AION 105 Course Evaluation

Course Description

Largely following upon the work of Nancy McWilliams, this course focused on “level” and “type” of personality organization.  Level of personality development will be discussed through the lens of Kernberg’s tripartite model (psychotic, borderline, neurotic) and type of personality organization (such as schizoid, narcissistic, histrionic, or depressive personalities) will be explored as an outcome of defensive style.  Therapeutic implications for each defensive style will be explored.

Curricular Notes

Diagnostic consolidation and clinical precision

AION 105 synthesizes psychoanalytic and Jungian theory into clinically actionable diagnostic thinking. By distinguishing level of personality organization from type of defensive style, the course resolves common diagnostic confusions and grounds treatment planning in structural reality rather than symptom clusters.
This course converts theory into moment-to-moment clinical judgment, directly shaping therapeutic stance, pacing, and interpretive depth.

Open Evaluation
1. Differentiate levels of personality organization (psychotic, borderline, neurotic) using Otto Kernberg’s structural model and apply level-based assessment to evaluate reality testing, identity integration, and defensive capacity in clinical presentations.
2. Identify core personality styles (e.g., schizoid, narcissistic, histrionic, depressive) as articulated by Nancy McWilliams, and formulate personality type as an adaptive outcome of dominant defensive strategies rather than as fixed traits.
3. Analyze how characteristic defenses (e.g., splitting, idealization, withdrawal, repression, self-attack) shape transference, countertransference, and the therapeutic relationship across different personality organizations.
4. Apply level- and type-informed psychodynamic formulations to select appropriate therapeutic stance, interpretive depth, and relational pacing, thereby reducing enactment risk and increasing treatment effectiveness with diverse personality structures.