Premium
Incorporating narrative repair in the treatment of avoidant personality disorders: A case in point
Author(s) -
Lind Majse,
Simonsen Sebastian,
Dunlop William L.
Publication year - 2021
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.23152
Subject(s) - narrative , psychology , avoidant personality disorder , feeling , personality , psychotherapist , narrative identity , shyness , narrative inquiry , borderline personality disorder , identity (music) , personality disorders , interpersonal communication , psychoanalysis , social psychology , psychiatry , aesthetics , anxiety , literature , art , philosophy
Avoidant personality disorder (AvPD) is characterized by multiple struggles, including shyness, feelings of inadequacy, and hypersensitivity to interpersonal judgments. Research indicates that people with AvPD also show disturbances in narrative identity, which is an internal and evolving story created about the personal past, present, and presumed future. Here, the novel Guide for Narrative Repair (GNaR) recently developed by (Thomsen et al., 2020) is introduced as a potentially useful tool to help people with AvPD in crafting more adaptive narrative identities. The guide is brought to life via a case study analysis of Adam, a male outpatient suffering from AvPD. Consistent with the GNaR, disturbances in Adam's storied self are brought to light and ways to facilitate his narrative repair are proposed. We conclude with implications related to the case as well as the potential narrative turn in AvPD treatment.