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Metacognitive interpersonal therapy in a case of obsessive–compulsive and avoidant personality disorders
Author(s) -
Fiore Donatella,
Dimaggio Giancarlo,
Nicoló Giuseppe,
Semerari Antonio,
Carcione Antonino
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.20450
Subject(s) - avoidant personality disorder , psychology , personality disorders , psychotherapist , interpersonal communication , clinical psychology , obsessive compulsive , personality , psychoanalysis , social psychology
Metacognitive interpersonal therapy (MIT) for personality disorders is aimed at both improving metacognition—the ability to understand mental states—and modulating problematic interpersonal representations while building new and adaptive ones. Attention to the therapeutic relationship is basic in MIT. Clinicians recognize any dysfunctional relationships with patients and work to achieve attunement to make the latter aware of their problematic interpersonal patterns. The authors illustrate here the case of a man suffering from obsessive–compulsive and avoidant personality disorders with dependent traits. He underwent combined individual and group therapies to (a) modulate his perfectionism, (b) prevent shifts towards avoiding responsibilities to protect himself from feared negative judgments, and (c) help him acknowledge suppressed desires. We show how treatment focused on the various dysfunctional personality aspects. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol: In Session 64: 1–13, 2008.