Continuing Education Course

Personality is a central concern of psychoanalysis and psychodynamic psychotherapy. Contemporary understandings of personality have been shaped by influential works such as Nancy McWilliams’s Psychoanalytic Diagnosis (2nd ed., 2011) and the recently published Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual, Third Edition (PDM3), edited by Vittorio Lingiardi and Nancy McWilliams. This course explores a deceptively simple but clinically important question: What do psychodynamic clinicians actually do with personality?

Although clinicians from different psychodynamic traditions frequently draw upon the language of personality organization, character structure, defenses, and internal experience, they often understand and apply these concepts in markedly different ways. These differences reflect distinct theories of mind, psychological development, psychopathology, and therapeutic action. Through close attention to theory and clinical practice, participants will examine how personality concepts guide assessment, case formulation, and treatment. The course will foster a lively and interactive exchange among clinicians from diverse psychoanalytic and psychodynamic orientations, highlighting both areas of convergence and enduring theoretical differences.

Learning Objectives

• Compare contemporary perspectives on the role of personality formulation in psychodynamic psychotherapy

• Apply personality formulation frameworks to inform therapeutic stance, intervention selection, and treatment goals