Treating Dissociative and Personality Disorders

Antonella Ivaldi is a training analyst at the psychotherapy postgraduate program of the LUMSA University, the Institute of Relational Psychoanalysis and Self Psychology (ISIPSÉ), and the School of Cognitive Psychotherapy. She is also Member of the International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis & Psychotherapy, the International Association for Psychoanalytic Self Psychology and the Italian Society of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapy.

• Foreword by Giovanni Liotti. Foreword by Joseph D. Lichtenberg. Introduction.1 Theorizing About Theory. 2 Theoretical Foundations. 3 The Therapeutic Relationship from the Theoretical Perspective of Motivational Systems. 4 Complex Trauma Theories and Psychopathology: The Difficult Patient. 5 Personality Disorders: Diagnosis and Treatment. 6 The Relational/ Multi Motivational Therapeutic Approach (REMOTA). 7 Some Methodological Considerations on Outcome Research In Psychotherapy and Results of a Naturalistic Study in the Treatment of Patients with Severe Axis I/Ii Comorbidity Disorders. 8 Group Psychotherapy: Addressing Impediments to Engaging the Affiliative Motivational System.

"This is an important and creative contribution to the psychotherapy integration movement. It brings together two different yet overlapping perspectives in the treatment of some of the most difficult – and painfully suffering – patients we work with. It does not gloss over differences, yet creatively seeks commonalities and complementarities. Moreover, by adding group work to the work with individuals it still further extends the reach of the integration and contributes valuably to the effort to relieve human suffering."-Paul L. Wachtel, Ph.D. Distinguished Professor, Doctoral program in clinical psychology, City College of NY and CUNY Graduate Center "Relationship, theory, and clinical acuity all come together in the wonderful synthesis that is central to Antonella’s presentation and personhood. Using rich clinical examples, she demonstrates how her use of motivational theory enables her to navigate the challenges of treating difficult patients."-Joseph Lichtenberg, Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst. Founder and training analyst at the Washington Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. Past President of the International Association for Psychoanalytic Self Psychology. Editor in chief of the journal Psychoanalytic Inquiry"Antonella Ivaldi’s Relational/Multi-Motivational Therapeutic Approach (REMOTA) is an important text for clinicians seeking to impact severely traumatized individuals whose intersubjective possibilities have been severely compromised. In bridging two major multi-motivational systems theorists, Lichtenberg and Liotti, Ivaldi’s further extends the terrain to include data from multiple sources - infant and attachment research, neuroscience, trauma theory, the treatment of dissociative disorders, individual and group therapies. With beautifully illustrated clinical sensitivity, with vibrancy and fluidity, and with a dialogic touch, Ivaldi continuously questions and postulates afresh the strengths and limitations always intrinsic to this complex field of mind and soul."-Hazel Ipp, PhD. Joint Editor-in-Chief, Psychoanalytic Dialogues: The International Journal of Relational Perspectives, Past – President of IARPP "To my knowledge Antonella Ivaldi’s is the first attempt at a comparison of two different theories focused mainly on the lived experience of a psychotherapist, which is dialoguing simultaneously with herself, her professional mentors and each of her difficult patients."-Giovanni Liotti, Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist. Teaches "Clinical Applications of Attachment Theory" at the APC postgraduate School of Psychotherapy in Rome, Italy. Past President of the Italian Society of Behavioural and Cognitive Therapy (SITCC) Antonella Ivaldi’s book expresses all the determination, but also the creativity, of a passionate clinician. When the writing seems heavily theoretical, it melts in the clinical dimension; and when it is likely to become fervently clinical, it turns to the dialogue with the theoretical dimension. It is a useful and complete book, capable of holding together different approaches. The relational breath of Ivaldi’s multidimensional model hosts a brilliant and critical exchange with Lichtenberg’s and Liotti’s motivational theories. When we read the clinical histories written by Ivaldi we find ourselves not only thinking about clinical cases described by a sensitive colleague: It is as if the voices and behaviors of our "real" patients are coming to life."-Vittorio Lingiardi, Psychiatrist, Psychoanalyst. Full Professor of Dynamic Psychology at the Faculty of Medicine and Psychology of the Sapienza University of Rome. Director of the postgraduate school of clinical psychology "This book is an intriguing and very important attempt by Antonella Ivaldi to create a new approach to personality disorders. In a very sophisticate an yet clear and expressive way she uses motivational theories of different approaches to create a unique theory and a unique treatment. I frankly believe that every clinician, but also every person interested in psychotherapy, will greatly enjoy this book and find it extremely useful."-Gianni Nebbiosi Psychoanalyst. Founding member and President of ISIPSé. Vice President of IARPP. Member of the IAPSP International Council"Today there are so many psychotherapy books that it is really difficult to get oriented. This book by Antonella Ivaldi is surely worth reading: it goes right to the heart of crucial issues of contemporary psychotherapy. It deals with theory of motivation and with the possibility of integrating different therapeutic approaches. And what is most fascinating is that while it shows the importance of theory, it never loses sight of the nuances of clinical encounter. In this book the patient seems even more "real", when seen through the lens of theory."-Paolo Migone, M.D., Editor, Psicoterapia e Scienze Umane (www.psicoterapiaescienzeumane.it)"This fascinating and inspiring book edited by Antonella Ivaldi has many clinical and scientific merits, the main of which is its successful attempt to harmoniously integrate theories and methods originating from different perspectives in a new multidimensional aetiopathogenic treatment model for patients with personality and dissociative disorders. Thanks to a series of well-described and enlightening clinical cases, Antonella Ivaldi convincingly guides the reader thorough her innovative model in which individual and group psychotherapy are efficaciously combined. Using the therapeutic relationship in a complex way, she builds a bridge between contemporary psychoanalysis and cognitive-evolutionary model. This really is a brilliant book, which I strongly recommend."-Rita B. Ardito, Ph.D., President of the Italian Society of Behavioural and Cognitive Therapy