Bennett Seminar Series 5 – Depressive Personalities: Psychodynamic Conceptualization and Psychotherapy
Date: Friday August 9th, 1pm-4pm
Location: Online
Cost: $85
Course Description
The depressive personality has been left out of DSM nomenclature, with the result that many therapists are unfamiliar with this personality style and its interpersonal dynamics. Therapist unfamiliarity with depressive personality is ironic, since it is a personality dynamic common among therapists themselves. The depressive style compares a warm, relational interpersonal style with fear of loneliness and abandonment, and tends to idealize others while devaluing the self. Depressive personalities have trouble getting angry and commonly internalize their own natural aggression out of fears of being bad people. This seminar will explore ways of understanding and navigating the depressive perspective from a broadly psychodynamic perspective.
The depressive personality organization has been described in the psychoanalytic literature and is common among psychotherapists and others who gravitate into healing professions, although the diagnosis was lost in the historical shifts of the DSM. The personality organization involves introjective defenses against fears of object-loss and a pervasive, irrational sense of guilt. This seminar will explore theoretical, diagnostic, and treatment issues surrounding the depressive personality organization, the history of the diagnosis, and how to differentiate depressive personality from dysphoric or depressive mood disorders. The discussion will examine the essential features of the depressive personality organization at several levels: archetypal, object relations, self-psychology, and behavioral as well as cultural considerations. The seminar will also explore some of the more important “rules of the road” in treating depressives in therapy, including how to navigate the depressive tendency to please the therapists and other risks associated with the “retreat into health.”
Learning Objectives
- Identify characteristic defensive styles and interpersonal behavior cues of depressive personalities
- Identify and critique popular and culture-based lay perspectives on the histrionic personality organization which lead to misunderstanding and ineffective approaches to the presentation
- Develop strategies which contribute to an effective therapeutic stance in psychotherapy with depressive personalities
Instructor:
Dr. Matthew Bennett, Chair of the Counseling Psychology Department at Pacifica Graduate Institute, teaches classes in theories of psychotherapy and psychological assessment. Matthew is a licensed psychologist, lecturer, and administrator with experience in public sector mental health and substance abuse treatment. He has broad experience in program development. He was formerly founder and first Director of Training for the Ventura County Behavioral Health Pre-Doctoral Internship in Clinical Psychology and Chair-Elect of the Psychology Department at Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura, California. His research interests include personality disorders, comparative personality theory, and internet applications for mental health. Dr. Bennett is also a returned Peace Corps volunteer (“Poland III, 1991-1993”).
Mathew Bennett’s book on the topic of these lecture is set to release on Sept. 17th. Orders can be made here.
Date of all seminars: 5/10, 5/24, 6/7, 7/12, 8/9
