1/ Depressive Personality Style “Despite its omission from the DSM, depressive personality is the most common personality syndrome seen in clinical practice. It is a personality syndrome in every sense of the term: an enduring pattern of psychological functioning evident by

In every transformative therapy, there is a period when the patient may feel more lost than ever. They are relinquishing old ways of being and have not yet consolidated new ways We are changing life patterns. There is no path from point A to point B that does not traverse the unknown Real transformation occurs when patient and therapist can enter and embrace that unknown But this is also the point when less experienced therapists get anxious and want to rush in with solutions—instead of accompanying the patient into the unknown and continuing the shared work of exploration This is the point where therapists, in an effort to manage their own anxiety, can derail the successful work of the therapy that has led them to this point If the duration of therapy is artificially fixed in advance or set by a third party (clinic, agency, health insurer, etc), therapy can never reach this point. Therapist and patient know it’s not safe to venture there and instinctively pull back from the unknown

Public service message for MH professionals Some in the “helping professions” don’t understand psychopathy is real. There’s no hurt child beneath the hate and aggression that “really” just wants empathy and understanding. What some people really want is to see you bleed True psychopathy is relatively uncommon in the general population, but not so uncommon that you won’t encounter it. Give the benefit of the doubt, be charitable in your assumptions, err on the side of kindness But don't be a bloody fool