My Theory

I have been practicing psychotherapy for 26 years. The following is an overview of Characterological Psychology and Psychotherapy.

What creates change, and what this approach delivers, is a more authentic experience of Yourself.

The Origins

Within the field of clinical psychology, perhaps the best known and most respected theorist on character is Dr. David Shapiro, Professor of Psychology at the New School for Social Research in New York. Dr. Shapiro was a student of Hellmuth Kaiser, who was a student of Wilhelm Reich, one of the founders of psychoanalysis with Sigmund Freud. Dr. Shapiro is a household name among the psychological community, highly regarded for several books, most notably Neurotic Styles, which has become a classic text in the field of psychotherapy.

According to the approach, neurotic behavior tends to fall into particular typologies or styles, each with a constellation of particular attitudes and attributes. Although never completely alike in any one person, there are distinct commonalties to the mindsets. An obsessive character, for example, is constantly vigilant and cannot let in her softer side. A histrionic character, on the other hand, functions in an impressionistic world and cannot appreciate his capacity for deeper thought. 

In each case, these neurotic styles of thinking are narrow and inflexible. Because the person tends to see himself through the constrained attitudes attendant with the style, the person is unable to accurately view, understand or relate to his real instincts. Instead, the neurotic person is estranged from true feelings, values and inclinations. Applying this theory, neurotic behavior becomes understandable, not as an abstraction, but in completely practical terms. In other words: A neurotic person is someone who demonstrates consistent contradictions between what they say and what they doe, or between what they think and what they feel. 

Shapiro generally classifies neurotic styles into one of two categories, impulsive or rigid. Included in the impulsive category are histrionic, impulsive, passive-impulsive, passive-dependent or sociopathic. Rigid styles include obsessive/compulsive or paranoid. Depending on the particular neurotic style, the Characterological clinician uses his understanding of the character style to help the client identify with those modes of thinking and action that inhibit freer, more autonomous expression. 

Characterological Psychotherapy

It is important to understand that neurotic problems are primarily problems of consciousness. When a person thinks things he doesn't mean, acts out, or experiences conflict, they do so in a detached kind of way, in which they genuinely don't feel like themselves. Specifically, someone being neurotic is consciously disconnected from a more authentic, aware perception of himself. 

We understand insight to occur when people have a conscious, in the moment experience of neurotic thoughts or behaviors. In other words, the client actually experiences himself being who they aren't. Often times, this awareness comes about in a straightforward way, in an atmosphere of acceptance and respect. However, to create this experience sometimes requires some art. At that point, the question for the clinician is: how can you capture the client's attention and interest in a state of mind that they are probably embarrassed about, and do it subtly enough so the mindset is not disrupted, but appreciated? 

At such times, a somewhat elliptical comment might be offered to the client, one that produces an initial curiosity or surprise about what they are doing. As in a Zen koan or an insightful metaphor, the comment allows the client to put the action and the meaning together in their own head, bringing the fullest range of sense and experience together. The best comment not only highlights some contrived attitude present in the moment, but also suggests to the client the difference between their expressed stance and their true one. 

This experience is quite liberating for the client. In contrast to other systems that confuse insight with intellectual explanation, encouragement, or self-talk, the insight is "true insight" around which the client can reintegrate the experience of themself.