Welcome to A Psychologist Talks! This is the fourth episode in a series about Antisocial Personality Disorder, with a focus on treating the condition - or really the variations of the condition. Unlike many of my personality series, we don't talk much about framing, countertransference, or anything of the likes. Rather, we talk about when deeper work is plausible and - importantly - the growing necessity to keep things strictly behavioral. Or, starkly, when we might not offer treatment at all.

Welcome to A Psychologist Talks! This is the third episode in a series about Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD), with a focus on the development of the condition. Once again, the development of the condition depends a lot about what "version" or "subtype" of ASPD we are talking about, given the flawed nature of the construct. As with most development episodes, we begin with nature meets nurture for the folks on the lower end of the spectrum (broader delinquency to Sociopathy), but then very quickly tread into the strongly biological and genetic presentation of Psychopathy and Sadism. I realize I did not talk much about normal development in this episode, but it's pretty simple and brief: everybody can have a little bit of delinquency in their lives due to flirting with "externalization" and testing limits, but anything close to ASPD represents a frequent and recurrent issue with illegality and social-systems manipulation.

Welcome to A Psychologist Talks! This is the second episode in a series about Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD), with a focus on subtypes of the personality disorder. As I mention in this episode, there are not "subtypes" per se; rather, we will talk more about the flawed nature of ASPD and a sort of "spectrum" upon which folks might exist. On one side, we have the more behavioral and contextual-trauma-related. On the other side, we have the addition of social and emotional detachment. And yes, a crowd favorite - psychopathy - is discussed!

Welcome to A Psychologist Talks! Today is the first episode in a series about Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD). This is the first episode in a series about ASPD, with a focus on key elements of this personality, with an emphasis upon diagnostic criteria of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual. Unlike my other personality series, there is going to be a lot of subtype- and developmental-like conversations that bleed between episodes (versus being relegated to their respective episodes), because there are foundational construct problems surrounding ASPD. Most specifically - and perhaps to the delight of viewers given the public fascination around it - psychopathy. I hope this provides a more useful take and conversation around key features. Meanwhile, I'm also not yet discussing psychodynamic theories behind the features (more commonly placed in this episode), but it'll be peppered in soon!

Welcome to A Psychologist Talks! This is the fourth episode in a series about Depressive Personality Disorder, with a focus on treating the condition. We will talk about the importance of framing, countertransference reactions, and some comments on important goals. I end with a metaphor, should it be helpful.Note: This episode is more targeted at mental health providers, although it may be informative and curiosity-provoking for non-providers and consumers. Regardless, none of the content should be interpreted as medical advice, nor should it be used as a treatment guide. Please be mindful of this when listening.

Welcome to A Psychologist Talks! Today we are talking about chronic depression and Depressive Personality Disorder. This is the third episode in the series, with a focus on what constitutes normal versus abnormal development. I begin by discussing the universality of depression, shift to potential signs of dysthymic, depressive personalities, discuss the ever-present dilemma of nature versus nurture, and end with a few notes on mediating variables.

Welcome to A Psychologist Talks! Today we are talking about chronic depression and Depressive Personality Disorder. This is the second episode in the series, with a focus on subtypes of the personality disorder... well... sorta. As I discuss in the episode: depressive personalities, in my opinion, represent a pretty far-reaching and common aspects of our personalities. With that, it feels more difficult to list out defined and refined subtypes. I do the best I can, offering a few psychodynamically-informed theories, followed by two important differentials or "offshoots" of sorts: masochism/self-defeating personalities and the hypomanic defense.

Welcome to A Psychologist Talks! Today is the first episode in a series about Depressive Personality Disorder, a since-eliminated diagnosis from our diagnostic manual but one that has existed in prior versions for some time. I will begin by discussing the differentiation from and - in my opinion - overlap with Dysthymia/Persistent Depressive Disorder (PDD), followed by a diving into the diagnostic features in (a) prior versions of the DSM and (b) psychodynamic theory via the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual (PDM).CLARIFICATIONIt's worth mentioning that both mood AND somatic symptoms could help differentiate Dysthymia from Depressive Personality Disorder, but I would still argue we're talking about a similar underlying problem that simply presents differently across people.KEY QUOTE"Our current field focuses on a medicalized understanding of depression."