Removing the Mask of Kindness: Diagnosis and Treatment of the Caretaker Personality Disorder [Paperback]

Character traits may be used as defenses, or, 'coping mechanisms' that may be developed by individuals in an exaggerated fashion in order to conceal psychological conflicts. When these mechanisms break down, previously repressed trauma erupts into consciousness. One such trait is selflessness. Les Barbanell examines the transformation of selflessness into the Caretaker Personality Disorder and how it is not always better to give than receive, that being good can go bad, and that the 'disease to please' can even be fatal.Les Barbanell, Ph.D.received his doctoral degree from Columbia University and trained in psychoanalysis at the New Jersey Institute for Training in Psychoanalysis where he is a faculty member, supervisor and control analyst. He is currently in private practice in Fort Lee, New Jersey and is a member of the New Jersey Psychological Association.

In his strikingly accessible language, Dr. Barbanell uncovers and elegantly elaborates what lies at the base of many individuals' relentless quest to help, to give, to empathize, and to heal. His investigation of the caretaking personality, particularly in light of its historical and traumatic antecedents, substantially deepens our understanding of the dynamics of human accommodation and its intent to preclude rejection and abandonment. Dr. Barbanell creatively explores and describes the developmental implications of the caretaking personality, who, with help, may strive to reach beyond the mandates and strictures of being-for-others and to restore instead a sense of self in relation to others that is centered on a balance of give-and-receive, eventuating in a more authentic connection with others. Especially compelling is Dr. Barbanell's practical elucidation of the vicissitudes of and necessity for our continuing search for human relatedness and authenticity. William J. Coburn Ph.D, Psy.D., editor, International Journal of Psychoanalytic Self Psychology

Les Barbanell reveals a new and lã<