Personality disorders: a discussion of current status and future directions for research, practice, and policy.

ABSTRACT

This article is the result of a panel discussion on future directions in personality disorders held at the 1998 Meeting of the Society for Psychotherapy Research in Snowbird Utah. Three experts in the field of personality disorders were invited to participate in a dialogue on priorities and directions for research, practice, and policy in this area. Topics discussed amongst the panelists included the following 1) relevance of psychotherapy process research for treatments of personality disorders, and potential fruitful directions for such research; 2) what has been learned from outcome research in treatment of personality disorders, and directions for such research that are likely to be most productive in improving treatments; 3) the extent to which research has influenced clinical practice and how existing gaps might be addressed; 4) policy questions related to payment for treatment of personality disorders.