Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Feb;26(1):17-42.
doi: 10.1521/pedi.2012.26.1.17.

Integrated treatment: a conceptual framework for an evidence-based approach to the treatment of personality disorder

Affiliations

Integrated treatment: a conceptual framework for an evidence-based approach to the treatment of personality disorder

W John Livesley. J Pers Disord. 2012 Feb.

Abstract

Evidence that various therapies are effective in treating personality disorder and that outcome does not differ substantially across treatments suggests that it is time replace concerns about the efficacy of specific therapies and which form of therapy to use with an evidence-based approach that combines methods that work from all therapies. A framework is proposed for selecting and combining eclectic treatment methods and delivering them in a coordinated way. The framework has two components: (1). a system for conceptualizing personality disorder based on empirical knowledge about the structure, etiology, development, and stability of personality pathology to use as a guide to selecting interventions and planning the sequence in which they will be used; and (2), a model of therapeutic change based on the general literature on psychotherapy outcome and specific studies of PD treatments. The framework proposes that integrated treatment be organized around general principles of therapeutic change common to all effective therapies supplemented with more specific treatment methods taken from the different therapies as needed to tailor treatment to individual patients and treat specific problems and psychopathology. The coordinated delivery of such a diverse array of interventions is achieved by using a phases of treatment scheme that proposes that treatment focus on specific symptoms and problems is a systematic and orderly way according to their stability and potential for change.

PubMed Disclaimer

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources