“This essential text is highly useful to all practitioners of any theoretical orientation….[McWilliams's] writing style is much like she describes her therapy sessions….Her personal sharing gives the text a soul and you feel you are with a warm and wise teacher….This text [is] as enjoyable as it is enlightening….It goes into great detail about personality organization, defensive functioning, and character styles and describes how they impact treatment.”

—DIVISION/Review


“With humor, warmth, and enthusiasm, Dr. McWilliams instills confidence while making the book a delectable read. There is no doubt that the goal of 'enhancing practice' has been achieved. This book is highly recommended to any clinician-in-training as a foundation for psychoanalytic thinking and also to any practicing therapist as a well-structured and comprehensive resource....This book will be a rich addition to learning about psychoanalytic diagnosis (and psychoanalytic concepts) for any younger mental health professional who is seriously interested in depth psychology. It will also be a valuable tool for more experienced clinicians and educators who would like assistance in translating fairly complex concepts into language that can be appreciated by learners of a variety of different levels of sophistication and disciplinary backgrounds.”

—Journal of Clinical Psychiatry


“If a 'charming textbook' seems like an oxymoron, then welcome to Nancy McWilliams's Psychoanalytic Diagnosis. Her book is just such a wonder....McWilliams has succeeded in producing a book for initial learning that will remain on her readers' desks as a frequently thumbed manual.”

—Psychoanalytic Books (on the first edition)


“Thanks to McWilliams's excellent book, those of us who teach or supervise can at last offer our students and supervisees a comprehensive, exceptionally well-organized text on diagnosis, grounded in evolving psychoanalytic theory and focused on linking diagnosis to the appropriate therapeutic response....Experienced therapists will enjoy a thorough 'refresher' course while also absorbing new ideas, and less experienced clinicians will gain a solid structural foundation and essential guidelines for their clinical work.”

—Contemporary Psychology (on the first edition)


“This is a book for all clinicians who aspire to understand their clients deeply and help them live more richly and authentically. McWilliams synthesizes a century of cumulative clinical wisdom and offers it in a form that is accessible and useful to clinicians of any theoretical persuasion. The first edition of Psychoanalytic Diagnosis was an instant classic; the second edition is exceptionally lucid and masterful. This is McWilliams, master clinician and teacher, at her very best.”

—Jonathan Shedler, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado School of Medicine


“In revising Psychoanalytic Diagnosis, McWilliams has surpassed herself. The original—deservedly regarded as a classic—was an integrative tour de force; the second edition is even better. Informed by current advances in neuroscience and infant research, and reshaped in light of the 'relational turn' in contemporary psychoanalysis, this book distills a vast literature on development, psychopathology, and therapy into an extraordinarily useful map of the clinical terrain. It is at once an indispensable resource for beginning therapists, a valuable teaching tool, and a comprehensive reference for seasoned clinicians.”

—David J. Wallin, PhD, private practice, Mill Valley and Albany, California


“In this accessible and impassioned book, McWilliams provides organizing principles to help us understand psychopathology without oversimplifying or evading the difficult questions raised by diagnosis. Reading McWilliams's book will make you feel like you know her. Her extraordinary humanity, wisdom, deep sense of ethics, and steady concern for her patients are evident throughout. The second edition includes an updated presentation of attachment theory, addresses the contributions of relational theory and neuroscience research, and integrates a contemporary understanding of somatization and defense. A 'must read' for every clinician in training.”

—Joyce A. Slochower, PhD, Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, New York University