused Psychotherapy is a valuable
resource for psychiatrists, psychologists, and all other medical
professionals treating patients suffering from Borderline Personality
Disorder, and other severe personality disorder presentations.