People all have their own character, or personality. As a coach or an HR professional, you notice that you interact with each individual differently and you subsequently adapt your interventions to help the other person in their development. We get on better with some personalities than others, some people elicit positive countertransference reactions, whilst others bring out negative feelings. There are various ways of looking at personalities (and personality disorders) and creating a classification for it. When working with people, it is important to have insight in various personality types and how you can interact in a constructive way. We speak of personality disorders when people have had trouble with long-term dysfunctional patterns in their lives which seriously hinder how they function in relationships, their self-image, work and society.

In this Masterclass, the classification of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) is used as a basis for various personality types. The personality disorder continuum is explained. Although the DSM division is mostly descriptive, in the Masterclass we take into consideration the inner dynamic of certain personalities from a psychoanalytical perspective. It also focuses on various manifestations of transference and countertransference manifestations and how to handle these.