17c - Further Considerations about Cognitive Behavioral Therapies and Personality Disorders: Author Rejoinder to Commentaries on Cognitive Behavioral Approaches

Summary

The commentaries from Gold, Yen, Hughes and Rizvi highlight the challenges associated with using cognitive behavioral therapies to treat individuals with personality disorders (PDs). In this rejoinder, the authors extend upon these observations by arguing the importance of a modular, principle-driven approach to assessment and treatment of PDs. First, they discuss how there is a greater demand for treatments beyond the current “branded” CBTs and their empirical basis. In light of this limitation, clinicians need to flexibly use empirically-supported principles of change to treat processes underlying personality dysfunction. This approach requires careful case formulation and identification of behaviorally-specific targets of treatment using validated screening tools. This approach to treatment may be a useful way of meeting the demands for both patient care and current trends in national health care payor reform.