Style Schizoid Character Style
Polarities Isolation-Confluence,
Hungry infant-hero,
Stiff robot-animal lust
What do they Moreso with isolation – it affords protection
identify with?
What do they Grandiosity and isolation, deep loneliness,
express? self-sufficiency, superficially cool und unapproachable
What do they Inferiority, confluence, desire for confluence, contact other people in
hide? their thoughts, fear of being gobbled up by others
Contact Deflection, retroflection, proflection, project possessiveness und
interruption needs, cut off emotions, fear of showing their need for closeness so
withdraw even more, thick wall boundaries
I-Boundary Firm physical boundaries, loner, oddball
What does the Robotic, gawky, mask-like face: smooth skin, no wrinkles. This
body show? makes a cold, unapproachable impression; body awareness not very
developed
Characteristics Fear of closeness while longing for it, strong need for independence,
cool, distant behaviour, deep mistrust, lack of emotion though very
vulnerable, they feel empty, split between interior and exterior: inner
world ist beautiful, soft, a fantasy world. The outer world is
dangerous, threatening; very cerebral, choose jobs in which they can
work alone, sometimes fill their emptiness with career, e.g. scientists
In Therapy Start therapy because they feel empty, have lost someone or long
for a relationship; seem abstract, universal and impersonal. Help
them to come slowly out of their shell - they are often involved in
fantasised dialogue with therapist during long silences: I’ll count to
three and then you have to say something fast without thinking
first.This way they can experience that an uncensored remark
doesn’t create a catastrophe. Help them to learn how to build up a
relationship to someone else, i.e. to you the therapist. Don’t demand
that they express feelings. This could lead to strong reactions,
because they will feel the annoyance, rage and anger that they have
experienced in their aloneness up to now.
Paranoid Character Style
Trust-Distrust,
Mastery-Shame
Moreso with distrust – they have been shamed and exposed
Isolation and grandiosity, flight into fantasy and grandiosity, friendly
although angry, they present themselves as strong and unapproachable
Inferiority and confluence are split off, only through closer contact is their
coldness, mistrust and inconsideration noticeable, more inclined to show
anger than their soft side
Deny own problems; project wishes, anger, fears; everything bad is
outside, goodness is within them
Fixed boundaries, don’t swallow much through fear of dependency
Brace themselves against touch?
Very distrustful; feel slightly disdained and maltreated; resentment
towards others; hold grudges, self-righteous; envy and jealousy; have a
competent, confident facade; deny own problems; few close friendships
Only come when relationship, work or esteem lost; work on the
relationship in therapy moreso than with others; at first lot of difficulty,
staring or rambling delivery; when psychotic try to involve therapist in
insane ideas – believe their feelings not the content; never speak to their
doctor behind their backs but important to work with doctor, great
availability of therapist demanded; give a lot of support: in here and now;
if manic-depressive healing impossible; medication good if aware of
illness; badly maltreated/ abused people – difficult and long before they
can trust
Style Borderline Character Style
Polarities Isolation (separation)-Confluence (attachment),
Clinging dependency-pseudo autonomy
What do they
identify with?
What do they Can be found in all quadrants; split between perception of self and
express/ perception by others; double bind communication; other side doesn’t
show? seem to exist in this moment
What do they
hide?
Contact Projective identification, splitting, withdrawal; they notice that they
interruption are angry and keep niggling until their partner is also angry and then
say that the other is angry
I-Boundary Feel like they’re full of holes – too much floods in, no self-protection
What does the Restless behaviour
body show?
Characteristics Frequently changing or unstable relationships; fear of abandonment
– react with anger if they are abandoned or not needed; lot of greed
and envy; mood swings: on the one hand depression, despair and a
feeling of emptiness, onthe other hand anger and rage, poor
judgement of other people; phases of addictive behaviour, can be
ongoing; very aggressive people – openly expressed, red hot anger
In therapy Clear premises regarding time, place, cancellations; set limits – they
themselves go way over their own limits; therapist frequently has
feeling of trying to catch up with client; bring both good and bad
sides into awareness; don’t go to the past too soon – tend to regress
quickly; when regression happens create boundaries and work
through cause of regression later; don’t let them act out; no hot-seat
work; work on their dependency otherwise they’ll glom on to you; in
case of thoughts of suicide make a contract with them; be careful:
they make a grab at you and suck you up but this doesn’t nurture
Narcississtic Character
Style
Pride-Shame, Grandiosity-Inferiority, Idealisation-Devaluation, Potence-
Impotence
Power, grandiosity; they appear confluence-hungry or if shy-isolation if
they identify more with inferiority - similar to depressive and schizoid
pattern
Can appear in all quadrants but more usually a grandiose facade,
hungry for confluence or Isolation/ social avoidant
They need a stage to show off their brilliance. Without a stage they tend
to collapse, are difficult, moody and incapable of dealing with conflict
Splitting, denial, projective identification, idealisation, devaluation,
withdrawal,controlling
Don’t know what contact is; want success and power; split; lot of
projections: I’m not needy, you want what I need!; retroflective behaviour
if they don’t get what they want, they withdraw and are hurt or vengeful
Strong I-boundary, egotistical, full of themselves, lack of empathy, use
others for their own ends; fantasy is very important: they live more in
their fantasies than in reality; success is difficult to appreciate/ feel
They hold their head high. They look down on others.
Pattern of greatness in fantasy and behaviour; they want to be
considered special and want preferential treatment; they’re concerned
with success and power; frequently a problem with self-esteem; often
charming but ruthless behind this facade; use others for their own goals;
react very sensitively to criticism; evaluate themselves against others –
denigrate or idelise; lot of envy, rivalry; dependent on praise and
attention; lot of inner emptiness and meaningless
Come to therapy because of a crisis of self-esteem, an insult, midlife
crisis, have lost their job or wife walked out; test therapist’s boundaries:
time, money; want special treatment; idealise or denigrate therapist;
have difficulty seeing that they need help; important to speak indirectly,
refer to things obliquely, circumscribe: mirroring and confirming them is
positive; very hard for them to come in contact with their shame
Style Obsessive-Compulsive Character Style
Polarities Potence-Impotence, Obedience-Rebellion, Anger-Fear, Right-Wrong
What do they Moreso with power, potency,afraid of impotence; show control;
identify with? identify with an idealised self-image: I am strong and powerful
What do they Confluence and grandiosity, isolation and grandiosity also possible
express/
show?
What do they Inferiority; emotions, more inclined to be passive aggressive
hide?
Contact Deflection – in order not to show that the like you; projection –
interruption especially their anger; retroflection – I should, must do this and that,
more likely confluent with habits than knowing their own needs;
action is dictated by introjections – due to this they seem robotic; on
the contact level they swing back and forth
I-Boundary Limited contact, revolves a lot around their idealised self-image; they
check out if the other is stronger or weaker than they are: how do I
need to behave; when the pattern opens up a bit massive fear
arises, boundaries unclear
What does the Narrow chest held up and puffed out (Asthma), can’t allow loving
body show? feelings in chest area, not well-earthed, little eye contact,
monotonous speaking voice, stiff walk
Characteristics A lot of judging and controlling, competitive, frequently power
struggles in interpersonal relationships, earn recognition through
performance, seem lacking in spontaneity and liveliness, rather stiff
and restricted; often say “one should, one must...”; are perfectionist
and pedantic; always looking for waht’s right and wrong, enormous
fear of chaos and impotence
In therapy Want to be good patient; don’t know what you’re talking about when
you refer to feelings; enter therapy because of self-knowledge (ratio)
not to be able to feel; often sent from partner; test therapist’ abilities;
believe that therapist wants to put them down if they show
something – then they quickly feel shame or impotence; move slowly
in therapy; difficult patients; danger of psychosis or in later stages of
therapy depression –when they realise that there is no omnipotence;
important to know what they defend against: fear, sadness, rage,
stubbornness; have to learn to surrender/ self-abandonment,
devotion
Hysteric Character Style
Dependency-Autonomy, Control-Chaos
Strongly with the dependent side, always looking to others, lose all
sense of their own identity, also imitate behaviour of others
Confluence and grandiosity
Inferiority and isolation, “I am what the others want me to be”, only
immediate satisfaction counts and it’s not often what they really need
Lots of introjects, swallow quickly. If something doesn’t suit them they
quickly look for new introjects because they orient themselves from
outside; very confluent, repress, can’t remember, dramatise, flee into
fantasy – often difficult to differentiate between fantasy and reality
Confluent, boundaries melt; very warm-hearted, embrace the world; as
adults still feel like a little child; can’t bear much tension –leads to
anxiety
Great rhetoric, often good-looking and successful but feel empty inside;
often eat too much because they can’t stand to feel tension – don’t get
fat because of fast metabolism
Look to others for orientation, want to please, take very little
responsibility for themselves, chaotic lifestyle, not very dependable, led
by momentary feelings, highly developed fantasy world, lack of true
feelings, tends to dramatise, repression and forgetting, can’t often be
alone, arrange a lot of appointments, feel empty easily which leads to
exaggerated outbursts of feelings in order to feel alive
Start therapy frequently because a relationship or job; pull at the
therapist, don’t want to work properly, want to be spoilt in therapy too;
Important: find out what they really want; Work slowly and lead them to
their own feelings: when they realise that they’re not that great after all
or feel their inner emptiness can become depressiv and break off
therapy. The therapist shouldn’t let them act out – shouting and crying
they can do anything; set limits, build up a reliable relationship to give
them support; Careful – don’t devalue them; help them experience that
autonomy doesn’t mean being lonely
Style Depressive Character Style
Polarities High expectations-low self-esteem, Grandiosity-Inferiority, Hope-
Despair, Guilt-Shame
What do they Moreso with despair and low self-esteem, inferiority and the feeling
identify with? of never being good enough – but there’s no hope or help for this
What do they Inferiority and isolation, moaners, self-sacrifice, martyr-type
express/
show?
What do they Grandiosity; they think they’re brilliant; it takes a long time before
hide? they realise the high expectations they have of themselves and
others; they’re afraid of being seen through; passive aggressive;
anger towards others
Contact A lot of introjects: don’t take yourself so seriously; project their ideal
interruption image on to others; more inclined to see their ideal image in others
and not in themselves; strong retroflection – perhaps I should...
I-Boundary Thick boundaries, impenetrable; they have strong armour; not much
gets through it; don’t see much that can be changed
What does the Speak quietly, can tolerate a lot, frequently a hump on their backs –
body show? it looks as though they have to carry a burden or weight; their body
perception is very limited; they tend to feel tired, apathetic,
something hurts
Characteristics Have high expectations of themselves, not much trust inthemselves,
strong empathetic ability, accommodate themselves, take on a lot for
others, avoid confrontations, passive-aggressive, frequently in role of
victim, nagging in contact – there’s often a lot of power hidden
behind this; little self-initiative; dominant life feeling: I feel
continuously threatened, am never secure, can’t deal with my
problems and nobody else can help me either
In therapy If their suffering is very much to the fore reduce this first; don’t be too
friendly – guilt feelings; help them to reduce their fears, awaken their
curiosity, help them to express pressure: hot seat work, let them
scream and shout; give them hope that they will make it out of the
swamp; if thoughts of suicide make an appointment, make contract;
ask about their fantasies: who do they want to meet? That’s where
their anger is; Danger: the therapist can react sadistically and
devalue them if the client is extremely masochistic, represses his
anger and moans; don’t go into the swamp – there’s a lot of power in
negativity!