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Neurotic Styles
This new edition of one of the books most closely identified with clinical psychology since 1965 will expose a new generation to Shapiro's stunningly defining conceptualizations of the Obsessive-Compulsive, Paranoid, Hysterical, and Impulsive ways of being.
224 pages, Paperback
First published November 30, 1964
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
May 7, 2016
If you are or plan to be a psychologist in New York City, you would be wise to read this, and if you read it for class and didn't absorb anything, you would be wise to read it again.
July 11, 2012
This book was okay, although I had higher hopes since it is a classic in psychoanalytic theory. Shapiro does a nice job of discussing character structures but I think McWilliams does this more adeptly in Psychoanalytic Diagnosis. The last chapter is worth a read in terms of what defenses mean and how our character structure impacts these defenses.
June 13, 2021
Ego psikolojisi açısından nostaljik bir yere sahip öğretici nitelikte bir kitap.
May 4, 2022
What is a neurotic and what is the point of therapy?
My greatest takeaway from this book as a non-therapist is that a neurotic is a person who has become a stranger to oneself.
I don’t know why I’m so upset.
Why did I do that?
I just feel out of sorts and I don’t know why.
Neuroses as adaptive constructions that take you away from feelings you can’t cope with has always made sense to me. But the end result of constructing a self that is a stranger to oneself was less clear.
The neurotic styles that Shapiro describes are blueprints of such adaptations. I am sure much of the text is outdated, especially as it pertains to the more dire mental illnesses. But so much still rings true. Human nature and insights into it don’t move all that quickly.
Now I know all and I’m cured!
Ha, no. But the great benefit of talk therapy and reading a book like this — for certain people — is that psychological understanding can help you become less of a stranger to yourself. Every time you understand yourself a bit more clearly, the more integrated and strong you become as a person which in turn helps dismantle the neurotic carapace.
For every page or two reading this book, I stared into space and thought a bit about myself and the people who I know. It took me a year to read. But by the end I became slightly less strange to myself.
My greatest takeaway from this book as a non-therapist is that a neurotic is a person who has become a stranger to oneself.
I don’t know why I’m so upset.
Why did I do that?
I just feel out of sorts and I don’t know why.
Neuroses as adaptive constructions that take you away from feelings you can’t cope with has always made sense to me. But the end result of constructing a self that is a stranger to oneself was less clear.
The neurotic styles that Shapiro describes are blueprints of such adaptations. I am sure much of the text is outdated, especially as it pertains to the more dire mental illnesses. But so much still rings true. Human nature and insights into it don’t move all that quickly.
Now I know all and I’m cured!
Ha, no. But the great benefit of talk therapy and reading a book like this — for certain people — is that psychological understanding can help you become less of a stranger to yourself. Every time you understand yourself a bit more clearly, the more integrated and strong you become as a person which in turn helps dismantle the neurotic carapace.
For every page or two reading this book, I stared into space and thought a bit about myself and the people who I know. It took me a year to read. But by the end I became slightly less strange to myself.
November 28, 2013
An interesting view into the psychodynamic understanding of various personality disorders. I used this book in a psychopathology class. More current books are useful in understanding and treatment of the disorders.
November 25, 2007
This perceptive psychoanalytic treatise doubles as a dating guide if you read between the lines!
May 7, 2009
Excellent.
January 15, 2012
I read this for my Psychopathology course, and found it quite informative and perceptive. Def. a book to read and reread.
December 26, 2018
Fascinating ideas about the relationship between attention, volition and affect. Really outstanding, similar to the work of phenomenologists like Maurice Merleau Ponty.
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November 7, 2019Chapter 2 gave a lot of insight into effective altruism for a 55-year old book.
October 15, 2022
Ho fatto fatica a leggerlo. Credo che sia destinato agli addetti ai lavori e non ai curiosi e basta come me.
February 16, 2023
Very good delineation of hysterical cognition
January 17, 2024
Fantastic! If you are into psychology, read it!
December 15, 2008
This book gives a good perspective on how each neurotic style feels, or manifests.
March 25, 2010
Got to read this book for a class but I have to admit... it's pretty good!
September 6, 2015
Badly needs another editing.
January 5, 2015
Read in 1979.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews