Abstract

In this compact volume, Dr. Masterson invites the reader to look back and review his early formulations regarding the psychodynamic treatment of borderline personality disorder and related psychopathologies and presents his current thoughts on the status of his model. Indeed, the primary focus of the book is a revisitation of his 1972 model, originally presented in Treatment of the Borderline Adolescent: A Developmental Approach (1). Dr. Masterson places considerable emphasis on both integrating the model advanced in his previous monograph with contemporary developments in psychodynamic models of severe personality pathology (e.g., Kernberg, Kohut) and on differentiating it from the same models. Dr. Masterson also touches on other more recent developments in our understanding of severe personality disorders, including Linehan’s behavioral approach, in terms of treatment. The developmental emphasis in Dr. Masterson’s rich thinking about borderline psychopathology is unmistakable and much appreciated. His model as well as those of Kernberg and Kohut has always maintained a prominent developmental thrust, and the relevance of this vantage point becomes only clearer with the accumulation of empirical data on both the effects of trauma and the development of neurobiologically based affect systems. Perhaps the greatest strength of this volume is in the