 | Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com | A revision of the leading textbook on personality disorders by renowned expert Theodore Millon "Personalities are like impressionistic paintings. At a distance, each person is 'all of a piece'; up close, each is a bewildering complexity of moods, cognitions, and motives."
-Theodore Millon
Exploring the continuum from normal personality traits to the diagnosis and treatment of severe cases of personality disorders, Personality Disorders in Modern Life, Second Edition is unique in its coverage of both important historical figures and contemporary theorists in the field. Its content spans all the major disorders-Antisocial, Avoidant, Depressive, Compulsive, Histrionic, Narcissistic, Paranoid, Schizoid, and Borderline-as well as their many subtypes. Attention to detail and in-depth discussion of the subtleties involved in these debilitating personality disorders make this book an ideal companion to the DSM-IV(TM). Fully updated with the latest research and theory, this important text features: - Discussion of the distinctive clinical features and developmental roots of personality disorders
- Balanced coverage of the major theoretical perspectives-biological, psychodynamic, interpersonal, cognitive, and evolutionary
- Individual chapters on all DSM-IV(TM) personality disorders and their several subtypes and mixtures
- Case studies throughout the text that bring to life the many faces of these disorders
Including a new assessment section that singles out behavioral indicators considered to have positive predictive power for the disorders, this Second Edition also includes a special focus on developmental, gender, and cultural issues specific to each disorder. A comprehensive reference suitable for today's practitioners, Personality Disorders in Modern Life, Second Edition features a clear style that also makes it a valuable resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate students. The most thorough book of its kind, this Second Edition is a powerful, practical resource for all trainees and professionals in key mental health fields, such as psychology, social work, and nursing. |
Average Customer Rating:  Comprehensive, integrative, practical approach to the understanding and assessment of personality style and disorder This is an outstanding book on the development and diagnosis of personality style and disorder. Millon and his colleagues have done an excellent job in explaining what is a very complex, multidimensional field in a simple, coherent format. By drawing on explanations from different theories of personality, Millon et al have provided adequate detail in defining the complexity of personality, and make (somewhat succesful) attempts at synthesising current approaches within their own 'evolutionary-neurodevelopmental' perspective. While drawing on relevant and valid sources, they also do justice to more esoteric psychoanalytic approaches, which still have a lot to offer to contemporary therapy.
While this apparent simplicity is useful in increasing understanding within the 'layperson,' I do worry that it also belies the complexity of personality development and disorder. As a therapist, I am acutely aware of the pervasiveness of PD, and remain concerned that the domain can be simplified without retaining the core message that personality itself is a pervasive phenomena, and therefore influences our perception of information. I am somewhat concerned that some readers may not appreciate this as they try to comprehend such material, and there are dangers to this. As such, I would recommend that readers have some background in psychology, and Millon himself notes this.
Overall, I remain very impressed with this book, although I wouldve liked more detail in respect to treatment of disorder along with combinations of disorders. I realise I'm just being greedy now, and appreciate this wouldve required another volume. I sincerely hope the group provide books of similarly high quality on these topics. Excellent Although not what I would call "easy reading" by any stretch of the imagination, this book was extremely detailed and broke down each DSM into smaller fragments. It was a great piece to add to my courses in MH DSM and went into much greater detail than my university textbooks! My professor at the time recommended a similar book which I managed to misplace. Fortunately this one was recommended to me and is even better.
Excellent in every regard and a must-have for any mental health practitioner. First class resource on the little understood world of PD. Theodore Milon's work on personality disorder's is a tour de force of the little understood world of "personality disorders in modern life."
This is an outstanding book, both as a text for the advanced master's level student, or as a stand-alone reference for the clinician looking to delve deeper into this mysterious world.
Dr. Milon cogently and meticulously dissects each disorder and provides case vignettes to aid the reader in grasping each entity for what it is, if that is possible.
Highly recommended. Encyclopedic in scope. Scholarly in its depth. 5+ stars. An absolutely wonderful book on personality. As an "advanced layman" interested in personality, I can fully endorse all that has been said by others about this book. It's not often that you find a book intended as a textbook that's....hard to put down, but this book certainly qualifies.
One rather missleading aspect of the title is its' implication that the book is only about the more pathological aspects of personality, and although the book is indeed organized along the lines of the DSM defined personality disorders, Millon makes an ongoing point within every section that the severity of each of the disorders exists along a continum, ranging from "normal" to "extream".
Those within the "normal" range on each disorder illustrate aspects of personality that are common to almost every one of us, and as such, the book provides equally comprehensive insights into normal aspects of personality as well.
If you are truely interested in personality in it's full range of variation, I would not allow yourself to be detered by the books' price. Millon is a stunning intelect, and I believe you will come away from this quite readable volume with the same enthusiastic response as others who have reviewed it.
Terrific Personality Textbook For those looking for the perfect Masters level textbook on Personality this is the one. Throughout the entire book, the author frames the discussion from the various therapeutic perspective: cognitive, biologic, psychodynamic, interpersonal, and evolutionary-neurodevelopmental. They cover functional and structural domains and contrast each personality type with related personality structures. They also break each personality disorder and trait into variations. Their incorporation of personality trait with disorder would allow instructors of personality to incorporate the various testing within the personality disorder framework. The book is very weak on therapy strategies and techniques for each disorder, but that is not why one would want the book. A terrific textbook on personality disorder. |  |
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