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 | Obsessive Compulsive | |
| 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 | Guilt (for being flawed, and out of control); |
| Prime Defenses defended by… | Omnipotent Control, Projective Identification | Idealization, Devaluation | Projection, Denial | Undoing, Reaction Formation, Displacement |
| Transference redirected… | Powerless, Out of Control | Shame, Guilt | Impatience, Fear, Inferior | Out of Control, Guilty |
| Counter-Transference reflected… | Charmed, Icky | “It’s all about you”, Bored, Devalued | Angered, Intimidated | Controlled, Incompetent |
| Sin | Lust | Pride | Wrath | Greed |
| Virtue | Chastity | Humility | Patience | Kindness |
| Test for Trust | Charm Them, Shoot Them | “Do You Like This Thing [I Did]?” | Teasing | Tasks |
| Test Passing | Tip Toe & Flip, Show Ability to do Battle | Compliment | Teasing Back | Do Tasks* |
| Hysterical | Schizoid | Depressive | Manic | |
| Unconscious Emotion driven by… | Powerlessness; | Terror or Overwhelmed (related to emotion); Safety Neglect | 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… | Regression, Sexualization, Repression | Withdrawal, Intellectualization | Introjection, Idealization, Turning Against | Denial, Acting Out |
| Transference redirect… | Powerlessness | Overwhelmed, Unsafe | Fear of Abandonment | Fear of Abandonment |
| Counter-Transference reflected… | Competed, Charmed | Pulled for Emotion, Branded Odd/Crazy | Liked Them | Liked Them |
| Sin | Envy | Sloth & Torpor | Gluttony | Gluttony |
| Virtue | Charity | Perseverance, Courage, Diligence | Temperance | Temperance |
| Test for Trust | Sexualize, Compete | Move Slower | “Do You Like Me [Still]? | “Do You Like Me [Still]? |
| Test Passing | Don’t Give In | Give Space**, Don’t Poke | 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.