A distillation from Nancy McWilliams’ (1994) Psychoanalytic Diagnosis and additional notes from Pathwise Leadership training, and by Endre Voros, the former director of training for Pathwise here in Seattle, WA. Please note that these are not American Psychiatric Association (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), 5th Edition (i.e., DSM-5) personality disorders—these are personality types.
| Psychopathic | Narcissistic | Paranoid | |
| Unconscious Emotion driven by… | Obliteration; Shame; Empathy Neglect | Fear of Emptiness, Nothingness; Love Neglect | Anger, Fear (of threat), Shame (related to inferiority); Re-occurring Fearful Events |
| Prime Defenses defended by… | Omnipotent Control, Projective Identification | Idealization, Devaluation | Projection, Denial |
| Transference redirected… | Powerless, Out of Control | Shame, Guilt | Impatience, Fear, Inferior |
| Counter-Transference reflected… | Charmed, Icky | “It’s all about you”, Bored, Devalued | Angered, Intimidated |
| Sin | Lust | Pride | Wrath |
| Virtue | Chastity | Humility | Patience |
| Test for Trust | Charm Them, Shoot Them | “Do You Like This Thing [I Did]?” | Teasing |
| Test Passing | Tip Toe & Flip, Show Ability to do Battle | Compliment | Teasing Back |
| Obsessive Compulsive | Hysterical | Schizoid | |
| Unconscious Emotion driven by… | Guilt (for being flawed, and out of control); | Powerlessness | Terror or Overwhelmed (related to emotion); Safety Neglect |
| Prime Defenses defended by… | Undoing, Reaction Formation, Displacement | Regression, Sexualization, Repression | Withdrawal, Intellectualization |
| Transference redirect… | Out of Control, Guilty | Powerlessness | Overwhelmed, Unsafe |
| Counter-Transference reflected… | Controlled, Incompetent | Competed, Charmed | Pulled for Emotion, Branded Odd/Crazy |
| Sin | Greed | Envy | Sloth & Torpor |
| Virtue | Kindness | Charity | Perseverance, Courage, Diligence |
| Test for Trust | Tasks | Sexualize, Compete | Move Slower |
| Test Passing | Do Tasks* | Don’t Give In | Give Space**, Don’t Poke |
| Depressive | Manic | ||
| Unconscious Emotion driven by… | Grief (self- blame for loss); Frequent Loss of Important People | Grief (related to attachment), Fear (of falling apart); Frequent Loss of Important People | |
| Prime Defenses defended by… | Introjection, Idealization, Turning Against | Denial, Acting Out | |
| Transference redirect… | Fear of Abandonment | Fear of Abandonment | |
| Counter-Transference reflected… | Liked Them | Liked Them | |
| Sin | Gluttony | Gluttony | |
| Virtue | Temperance | Temperance | |
| Test for Trust | “Do You Like Me [Still]?” | “Do You Like Me [Still]?” | |
| Test Passing | Like Them | Like Them |
* note that the obsessive compulsive test passing requires resources & time on behalf of those tested
** note that the shizoid test passing requires optimization to minimize resource and time expenditures on behalf of those tested
[Public] Notes
“… without much distortion of its technical [interchangeable indicator for a field of study] meaning” (p. 139) seems a…
Bingo. Regarding reflecting on “Nancy McWilliams’ (1994) Psychoanalytic Diagnosis”, paired with explanations on choosing a citation methodology: now it makes sense why “it’s how the person looks it up”. Oh! The bridge lies in the order of insight generation prior to linguistic representation. Intersections of…
References
McWilliams, N. (1994). Psychoanalytic diagnosis : Understanding personality structure in the clinical process. Guilford Press.