Psychotherapy of Personality Disorders Needs an Integrative Theory of Personality

Empirical and theoretical work on revisions of the major diagnostic classification systems, DSM-IV and ICD-10, have revealed a need for a unifying theory of personality and personality disorders. A recent comparison by Gunderson, Masland, and Choi-Kain (2018), of different treatment strategies (and accompanying theories) for borderline personality disorder speaks to the same need. In this article we ask if Otto Kernberg's (2016) outline in his seminal paper "What Is Personality" might be such a common theoretical ground. We perform a critical analysis of Kernberg's contribution and suggest a common theoretical platform that consists of three basic personality constituents: (a) Temperament, (b) Attachment, and (c) Mentalizing/self-consciousness. We agree with Kernberg on the broad conception of temperament and attachment, though we also differ with his outline on some important details. We argue that the third constituent should be grounded in the realm of sociocognitive development, while Kernberg favors superego formation in a more psychoanalytic sense. The tripartite theory of personality that we outline aims to integrate emotional dispositions and personality traits (temperament) with interpersonal relatedness (psychoanalytic approaches) and social cognition, and it is fundamentally rooted in evolutionary reasoning. We discuss the relevance of this model for theoretical integration of the various empirically supported treatment approaches to borderline personality disorder. La psicoterapia de los trastornos de la personalidad necesita una teoría integradora de la personalidad El trabajo empírico y teórico sobre las revisiones de los principales sistemas de clasificación de diagnóstico, DSM-IV e ICD-10, ha revelado la necesidad de una teoría unificadora de la personalidad y los trastornos de la personalidad. Una comparación reciente de Gunderson, Masland y Choi-Kain (2018), de diferentes estrategias de tratamiento (y teorías que las acompañan) para el trastorno límite de la personalidad, habla de la misma necesidad. En este artículo preguntamos si el esquema de Otto Kernberg (2016) en su artículo seminal "¿Qué es la personalidad?" Podría ser un terreno teórico tan común. Realizamos un análisis crítico de la contribución de Kernberg y sugerimos una plataforma teórica común que consiste de tres componentes básicos de la personalidad: (a) Temperamento, (b) Apego y (c) Mentalización / autoconciencia. Estamos de acuerdo con Kernberg en la amplia concepcion de